April 18th, 2024 - Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

This week’s Screenshot Challenge winner is Forum user ZILLNIAZI17! If you’re interested in participating in our weekly Screenshot Challenges, check out the details in the Community section below!

On Tuesday, we launched two new releases!

City Update 06: Southwest Germany is a FREE download from the in-sim Marketplace that enhances the scenery in Germany’s Baden-Württemberg state. Please see this page for more information.
Local Legend 15: Dornier Do 31 is available from the in-sim Marketplace for USD $14.99. You can learn more about this experimental VTOL plane from Germany here.

Also earlier this week, we released a new Xbox-only pre-release test build for simmers enrolled in the optional Sim Update 15 public beta. This build (1.37.13.0) improves performance and stability on Xbox Series X|S consoles. PC players enrolled in the beta will not receive this new build as the changes are for Xbox only.

There was also a small update released to all simmers earlier today. This release includes updated navdata (AIRAC cycle 2404) plus improvements to over 150 airports submitted by community volunteers participating in the ongoing World Hub closed alpha test. You can read the full details on our forums here.

Our next Developer Livestream is coming up next week on Wednesday, April 24th at 10:30am PDT (1730 UTC). Don’t miss this chance to hear our regular panel of Jorg, Seb, and Martial answer questions from the community and discuss future updates coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator. We are currently reviewing all the pre-submitted questions from the community and will ensure the most common topics are addressed by our panel. If you missed the opportunity to pre-submit a question, don’t worry! As always, we will also be taking questions live from Twitch chat during the stream. The livestream will be broadcast on our official Twitch channel, so please follow it to be notified when we go live if you have not already done so.

Finally, if you follow @MSFSOfficial on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, you may have noticed that we’ve been running an MSFS Madness tournament over the past three weeks where you, the community, voted for your favorite aircraft in a series of head-to-head matchups. From a starting field of 64 aircraft from the Standard, Deluxe, Premium Deluxe, Game of the Year Edition, and 40th Anniversary Edition, plus every Local Legend, Famous Flyer, and Expert Series aircraft, voters selected the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner as the winner! We hope everyone who participated enjoyed MSFS Madness! You can see the entire tournament bracket with the community’s choices in each round below.

– MSFS Team

Development Update

Development Roadmap

Feedback Snapshot

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Feedback Snapshot.

No update this week.

SDK UPDATE

Asobo

No update this week.

Working Title / MSFS Avionics Framework

No update this week.

Marketplace

Marketplace Releases

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Marketplace Update.

There are 41 new and 69 updated products in this week’s Marketplace Update.

RELEASED EARLIER
New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox

41 NEW PRODUCTS: 21 ON PC, 20 ON XBOX
New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox
New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox
New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox
New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox
New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox	New on PC
New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox
New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox

69 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 37 ON PC, 32 ON XBOX
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC	Updated on PC
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC
Updated on PC	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox		Updated on PC and Xbox

Marketplace Backlog

Current Backlog: 474 Total

BACKLOG: NEW PRODUCTS

Content Type	In MS Processing	In MS Testing	In 3P Testing	Total
	*Testing Status*
Aircraft	20	0	8	28
Mission	44	31	51	126
Scenery	10	2	2	14
Livery	55	2	13	70
Airport	26	16	24	66
Other	14	2	6	22
Total	169	53	104	326

BACKLOG: UPDATED PRODUCTS

Content Type	In MS Processing	In MS Testing	In 3P Testing	Total
	*Testing Status*
Aircraft	9	9	6	24
Mission	10	0	0	10
Scenery	14	14	0	28
Livery	29	5	6	40
Airport	22	5	17	44
Other	2	0	0	2
Total	86	33	29	148

THIRD PARTY UPDATE

As of 04/15, we have now approved 274 (+6) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 223 (+2) have released 3,447 products on PC (+16) and 3,207 on Xbox (+17).
In total, 4,342 products (+43) have already been released in 3^rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 850 products (-10) from 3^rd party developers are in production (342 announced, 508 unannounced). In total, over 5,192 3^rd party products (+33) have either been released or are in development.
Airports:
- 2,406 airports (+20) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 2,177 airports (+16) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 1,644 airports (+11) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 116 airports (+2) beyond the released airports have been announced.
  - 113 airports (-3) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
Aircraft:
- 817 aircraft (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 386 aircraft (+4) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 304 aircraft (+5) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
  - 289 aircraft (+5) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
  - 207 aircraft (-2) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
  - 222 aircraft (-4) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
Scenery:
- 1,132 scenery packs (+6) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 1,095 scenery packs (+3) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 659 scenery packs (+3) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 20 scenery packs (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
  - 17 scenery packs (+3) are not announced but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
Mission Packs:
- 357 mission packs (+11) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 295 mission packs (+15) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 233 mission packs (+14) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
  - 62 mission packs (-4) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.
Livery Packs:
- 443 livery packs (+2) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 362 livery packs (+5) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 353 livery packs (+4) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 1 livery pack (+0) beyond the released scenery has been announced.
  - 80 livery packs (-3) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
Ships & Watercraft:
- 38 ships & watercraft (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 27 ships (+0) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 22 ships (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 ships (+0) beyond the released ships have been announced.
  - 11 ships (+0) are not announced, but dev let us know that ships are in production.

Community

Community Fly-In Friday

The Community Fly-In Friday World Tour continues!

This week, we’re flying across the Iberian Peninsula from Madrid to Lisbon!

Our flight starts where we left off last time at LEMD, the Spanish capital. Our first destination will be the Spanish city of Toledo. From there, we will fly westbound to Coimbra, a city of historic and cultural significance and home to Portugal’s first university. We will then turn south towards the capital city of Lisbon.

Be sure to install the free World Update VIII: Iberia from the in-sim Marketplace for the best experience during this flight.

Event details are available here. All are welcome to participate!

Community Video

With the Solar Eclipse last week, we saw a flock of fliers jumping into Microsoft Flight Simulator to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon in the virtual world!

Popular YouTuber Jeff Favignano has created a video not only showcasing how you all can witness the recent Solar Eclipse, but also setting the in-sim time back over thirty years ago to 1991 to show off a total Solar Eclipse.

We loved to watch this unique way of seeing the world in the simulator, so go and try it yourself!