The July 30 weekly briefing for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 covered the ongoing Sim Update 6 beta, the Marketplace arrival of the A220 Airliner, and several community activities planned for the coming days.
Sim Update 6 public testing continued with build 1.8.10.0, which was released earlier this week for players enrolled in the optional beta. The development team asked testers to submit detailed bug reports and feedback through the beta program as testing continues.
The A220 Airliner is now available
The A220 Airliner from Synaptic Simulations and iniBuilds reached the in-game Marketplace on Tuesday. The team said thousands of simmers had already taken the aircraft into the virtual skies.
Xbox Wire also published an interview with the Synaptic Simulations developers about the aircraft’s creation in its feature on building the A220 Airliner.
Top Gun: Maverick leaves the MSFS 2020 Marketplace
The Top Gun: Maverick Expansion will leave the Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) Marketplace after August 2, 2026. Players who have not claimed the expansion will no longer be able to purchase it after that date.
Anyone who already claimed the expansion will keep access to it. The content can also be reinstalled through Content Manager later, including after moving to a new PC or console.
The expansion includes the F/A-18 and Darkstar, along with activities built around the film. Players who want to add it to their library need to claim it before the Marketplace removal takes effect.
Community Fly-In heads across Switzerland
The next Community Fly-In will take place on August 1 in celebration of Swiss National Day. The route will cross much of Switzerland from east to west, passing through Zurich, Lucerne, Bern, and Geneva while showcasing the country’s mountains, lakes, and towns.
The briefing recommended that MSFS 2020 players install the free World Update 6 and World Update 18 packages for the event. Optional Marketplace additions include Zurich Airport by FSDreamTeam or MK-Studios, Geneva Airport by RedWing, Grenchen Airport and Bern Airport by MXI Design, plus Trains: Switzerland from FS Trains. None of these purchases is required to join the group flight.
More community activities this week
Regular group flights remain available through the simulator’s community events forum, including opportunities for players to host their own sessions. The weekly flight inspiration also points back to the Top Gun expansion before its Marketplace departure.
This week’s screenshot challenge is titled Long Haul. The briefing also recognized woooshboom as the latest challenge winner and shared screenshots from community members across the forums, Discord, and X.
The featured community video follows AirForceProud95 on a long-distance Airbus A350 flight from Hong Kong to New York in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
The next weekly briefing is scheduled for August 6, 2026. Share your thoughts on Sim Update 6, the A220, and the Top Gun expansion in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, and Instagram.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Developed by Asobo Studio
Pursue your dream of an aviation career with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This brand-new simulator is designed to take advantage of the latest technologies in simulation, cloud, machine learning, graphics and gaming to create the most sophisticated, immersive and awe-inspiring flight simulator of all time. To achieve this unprecedented level of accuracy, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is powered by the significantly evolved Asobo Studio engine.
- Genre: Simulator
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation VR2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
- Perspective: First person, Third person, Virtual Reality
- Modes: Single player, Multiplayer
- Release: 2024-11-19
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
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Age Rating:
- IGDB Rating: 70.8/100
