Microsoft has recently released the highly anticipated Sim Update 3 for MSFS 2024, marking one of the biggest updates to the simulator since launch. It brings performance fixes, weather and world upgrades, aircraft, traffic, and ATC changes, airport improvements, SDK updates, and broad adjustments to core systems, and career mode.

Labelled version 1.5.27.0, SU3 brings wide-ranging changes, including the highly requested ability to locally download content from the MSFS Library. This allows more control over content management, with simulator files being able to be stored locally on a user’s system, rather than relying solely on cloud-based streaming and internet downloads.

Fixes to weather include an issue where the correct METAR data was not always honoured at airports; furthermore, lightning in storms is now far less excessive, thunderstorm prediction is better, and cloud transitions on the world map are smoother. Distant cloud lighting has been improved, photogrammetry tile popping is reduced, and map camera zooming has been corrected. Streaming reliability should be better, including fixes for freezes caused by mislabelled sound folders.

AI and live traffic now flow more smoothly, with fewer overshoots, “rear-end incidents”, and stuck vehicles. Taxi speeds have been tuned, parked aircraft distribution rebalanced, and model-matching now prefers AI-optimised assets. Contrails rendering has been improved, gear animations have been corrected, livery depiction improved, and generic placeholder aircraft have been phased out.

Aircraft across the default fleet have received updates, with refinements to Garmin avionics and autopilot systems. The Boeing 787, 747, and Airbus A320neo have seen flight dynamics and stability tweaks, while the Cessna 172 and Daher TBM 930 have received various bug fixes and performance improvements.

Significant performance and stability upgrades have also been introduced. Sim Update 3 includes better memory management, improved CPU and GPU balancing, and reduced stuttering, during heavy scenery loading. Smoother framerates should be noticable in high-density areas, such as large international airports, and photogrammetry-heavy cities. 

Some of the addressed issues include Xbox boot crashes when many packages are installed, several rare parser and stall‑warning crashes, VR in/out switching, airport‑rendering freezes, and texture handling that could corrupt WASM gauges, on Series S, or low‑texture settings on PC. Menu caching in Controls now reduces unnecessary file I/O, and avatar thumbnails are generated faster. DLSS Multi‑Frame Generation options have been corrected, and multiple content management edge cases have been cleaned up, in order to prevent profile or content conflicts.

Sim Update 3 is available now on all platforms, as a free download for all MSFS 2024 users. Full patch notes can be found on the official Microsoft Flight Simulator website, and the MSFS forums.

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