Weekly Recap

Following last week’s Developer Livestream, Sim Update 5 is nearing the finish line as the team completes final polish. One additional pre-release test build is planned for participants in the optional public beta. In parallel, we’re validating that the Oversized Cargo Rating (previously called Heavy Cargo Rating) is ready to go and resolving an issue with AMD frame generation discovered by community testers during the public beta. We expect to confirm readiness by Monday, with release currently targeted for next week pending final validation. We appreciate your continued support and feedback as we bring SU5 to launch.

Since our last Weekly Briefing, we released two new SU5 beta test builds. You can read the release notes at the following links:

Steam users enrolled in the SU5 beta may have also noticed a third Steam-only test build (1.7.23.0) as well. This build contains a few minor modifications to help developers with testing, but it has no user-facing changes. Accordingly, there are no public release notes for this build.

Finally, in case you missed it last week, we published the latest Development Update blog. This post contains a high-level summary of all the news and information the panel shared during the April 15 Developer Livestream on Twitch. You can read this Development Update blog post at this link.

Check out this week’s NEW and UPDATED releases for both the MSFS (2020) and MSFS 2024 in-sim Marketplaces.

Explore Products

Community Fly-In Friday

This week we’re off to Spain’s beautiful Canary Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Morocco. The Canary Islands have a comfortable climate and many beaches which makes them an incredibly popular tourist destination.

Optional Payware Add-on: Developer Island Creations has several scenery add-ons available in the Marketplace that enhance different areas of the Canary Islands. This purchase is entirely optional and is not required to join this fly-in.

See Event Details

Highlights from last week’s Community Fly-In

Last week’s event took place between Palmdale and Phoenix for a flight through the USA, showcasing the iniBuilds TriStar!

Here are some screenshots from the Fly-In:

Screenshot by SparrowJLT

Screenshot by Orbitbold

Weekly Flight Inspiration

The world is a big place! If you’re looking for ideas about where to fly this week, check out our Community Managers’ recommendation here!

Today marks Saint George’s Day, the Patron Saint of England. Why not take a tour through some of England’s counties and coastlines to explore some of the landscapes on offer?

Airport of the Day

Today’s Airport of the Day is SBGL! Head over there and search for fellow pilots in the sky, and feel free to join our Airport of the Day Voice Chat in Discord anytime! The airport refreshes daily to provide a new spot for simmers to meet and fly.

upcoming Community Events

Regular Community Fly-Ins: If you’re looking to join in with group flights, or even host your own, the best place to begin is via our dedicated Forum category. With a whole host of groups organising regular events, there’s something for everyone! Find more details here.

Community Video

What’s better than exploring the Jurassic World Archipelago scenery package from Orbx? Doing it in VR! Popular YouTuber Jeff Favignano takes a look around this scenery, getting up close and personal with the Dinosaurs that inhabit the area. Following up with a flight in the Huey helicopter by Taog’s Hangar, this video has it all!