Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 News

Are you interested in joining the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 2 public beta test?

The Sim Update 02 Beta is now available on Steam, Windows PC, and Xbox. Click here to read the release notes and use the Sim Update 2 Beta Forums to report your feedback.

Please find instructions to join the Sim Update 02 Beta below. You must own Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (or have an appropriate Xbox Game Pass subscription) to participate on the platform of your choice.



Please remember if you decide to join the Beta and install the build, you will likely have to re-install your sim if you wish to leave the Beta before it ends. If you did not opt out of the last Beta, you will automatically stay in this Beta and receive the next build.

In addition, while in Multiplayer Mode, you will only see users who are in the same build as you.

Memory Logging in the Sim Update 2 Beta

Memory logging will be enabled in the first Sim Update 2 Beta build, which will cause a small decrease to performance (in particular during menu transitions). The telemetry we receive from this memory logging will aid our investigations into stability improvements. This memory logging will be removed from the Sim Update 2 Beta before release, or as soon as we have enough data.

On Xbox console, you can help ensure we receive your data by following the below instructions:

Navigate to Settings > System.
Now select Console info.
Check ‘Allow optional data collection’

Changes to Career/Challenge League in the Sim Update 2 Beta

Beginning with the Sim Update 2 Beta, Career and Challenge League will have separate progress and leaderboards from the live build.

This means Career mode progress in the live build will not carry over to the flighting build, and vice versa. In addition, Challenge League in the flighting build will have a separate leaderboard from the live build.

Making Career and Challenge League progress separate in the flighting build allows us to test additional changes and fixes that cannot be tested in the live build. All Career specializations will be unlocked by default in the flighting build to allow participants to preview changes that might not be available (based on Career mode progress) in the live build.


1. Open your Steam Library
2. Right-click Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
3. Click “Properties”
4. Click “Betas”
5. Select “flight_sim_2024_beta – Sim Update 2"

If you would like to exit the pre-release test before it ends and revert back to the live build, follow these instructions:
1. Open your Steam Library
2. Right-click Microsoft Flight Simulator
3. Click “Properties”
4. Click “Betas”
5. Select “None”

Thank you and we look forward to your feedback!

Click here to read the Sim Update 1 Beta Release Notes. You can join the SU1 Beta forums to report issues here.

MSFS Team

As announced during last Friday's Developer Livestream, the Sim Update 2 Public Beta Test will begin very shortly! During the broadcast, Martial mentioned that the beta could begin as early as today (March 20), but we need just a little bit more time to get it ready to release to volunteer testers from the community. As always, watch for news on our official forums or any of our social network accounts for the latest info on when the beta will begin and how you can enroll!

Following the launch of the in-sim Marketplace for MSFS 2024 last week, we're excited to bring the first batch of products from third-party developers to you this week! There are plenty more releases coming soon, so keep an eye out for your favorite third-party add-ons making their way to the MSFS 2024 Marketplace in the near future!

- MSFS Team

Click here to continue reading the Development Update!

Following hot on the heels of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 1 launching on March 6, we're pleased to follow it up with three big releases earlier this week!

• The MSFS 2024 In-Sim Marketplace
  
• World Update 19: Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana
  
• Local Legend 20: CAP-4 Paulistinha

The CAP-4 Paulistinha is the second of four aircraft that are offered FREE to all MSFS 2024 players to make good for the poor launch experience. The plane will be available to you automatically the next time you launch the sim. For MSFS 2020 pilots, you can purchase the CAP-4 from the in-sim Marketplace for the usual price of USD $14.99.

As previously announced last week, our next Developer Livestream is scheduled for tomorrow, March 14 at 9:30am PDT (1630 UTC) on our official Twitch channel. Tune in to see our regular panel and special guests respond to popular questions from the community and discuss information about upcoming future updates. Our regular Community Fly-In Friday group flight will follow on Twitch immediately after the Developer Livestream, so stick around and join hundreds of other simmers as we explore some beautiful Brazilian scenery from the recently-released WU19 together.

Last weekend, the MSFS Community Team had the opportunity to participate at an event at Springbank Airport near Calgary, Alberta, Canada organized by the graduating class of women enrolled in Mount Royal University's aviation program. This event, timed to coincide with International Women's Day, aimed to excite women and girls about pursuing a future career in the aviation field. Among the exhibitors were Air Canada, WestJet, the Canadian Forces, and many other organizations. The Microsoft Flight Simulator team was thrilled to be invited to participate and offer hands-on time with the sim to hundreds of event attendees!

In other flight sim community news, FSWeekend is taking place this Saturday and Sunday in Lelystad, Netherlands! We hope all the attendees and exhibitors have a wonderful time at this event and wish safe travels to everyone from the MSFS community attending!

- MSFS Team

Click here to continue reading the Development Update!

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 1 (1.3.23.0) is available now on all platforms! You can read the (very lengthy) release notes here. Sim Update 1 contains hundreds of bug fixes and improvements and is one of the largest updates released yet for either MSFS (2020) or MSFS 2024. Once again, we would like to thank everyone who participated in the public beta test for your feedback and bug reports. Your contributions were essential in helping our development team deliver the best possible Sim Update. But the work hasn't stopped! Development of Sim Update 2 is underway. Stay tuned for more information about how you can join the SU2 beta once it's available. This update will be even bigger than SU1!

