In their latest monthly developer livestream on Twitch, Microsoft has announced World Update XVI, along with the upcoming Famous Flyer, and other details about Sim Update 14. The one and a half hour long stream also covered some new features coming to Sim Update 15 as well as the upcoming World Hub.

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Starting with the World Update, it was announced that the focus area for the upcoming update would be the Caribbean, specifically  This update will feature new Digital Elevation Maps, new aerial imagery, and new technology that brings the bright blue shallow waters around the islands to the sim. There will also be 3 new bush trips, 3 landing challenges, and 3 discovery flights. On the scenery side, Microsoft and Asobo are again working with Gaya Simulations to bring over 100 points of interest and seven new bespoke airports to the sim. The seven new airports included are Vilo Acuña, Puerto Plata, Antoine-Simon Airport, Crown Point, Sangster, North Eleuthera, and Les Saintes.

During the stream, Microsoft also revealed that the Famous Flyer 8 will be the Cessna 207. Developed in partnership with Carenado, the Cessna 207 will be released along with Sim Update 14, which comes out in just a few days. The Cessna 207 is known for its expanded seating capacity of up to seven people, and the popular design language borrowed from the Cessna 172. Not much about the features included in the Carenado 207 have been announced as of the time of writing, but it will feature high-quality textures and multiple variants of the C207.

The team at Microsoft and Asobo also covered some additional information about the upcoming release of Sim Update 14. Multiple topics were covered, such as the new snow coverage system, the highly-requested improvements to the atmospheric lighting system, the avionics overhaul for the Cirrus SR-22 by Working Title, and many fixes and improvements. They also shared new previews for the sun and ozone changes.

There was also an extensive section covering a new update to ground handling. Microsoft and Asobo were able to accomplish this by taking some of the physics model changes from the rewritten engine for the upcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 to MSFS 2020. This allows the airframe to shake and respond to forces such as moving control surfaces and engine vibration. For the developers out there, they’re going to be adding a new parameter to define the flexibility of the airframe. This update is set to launch with the release of Sim Update 15.

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Finally, the team shared a new preview image of MSFS 2024, showing what looks like a beautiful rendition of the Grand Canyon in the United States.

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You can watch the full stream on the Official Microsoft Flight Simulator Twitch channel here.

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Stay tuned to Threshold for more high quality flight simulation news!