MSFS2020 MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR RELEASE TIMES

If you purchased the simulator via the Microsoft Store, you will be able to start downloading MSFS on a rolling release depending on your timezone. Please identify your country below to see what time the sim will unlock for you.

If you purchased the simulator via Steam, you will be able to download at 04:00 UTC ( August 18, 12:00am EST) universally across all countries.

Also, watch out for some incredible giveaways on our socials this week! We have partnered with some amazing companies and have a ton of swag to give away. Happy launch week, and happy flying!

AUGUST 17, 2020

10:00 UTC

Kiribati

11:00 UTC

American Samoa, The Marshall Islands, Mauru, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, The United States Minor Outlying Islands, Wallis and Futuna

12:00 UTC

Antarctica, Fiji, New Zealand 

13:00 UTC

New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu

14:00 UTC

Australia, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, The Northern Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea

15:00 UTC

Japan, The Republic of Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Palau, Timor-Leste

16:00 UTC

Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan

17:00 UTC

Cambodia, Christmas Island, Indonesia, The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Thailand, Viet Nam

17:30 UTC

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Myanmar

18:00 UTC

Bangladesh, Bhutan, The British Indian Ocean Territory, Kyrgyzstan

18:15 UTC

Nepal

18:30 UTC

India, Sri Lanka

19:00 UTC

The French Southern Territories, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

19:30 UTC

Afghanistan

20:00 UTC

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Mauritius, Oman, Qatar, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy, Seychelles, The United Arab Emirates, Yemen

21:00 UTC 

Åland Islands, Belarus, The Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mayotte, The Republic of Moldova, Palestine, Romania, The Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine

22:00 UTC

Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Eswatini, France, Germany, Gibraltar, The Holy See, Hungary, Italy, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Republic of North Macedonia, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Svalbard  and Jan Mayen, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe

23:00 UTC

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, The Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Kongo, The Congo, Equatorial Guinea, The Faroe Islands, Gabon, Isle of Man,  Ireland, Morocco, The Niger, Nigeria, Portugal, Saint Helena, Ascension, and the Tristan da Cunha, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

AUGUST 18, 2020

00:00 UTC

Bouvet Island, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Greenland, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, Jersey, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

01:00 UTC

Cabo Verde, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

03:00 UTC

Anguilla, Anguilla and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Dominica, Brazil (BRT), The Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands (U.S.)

04:00 UTC

The Bahamas, Brazil (AMT), Plurinational State of Bolivia, Canada, The Cayman Islands, Chile, Curaçao, The Falkland Islands, Georgia, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, The Turks and Caicos Islands, The United States of America (Eastern), Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

05:00 UTC

Belize, Brazil (ACT), Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, The United States of America (Central)

07:00 UTC

Pitcairn, The United States of America (Western)

10:00 UTC

The Cook Islands French Polynesia

March 5th, 2020 – Development Update

In light of recent health concerns, we’ve asked the team to focus on their health and well-being. As a result, our normal development updates will be scaled back over the next few weeks as we continue to monitor the situation. On behalf of the entire team, we express our sincere apologies for the impact this decision has on our community. We will do our best to continue providing status updates, and look forward to resuming regular postings in the near future.

  • MSFS TEAM

NEXT UPDATE WILL CONTAIN:

  • Timeline update for pre-release build testing (e.g. Alpha, etc.).
  • Update on a new Alpha build that is coming very soon.
  • Update on next round of Alpha invitations.
  • Feature Discovery Series Episode 8 (still tracking to a March 12th release).
  • DR Roadmap update preview for April/May (this is going to be worth paying attention to).
  • Feedback Snapshot update preview.
  • Partnership Series update.
  • SDK update.
  • Feature Discovery Series update.

Some big things coming on the horizon!

In the meantime…

MORE GREAT SCREENSHOTS FROM ALPHA PARTICIPANTS!

Screenshot credit: SlidHydra647449

Screenshot credit: Eigil A

Screenshot credit: JonasAlexandr2

Screenshot credit: djays72

Screenshot credit: RealestAirdoo

Screenshot credit: Batlle777

Screenshot credit: skellyy61

Screenshot credit: MoMedia1

Screenshot credit: JonasAlexander2

Screenshot credit: Lewiskelly02

Screenshot credit: TheMrEricM

Screenshot credit: thomas3302

Screenshot credit: tomlaut1980

Screenshot credit: Icon32

Screenshot credit: Acktu Nasrabi 

NEXT UPDATE – 03.12! (fingers crossed)

Sincerely,

Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

February 13th 2020 – FS2020 Dev Update

Screenshot credit – ChicoMick

 “16GOLFBRAVO YOU ARE CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF”

  •   MSFS TEAM

FEATURE DISCOVERY SERIES

  • EPISODE 6 – 02.20

We are scheduled to release Episode 6 (Airports) in our update next week! This episode will provide an in-depth look at the airports we are building for the next generation of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

  • EPISODE 7 – 03.05

Episode 7 (IFR) has officially been scheduled for release on March 5th!

ALPHA INVITATIONS GOING OUT NOW!

Starting today (02.13) through next Tuesday (02.18), we will be sending out another round of Alpha invitations!

SDK UPDATE

We are still in the process of rolling out SDK access to all of our partners. If you’ve not yet received access, hang in there as we are working to get everyone added as quickly as possible.

Currently, we’ve got over 30 partners with access to the SDK. The feedback has been incredibly beneficial to the team as we continue to work hard on upcoming features.

In the next Alpha update, you can expect improvements for existing tools, a new in-game aircraft editor will allow configuration tuning for aircraft parameters including the flight model with onscreen debug support.

DR PREVIEW NOW AVAILABLE IN THE INSIDER AREA

The March preview of the DR is now available in the Insider Area!

FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT UPDATE NOW AVAILABLE IN THE INSIDER AREA.

Preview version of the latest update to the Feedback Snapshot is now available in the Insider Area!

MORE GREAT SCREENSHOTS FROM ALPHA PARTICIPANTS!

Screenshot credit – OptimuPrime76

Screenshot credit – Airway383443

Screenshot credit – FalconUAV

Screenshot credit – Ryanbatc

Screenshot credit – DeshmindER

Screenshot credit – ContentMilk7598

Screenshot credit – Vicpaulini

Next update – 02.20!

Sincerely,

Microsoft Flight Simulator Team