July 4th, 2024 - Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

This week’s Screenshot Challenge winner is Twitter user @CpuGeta486! If you’re interested in participating in our weekly Screenshot Challenges, check out the details in the Community section below!

To simmers in the United States, we’d like to wish you a happy Independence Day! Many of our team members are enjoying the holiday themselves today, so this Development Update will be abbreviated compared to most other weeks. In particular, there are no new or updated Marketplace products releasing today, but a few products did release earlier this week on Monday and Tuesday. Please see the Marketplace section below for more details!

Two of this week’s releases come directly from the MSFS team! To celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, City Update 9: Northeastern USA is now available FREE from the in-sim Marketplace. Additionally, we also launched a new aircraft from our Local Legends series, a storied American cargo aircraft: the Curtiss C-46 Commando! This plane is available in the Marketplace for USD $14.99 (discounted pricing for owners of the Deluxe/Premium Deluxe Editions apply).

We recently updated our Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 FAQ page with more information about November’s upcoming release, including some additional clarification about how your owned MSFS2020 add-on products (from both the in-sim Marketplace and from external sites) will be transitioned to MSFS2024. Check it out here!

Our next monthly Developer Livestream is coming up next week on Tuesday, July 9 at 10:30am PDT (1730 UTC). Be sure to follow our official Twitch channel so you’ll be notified when our panel of Jorg, Seb, Martial, and special guests go live to answer questions from the community and discuss future updates to Microsoft Flight Simulator. We’ll be taking questions live from Twitch chat during the broadcast, and you can also use this web form to pre-submit a question to the panel in advance.

Finally, we have an upcoming community event! If you live near or are able to travel to Cologne, Germany on August 24 and would like an opportunity to mingle with some MSFS team members and other flight sim fans, you can express your interest by filling out the form at this link!

– MSFS Team

Development Update

Development Roadmap

Feedback Snapshot

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

SDK UPDATE

Asobo

No update

Working Title / MSFS Avionics Framework

No update

Marketplace

Marketplace Releases

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

There are 18 new and 9 updated products in this week’s Marketplace Update.

Please note that there were no new releases on Thursday, July 4 due to the Independence Day holiday in the USA.

Released Earlier: 4 NEW Products, 2 UPDATED Products: 3 ON PC, 3 ON XBOX
New on PC and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox

Released Monday, July 1: 14 NEW Products: 8 ON PC, 6 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
New on PC and Xbox		New on PC

Released Monday, July 1: 7 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 4 ON PC, 3 ON XBOX
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC
	Updated on PC and Xbox

Marketplace Backlog

Current Backlog: 363 Total

BACKLOG: NEW PRODUCTS

Content Type	In MS Processing	In MS Testing	In 3P Testing	Total
	*Testing Status*
Aircraft	13	0	4	17
Mission	9	13	94	116
Scenery	19	6	2	27
Livery	5	1	12	18
Airport	28	2	16	46
Other	16	2	12	30
Total	90	24	140	254

BACKLOG: UPDATED PRODUCTS

Content Type	In MS Processing	In MS Testing	In 3P Testing	Total
	*Testing Status*
Aircraft	29	1	9	39
Mission	0	0	0	0
Scenery	6	4	0	10
Livery	16	9	9	34
Airport	14	1	7	22
Other	0	2	2	4
Total	65	17	27	109

THIRD PARTY UPDATE

As of 06/29, we have now approved 293 (+0) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 235 (+0) have released 3,807 products on PC (+22) and 3,558 on Xbox (+29).
In total, 4,604 products (+64) have already been released in 3rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 791 products (-7) from 3rd party developers are in production (333 announced, 458 unannounced). In total, over 5,395 3rd party products (+57) have either been released or are in development.
Airports:
2,409 airports (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
- - 2,207 airports (+4) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 1,710 airports (+14) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 107 airports (+0) beyond the released airports have been announced.
  - 95 airports (-3) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
Aircraft:
- 839 aircraft (+8) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 415 aircraft (+8) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 332 aircraft (+6) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
  - 318 aircraft (+8) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
  - 205 aircraft (+4) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
  - 219 aircraft (-4) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
Scenery:
- 1,167 scenery packs (+8) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 1,131 scenery packs (+5) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 695 scenery packs (+3) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 20 scenery packs (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
  - 16 scenery packs (+3) are not announced but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
Mission Packs:
- 464 mission packs (+28) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 403 mission packs (+31) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 343 mission packs (+32) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
  - 61 mission packs (-3) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.
Livery Packs:
- 478 livery packs (+12) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 421 livery packs (+16) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 411 livery packs (+15) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 1 livery pack (+0) beyond the released scenery has been announced.
  - 56 livery packs (-5) 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 pick up in Tripoli where we last left off on June 14. We’ll then be leaving North Africa behind, travelling partway across the Mediterranean Sea as we make our way back toward Europe. Our full stop landing will be at Valletta, capital city of Malta.

For the best experience, be sure to download the FREE World Update IX: Italy and Malta from the in-sim Marketplace.

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

Community Video

Submitted via our forums, this week’s Community Video is created by Cpt. WhiteKnight, with a beautifully constructed cinematic video focusing on the USA.

Filmed in a wider aspect ratio, this video captures the vast variety of landscapes seen across the United States and how they are represented in Microsoft Flight Simulator. We always enjoy the incredible production value in all of Cpt. WhiteKnight’s videos, and can’t wait to see what’s in store for their next project!

Creator of the Month

For July, we’re pleased to highlight Pilot Studd (aka Brandon) as our community content creator of the month!

With a focus on flight simulation, real world flight training, aviation news, and more, Pilot Studd has consistently been providing amazing content for over four years now and attributes this passion for aviation to his love for flight simulation.

Brandon enjoys the ability to use Microsoft Flight Simulator as a training tool to practice navigation and circuit procedures for their Private Pilots License. With a hope to pursue a career in the private jet sector, Pilot Studd is looking forward to exploring the VIP Charter Service activities in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

We’d like to wish Brandon the best of luck with their PPL qualification. We can’t wait to see how your content evolves and grows in the future. Check out @pilot.studd‘s Instagram page for some of his content, and find more through his linktree!