A new format of news update for Microsoft Flight Simulator has debut – the new “Weekly Briefing” is going to do more high level snapshots of MSFS news while keeping items like the screenshot challenge going. The key items in this update is a good summary of what the team are plotting for Sim Update 5 along with updated release windows for a bunch of content. Let’s have a look!

Sim Update 5 is coming and that’s not all

There are still reportedly 2-3 “must-fix” bugs still in the pipeline for Sim Update 5 with the report that they are cautiously optimistic that they will be fixed in the next couple of days. If so, Sim Update 5 should launch next week.

The update contains a series of fixes to the core of the sim and community reporting from the beta suggests that some are seeing some good reductions in VRAM usage which should be good news for everyone hopefully. There’s Aircraft & Avionics Update 4 coming with the update that will update the ATR 42/72-600, Antonov An-2, Fokker F.VII, Savoia-Marchetti S.55/S.55X and Latécoère 631. Other aircraft will see updates in future A&AU updates.

For PlayStation users, Sim Update 5 should be a big moment opening up the Marketplace for the first batch of content. It won’t be everything all at once as Sony has to approve updates that arrive into the marketplace first.

Rather than a “full Marketplace” arriving all at once, add-ons must pass Sony’s platform and performance requirements, including technical evaluation on PS5 hardware. Some products from the initial batch did not meet performance standards and will require adjustments, but a selection of approved third-party add-ons is planned to be available when Sim Update 5 releases, with more to follow over time.

PSVR2 support is also slated to arrive with the update.

World Update 21: Australia is set to update Australia with new airports, points of interest, challenges, journeys and imagery. That is slated to arrive in May with no specific date provided. It will come with the iniBuilds developed CAC Boomerang warbird.

Further afield, the Piper M600 by FSReborn has been announced as arriving in June 2026 and its a good guess that it will probably be locked and loaded for launch during FSExpo 2026. This is Expert Series 2 (the ATR was the first) so expect a slightly higher price and much greater fidelity than your average Microsoft partnered launch.

Expert Series 3: Embraer Praetor is scheduled for launch in November of 2026. Working Title showed off a bit of a tease of what they were working on with the airplane and it appears to be at an extreme level of detail akin to what we see with A2A Simulations or Black Square. We’ll have to see if they reach that level at launch but it sounds impressive. We’ll be waiting to see that come in November.

Read the update here.