Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Microsoft Flight Simulator gets a Game of the Year Edition on Game Pass

DeAngelo Epps
By

Microsoft Flight Simulator has a new Game of the Year edition coming to Xbox Series X/S, Windows, and Steam on November 18. This new update of the game brings a load of new content to Flight Simulator along with all the content updates since its 2020 launch.

Microsoft Flight Simulator – Announcing the Game of the Year Edition

Microsoft Flight Simulator: Game of the Year Edition also enhances the previous experience of the title with five new aircraft and eight more handcrafted airports. New missions, tutorials, photogrammetric cities, and other features (including an updated weather system and a developer mode replay system) are also being implemented.

A plane turns upside down in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The game will add the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, VoloCity, Pilatus PC-6 Porter, CubCrafters NX Cub, and Aviat Pitts Special S1S as aircraft options. The new missions include more of the recently introduced Discovery Flights in new locations such as Singapore, Mount Cook, and Monument Valley. In a blog post, Microsoft notes that it’s adding “information” about 545 United States airports that were previously missing from the game. It’s unclear what exactly that means.

Recommended Videos

This new edition will be available on Xbox Series X/S, Steam, and Windows through purchase or a Game Pass subscription. That shows Microsoft doubling down on its commitment to launching all first-party games on the service. For those that have already purchased the previous version of Flight Simulator, this Game of the Year update is completely free to download.

Related

Microsoft Flight Simulator is currently available on Xbox Series X/S and Windows 10/11 with Xbox Game Pass and Steam. The Game of the Year edition will be coming to those same marketplaces as well as Xbox and PC Game Pass on November 18, 2021.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
DeAngelo Epps
DeAngelo Epps
De'Angelo Epps is a gaming writer passionate about the culture, communities, and industry surrounding gaming. His work ranges…
A field-of-view slider headlines Starfield’s latest update
An astronaut explores a planet's surface in Starfield.

Bethesda just released Update 1.7.36 for Starfield, and it officially added a highly requested feature: field-of-view (FOV) sliders.
Even though Starfield is a game that can be entirely played from a first-person perspective, it did not have this feature at release. Fans had to previously resort to mods to add this functionality to the game. Bethesda did promise it'd add FOV sliders to the game shortly after it launched, though, and now this feature has finally arrived. By going into the Accessibility tab of the Settings menu, players can adjust the FOV of both the first and third-person cameras on both console and PC.

This update does bring some other improvements as well, like fixing a progression-blocking issue in the Echoes of the Past quest and improving stability and performance. In particular, Bethesda claimed stability with Intel Arc GPUs will now be better for PC players. For most players, though, the FOV slider is the most important new feature included in this update.
Starfield isn't the only Bethesda game to get a notable update this month. Last week, Redfall finally received a patch that overhauled the game's encounters, tweaked its stealth system, and added a 60 fps Performance Mode. While this Starfield update isn't as large or monumental as that one, it does show Bethesda's commitment to improving Starfield and adding heavily requested features. Hopefully, updates that add things like Nvidia DLSS support, an HDR calibration menu, ultrawide monitor support, and an eat button for food aren't too far off.
Starfield is available now for PC and Xbox Series X/S.

Read more
Xbox’s 2023 games feel like the Series X launch lineup we never got
EMBARGO 10/4 12:01 AM PT: A camera angle up close to a Forza Motorsport race.

Even though we’re almost three years into the life span of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, it feels like this console generation is just starting for Microsoft.
It’s no secret that Xbox was slow to start up and then maintain consistency this console generation. For example, 2020 saw the company putting out a weak console launch lineup made up of ports and remasters. While 2021 had a flurry of great games, it was followed by a comparatively barren 2022. And 2023 hasn't been perfect either (due, in large part, to the flop that is Redfall), but outside of that, this year delivered the excellent Hi-Fi Rush, the grandly scaled Starfield, solid ports of two Age of Empires games and Quake II, a new Minecraft title, and a technical showpiece in Forza Motorsport.
Looking at that varied lineup, these games showcase both the potential of the Series X and the power of Xbox as a brand. Prospects for Xbox’s lineup are up heading into 2024 too, so it feels like we’re at the proper start of the Xbox Series X and S console generation ... even if it came a few years too late.
A new beginning 
Looking at the 2020 launch lineup for Xbox Series X/S, it wasn’t exactly emblematic of what the console could do. While there were some nice 4K and 60 frames per second (fps) upgrades for Xbox One games, the only new draws were a console port of Gears Tactics, the multiplayer-supporting Tetris Effect: Connected, a temporary next-gen exclusive version of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and some smaller indies like The Falconeer and Bright Memory 1.0.

Most of those games were on or came to more platforms afterward and, in general, didn’t provide that strong of an argument for why players should stick around this console generation. But looking at many of the games Xbox has released this year, it finally feels like we have a bundle of good Xbox exclusives that show what the platform was always capable of.
In my review of Forza Motorsport, I note that the game feels like a launch title because it’s an impressive technical showpiece. It runs at 4K and 60 fps in performance mode, which is something not many games this generation have done. The closest comparable games are Astro’s Playroom and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered on PlayStation 5, which effectively demonstrated the power of Sony's console early on.
Forza Motorsport was also built as a platform that developer Turn 10 Studios can expand over time. It plans to periodically slot in new single and multiplayer content, including new cars and tracks. A game like that makes a lot of sense early on in a console’s life span in this live-service era. It’s what Microsoft tried to do with Halo Infinite, even if that didn’t pan out as expected due to a one-year delay, and with Killer Instinct on Xbox One.

Read more
Cuphead is getting a free Xbox and Windows exclusive anniversary update
Cuphead battling boss in Cuphead DLC.

Cuphead is getting a new free update to celebrate its six-year anniversary. The Xbox Anniversary Update, which is exclusive for those who own the game on Xbox consoles and Windows, includes behind-the-scenes featurettes, the full game soundtrack, and more. It launches on September 29.

Released in 2017, Cuphead was a smash hit for developer StudioMDHR thanks to the game’s unique art style. Since then the developer has supported the game with new content including last year’s Delicious Last Course DLC. While the Anniversary update doesn’t bring any new gameplay to the package, it comes loaded with extras.

Read more