August 17th, 2023 Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

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

August 18th is the three-year anniversary of the PC launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator! To the over 12 million sim pilots who have flown with us on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox Cloud Gaming: thank you for your support! We hope you’ve enjoyed your time in the skies with us over the last three years!

Public testing for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s next major release, Sim Update 13 (SU_13), remains ongoing. We genuinely appreciate everyone who has enrolled in the beta and is reporting bugs and other issues with the 1.34.10.0 test build on our forums. Your feedback is extremely useful to the developers as they prepare SU_13 for a full release next month. If you are not currently enrolled in the beta but would like to help test this pre-release build, you can find instructions on our forums here. The public test is available to MSFS players on PC (MS Store and Steam) and Xbox Series X|S.

Yesterday, August 16, there was a service outage that affected Live Weather in the simulator. Our support team was in contact with our weather data provider, and this issue is now resolved. We thank you for your patience while our team worked to restore normal service.

Finally, the Community Team would like to welcome our new European Community Manager, Chewwy94! Many of you may recognize Chewwy as a long-time flight sim enthusiast and Twitch streamer. We’re thrilled to have him join the team, and you can look forward to seeing more of Chewwy on our forums, Twitch channel, and other social networks in the coming weeks.

– MSFS Team

Feedback Snapshot

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

Development Roadmap

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Development Roadmap.

Marketplace Update

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

There are 41 new and 27 updated products in the Marketplace today, and 6 products that were earlier today. Thursday’s Marketplace update generally goes live before 5pm PT.

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

27 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 16 ON PC, 11 ON XBOX
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC	Updated on PC
Updated on Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC	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		Updated on PC and Xbox

Marketplace Backlog

Current Backlog: 418 Total

BACKLOG: NEW PRODUCTS

	*Testing Status*
Content Type	Initial Processing and Validation by MS	Handed off to 3P for Functional Testing	Functional Testing in Progress by 3P	Functional Testing Signed off by 3P	Total
Aircraft	47	5	0	2	54
Mission	16	18	8	0	42
Scenery	23	1	4	1	29
Livery	28	6	3	1	38
Airport	48	4	5	0	57
Other	38	17	5	0	60
Total	200	51	25	4	280

BACKLOG: UPDATED PRODUCTS

	*Testing Status*
Content Type	Initial Processing and Validation by MS	Handed off to 3P for Functional Testing	Functional Testing in Progress by 3P	Functional Testing Signed off by 3P	Total
Aircraft	26	2	1	6	35
Mission	2	0	0	0	2
Scenery	7	1	1	0	9
Livery	38	2	2	1	43
Airport	32	11	4	0	47
Other	2	0	0	0	2
Total	107	16	8	7	138

SDK UPDATE

Asobo

No update this week.

Working Title / MSFS Avionics Framework

The latest version of the Avionics Framework is available including NPM packages for AAU_02 updates.
Check out MSFS Avionics Source Code Mirror to access the latest Avionics Framework source code.
Find documentation about the avionics framework here: MSFS Avionics Frameworks and Instruments.
Upcoming framework updates::
- Adding Step Climb logic to BoeingSDK. (SU13)
- Adding support for map/heading sync to the Framework and Garmin SDK. (SU_13)
- Adding support for dynamically positioned windows and pop-ups to the Avionics Framework Garmin SDK . (AAU_03)
- Adding support for intercepting and handling reverse thrust key events to the Avionics Framework ThrottleLeverManager to improve reliability of setting reverse thrust with the REVERSE THRUST TOGGLE events. (SU_13)
- Adding ELEVATOR POSITION simvar to the Avionics Framework ControlSurfaceEvents interface. (AAU_03)
- Adding new AccelerometerPublisher to Avionics Framework publishers. (AAU_03)
- Adding above_ground_height topic to GNSSEvents publisher in the Avionics Framework. (AAU_03)
- Adding support in the Avionics Framework autopilot to use the max bank value simvar when no max bank angle is specified in the APConfig for the aircraft or avionics. (AAU_03)

THIRD PARTY UPDATE

As of 08/14, we have now approved 234 (+0) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 196 (+0) have released 2,526 products on PC (+22) and 2,238 on Xbox (+22).
In total, 3,488 products(+25) have already been released in 3^rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 731 products (+15) from 3^rd party developers are in production (356 announced, 375 unannounced). In total, over 4,219 3^rd party products (+40) have either been released or are in development.
Airports:
- 2,082 airports (+10) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 1,854 airports (+12) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 1,325 airports (+9) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 125 airports (+1) beyond the released airports have been announced.
  - 103 airports (-3) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
Aircraft:
- 639 aircraft (+3) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 276 aircraft (+3) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 212 aircraft (+2) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
  - 194 aircraft (+1) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
  - 210 aircraft (+0) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
  - 153 aircraft (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
Scenery:
- 966 scenery packs (+19) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 918 scenery packs (+2) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 476 scenery packs (+1) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 20 scenery packs (-1) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
  - 28 scenery packs (+20) are not announced but the dev let us know that scenery is in production
Mission Packs:
- 196 mission packs (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 180 mission packs (+2) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 119 mission packs (+2) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
  - 16 mission packs (-2) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.
Livery Packs:
- 301 livery packs (+6) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 234 livery packs (+6) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 227 livery packs (+4) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 1 livery pack (+0) beyond the released scenery has been announced.
  - 66 livery packs (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
Ships & Watercraft:
- 35 ships & watercraft (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 26 ships & watercraft (+0) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 19 ships & watercraft (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 ships & watercraft (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
  - 9 ships & watercraft (+0) are not announced, but dev let us know that scenery is in production

Community Fly-In

August 17 is Indonesia Independence Day! To celebrate the national holiday of this Southeast Asian nation, our Community Fly-In Friday event this week will be a flight across the island of Java from Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta to the popular tourist destination of Bali.

For the best experience, we recommend downloading the free World Update XIII: Oceania from the Marketplace.

This week is also the three-year anniversary of the PC release of Microsoft Flight Simulator on August 18, 2020! In recognition of this date, we will be conducting multiple prize giveaways throughout Friday’s livestream! Viewers can enter a random draw from Twitch chat to win one of these prizes:

Saitek – Pro Flight Yoke System Gaming Controller for PC (three winners)
Any Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace item of the winner’s choice (three winners)

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

Community Video

In this week’s community video, YouTuber Jeff Favignano flies the high fidelity PMDG Boeing 737 addon in Australia from Sydney to Melbourne on the VATSIM Multiplayer Network. Jeff and his flying buddies experience a turbulent trip between the two major cities, and viewers will see some stunning sunset views to close out their approach into YMML.

If you’d like to replicate Jeff’s flight, you can pick up the PMDG Boeing 737 via the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace now. Why not try your hand at learning one of the world’s most popular commercial jetliners?

Screenshot Challenge

You can submit your screenshot via Twitter with #MSFSchallenge or the Weekly Forum Post! This week’s screenshot challenge: Your Favourite Screenshot

This past week’s Screenshot Challenge was “Wildlife Photography“!

Weekly Screenshot Challenge Winner: IronWings_VP (Twitter))