Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update 23 came out on October 26, 2026, and it covers Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It’s free for everyone who owns the sim, in both Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Microsoft says this is the first time in the franchise’s history that the region has had its own dedicated update.
What’s in World Update 23
Asobo and Gaya Simulations built the update, with data from Bing Places. It adds 12 areas of interest made with updated photogrammetry, TIN surface texturing and digital elevation model (DEM) data. Eight of those areas are in Poland, two in Lithuania, one in Latvia and one in Estonia.
- Photogrammetry cities: Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), Kaunas and Vilnius (Lithuania), and Gdansk, Katowice, Krakow, Lodz, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw (Poland)
- 77 points of interest, including Malbork Castle, Sopot Pier, Trakai Island Castle, Rundāle Palace, the Riga Radio and TV Tower, and Kõpu Lighthouse in Estonia
- Five handcrafted airports by Gaya: Kärdla (EEKA), Jūrmala (EVJA), Palanga International (EYPA), Warsaw-Babice (EPBC) and Opole-Kamień Śląski (EPKN)
- MSFS 2024 activities: three Discovery Flights (Warsaw, Sigulda, Tallinn), four Precision Landings, a Sopot Landing Challenge, a Guided Tour of Tatra National Park and a Rally Race
- MSFS 2020 activities: three Discovery Flights and four Landing Challenges at the same four airports
- Price: free
The four Precision Landings each put you in a different aircraft: a Cessna Citation CJ4 into Kärdla, an Airbus A310-300 into Jūrmala, an A320neo into Palanga and a King Air 350i into Opole. The Sopot challenge is based on a real landing by Polish Red Bull Air Race pilot Łukasz Czepiela, who put a modified CubCrafters STOL down at the famous pier.
Why it matters
None of the region’s major hubs are in the handcrafted airport list. Warsaw Chopin, Riga and Vilnius aren’t there; the picks lean toward smaller regional and general aviation fields. That suits the update’s sightseeing focus, since the coastlines, castles and lighthouses are easiest to enjoy from low and slow aircraft. Microsoft also released a paid aircraft on the same day, Microsoft Flight Simulator Local Legend 26: the Antonov An-28. It’s a twin-turboprop STOL plane that costs $14.99 in the in-sim marketplace and isn’t part of the free update.
For simmers in this part of Europe, the update has been a long time coming. Poland and the Baltics finally have proper coverage of their key cities and landmarks, after years of relying on generic autogen scenery. Hopefully this isn’t the end of it, and more of the region gets mapped in detail in future updates.
Source: Xbox Wire