While Sim Update 1 is out now, one of its biggest additions, the long-awaited in-sim Marketplace, is not quite ready. Our team is making some final tweaks to the Marketplace now, and we're excited to report that it will be launching soon.

Speaking of things launching soon, World Update 19: Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana is releasing next week on Tuesday, March 11! We know many flight sim fans, particularly those from Brazil, have been waiting very patiently for this World Update, and we hope you'll find it was worth the wait!

Also next week, we have planned maintenance for our official forums on Wednesday, March 12 starting at 11:30am Pacific Time (1930 UTC). While the maintenance is in progress, the forums will temporarily be unavailable.

Our next monthly Developer Livestream will be next Friday, March 14! Join our regular panel of Jorg, Seb, and Martial as they discuss Sim Update 1, World Update 19, and more! If you would like to submit a question to the panel in advance, you can do so by completing this web form. As always, we will be taking live questions from viewers from the chat, so be sure to follow our official Twitch channel so you can be notified when the stream goes live. Immediately following the Developer Livestream, we will begin our weekly Community Fly-In Friday event, so stick around and enjoy a beautiful group flight with many fellow simmers -- pilots on both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 and both PC and Xbox are welcome!

Last but not least, March 3-9 is Women of Aviation Week! The Microsoft Flight Simulator team salutes all the hard-working and capable women working around the world as pilots, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, mechanics, flight attendants, and every other aviation career! To mark this occasion, we will be participating in a Women in Aviation event at Springbank Airport (CYBW) near Calgary, Alberta, Canada hosted by Mount Royal University. If you're in the Calgary area on Saturday, March 8, stop by Springbank to meet some members of the Flight Sim team and learn more about various aviation careers. This is an all-ages, family friendly event designed to introduce and inspire the next generation of aviation professionals. Admission is free! Full event details are here.

- MSFS Team

Click here to continue reading the Development Update!

If you are playing on PC, outdated packages in your community folder may have an unexpected impact on the title’s performance and behavior.

If you suffer from stability issues or long loading times, move your community package(s) to another folder before relaunching the title.


Many of you are eagerly anticipating the inclusion of the Marketplace. We are excited to share that the Marketplace is coming shortly, as we are making final tweaks to ensure it meets everyone’s expectations.

• Fixed rare crash during airport generation
  
• Fixed crash when selecting livery after reloading the game while not flying the default variation
  
• Fixed crash when using ‘Skip to’ feature at beginning of exam.
  
• Fixed potential crash when switching ON/OFF the VR mode during a flight
  
• Renamed “Bandwidth” to “Download” in DisplayFPS panel to avoid misinterpretation by the community
  
• Optimized texture memory usage of WASM gauges
  
• Fixed crash when closing the game during package mounting.
  
• Fixed crash when many avatars meet up online
  
• Fixed crash on Xbox that would occur when accessing areas close to the antemeridian, such as the Savusavu Airport (NFNS) for instance
  
• Improved loading times for packages with lots of individual files
  
• General Bug Fixes
  
• Fixed an issue where the controller was losing inputs if the user went into the filters advanced map layers leaves the sub menu then go back in it
  
• Fixed an issue where going to the world map filters layers would sometimes soft lock the user when going to another page
  
• Fixed community packages preventing streamed packages with the same name from being found by the sim.
  
• Fixed wrong HUD color (purple/white instead of green) on some aircraft
  
• Fixed scene flickering on Xbox sometimes when memory usage is high
  
• Added profanity check on Callsign and FlightNumber in aircraft configurator
  
• Fixed a bug where non selectable aircraft were not taken into consideration by various system after a mount/unmount or after a Build Package
  
• Fixed an issue where going into a showcase “Fixed camera” in the camera panel would cause the camera to go in the cockpit view when reopening the same panel
  
• Fixed multiplayer nameplate display range to low
  
• Fixed UI render issue of items outside of their frame
  
• Fixed Deluxe/Premium/Aviator content not being streamed when booting the game for the first time
  
• The camera panel no longer forces the cockpit view when opened
  
• Fixed swapped colors between Offline and Online friends
  
• Fixed missing music on legacy Discovery flight Activities
  
• Fixed CLOCK_HOURS/MINUTES_INC/DEC events not behaving as expected
  
• Fixed several time-related issues such as ZULU/CLOCK SET events not behaving as expected
  
• Fixed usage of real time instead of flight time when initializing switches (fixes light issues when starting a flight with a sim time that is different from the real time)
  
• Fixed community packages being duplicated inside content.xml on each boot. Already existing duplicates are removed from file on boot.
  
• Increased screen exposure under heavy cloud cover
  

• Fixed FS2020 planes exterior lights bleeding into cockpit when displayed in FS2024
  
• Fixed wrong font selected when rendering XML Gauge elements
  
• Forced 2024 SimVar AMBIENT LIGHT SENSOR to return a very high value if requested from a 2020 sim (can happen if referencing an instrument that has been updated in 2024)
  
• Fixed textures referenced in FX files not properly loaded when the package is streamed
  
• Fixed emissives brightness
  

Click here to continue reading the Release Notes

MSFS Team