Yesterday, during a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast, we shared an update on plans to continue to bring more games to more people around the world, with the exciting news that the first Activision Blizzard game on Xbox Game Pass will be Diablo IV, beginning March 28. Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty also shared the vision on game exclusivity, the future of Xbox hardware, and the overall Xbox promise. There's a lot to talk about, so we encourage you to watch the full episode (see below).

With the combined creativity across Team Xbox, players can expect an incredible 2024 with the likes of Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, Ara: History Untold, Towerborne and more coming your way, alongside continued updates for our blockbuster franchises Call of Duty, Minecraft, Forza, The Elder Scrolls Online and Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Xbox and Microsoft Flight Simulator are immersing gamers worldwide in the captivating world of Arrakis, commemorating the highly anticipated release of "Dune: Part Two." Enthusiasts can anticipate a free game expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator launching, bespoke Xbox hardware, and an awe-inspiring gaming simulator-all intricately inspired by the film. Two prominent stars from the movie, Timothée Chalamet, portraying Paul Atreides, and Austin Butler, who embodies Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, captured the collaboration with a short video (see below).

Dune Comes Alive Like Never Before in Free Expansion
Microsoft Flight Simulator, working with Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, for the first time ever is taking you beyond Planet Earth into the harsh deserts of the world of "Dune" and the planet Arrakis. The skies of Arrakis are traversed by a deft craft called an ornithopter, a nimble flying machine propelled by four precisely tuned oscillating wings. The Royal Atreides Ornithopter is a special ultra-performance variant of the craft, renowned for its lightning acceleration, blazing speeds, and precision maneuverability when under the control of pilots skilled in its operation - and who have the fortitude to survive the harsh extremes of Dune.

Since their respective releases, Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane have revolutionized the world of flight simulation by providing civil aviation enthusiasts with an unparalleled immersive experience. One of the features pilots appreciate most about these two games is the ability to incorporate add-ons and sceneries. Thanks to this feature, both game worlds are constantly evolving, transforming the fan experience with new content developed by the community.

Created by our development team, THRUSTMASTER i-LAND is the official Thrustmaster add-on for those looking to take their flying experience to brave new heights. THRUSTMASTER i-LAND is an oasis of diversity and adventure in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This fictional island is designed for flyers of every level—from newbies to seasoned pilots—with a sensational array of challenges and destinations to explore.

Xbox is coming to Gamescom 2023 in full force, showing 30 titles in three blocks. Starfield, Forza Motorsport, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Ara: History Untold, PayDay 3, Mortal Kombat 1, are just some of the titles that will be at the Xbox Gamescom booth.

Running from August 23rd to August 27th, Gamescom 2023 will definitely have some pretty big names from the game industry, and its Opening Night Live will be live on August 22nd, hosted and produced by Geoff Keighley.

Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update XIV: Central Eastern Europe captures the majesty, charm and allure of Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The region bristles with history, architectural wonders, and stunning scenery. The Central Eastern Europe countries beckon exploration from above with never-before-seen fidelity.

Microsoft Flight Simulator assembled fresh, full-coverage aerial imagery, digital elevation data and more from our partners at Bing Maps and Maxar to create this update. World Update XIV includes 103 points of interest (POIs): 18 in Czechia, 15 in Slovakia, 19 in Hungary, 15 in Slovenia, 23 in Croatia, and 13 in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Castles, towers, and churches, among other sights, all brilliantly reproduced and awaiting discovery from the air in this update.

Celebrate French Aviation with new Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) cities and the Latécoère 631 The Microsoft Flight Simulator team is delighted to introduce the free City Update II: France, which captures five beautiful cities: Amiens, Angers, Nantes, Nîmes, and Reims; and to celebrate the Paris Air Show, the update also includes the famed Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LFPB) in both standard and festival configurations.

City Update II: France is now available free to all owners of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Ensure that your simulator is updated to version 1.32.7.0, download City Update II, and experience some of the very best sights that France has to offer.

Pursue your dream of an aviation career with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This brand-new simulator is designed to take advantage of the latest technologies in simulation, cloud, machine learning, graphics and gaming to create the most sophisticated, immersive and awe-inspiring flight simulator of all time. To achieve this unprecedented level of accuracy, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is powered by the significantly evolved Asobo Studio engine.

Available day one on Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows 10/11, and Steam. Coming 2024. We look forward to sharing more information about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 in the future.

Microsoft Flight Simulator has been updated with the first entry into a brand-new series of highly authentic and accurate aircraft called "Expert Series". The ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 are being released together in this bundle and will provide an incredible and authentic aviation experience. ATR, short for "Regional Transport Aircraft" in both French and Italian, was formed through the combined efforts of Aerospatiale (known as Airbus today) of France and Aeritalia (now known as Leonardo) of Italy specifically to create this aircraft. The ATR line has seen a wide range of uses, including commercial passenger, cargo, and military.

The ATR 42-600
The 42-600 is a twin-engine commuter airliner with a high-wing turboprop, that can seat up to 50 passengers. It took its first flight in March of 2010 and was introduced into service in late 2012. Distinctive in appearance with elegant lines and curves, it boasts thoroughbred performance in the air and can operate out of a wide variety of airfields. The 42-600 is an advanced iteration of the ATR 42, a family of regional airliners first conceived in the early 1980s. Named "42" due to the number of seats of the original version, the aircraft was designed to be a highly efficient airframe optimized for commuter lines.

Experience the vast regions of Oceania and the magnificence of Antarctica in Microsoft Flight Simulator's latest World update. Explore some of the most exotic regions on Earth in World Update XIII. Microsoft Flight Simulator is thrilled to add to the beauty of the simulator with fascinating new landscapes. Known as both a continent and a geographic region, and straddling the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Hemispheres, Oceania is comprised of remote coral islands, long stretches of white sand beaches, towering volcanoes, vast interior sweeps of uninhabited rainforest, and populated cities boasting modern architectural wonders. Antarctica is a dream destination for aviators with adventure, intrigue, and boundless vistas of pristine coastal and inland glaciated terrain.

Microsoft Flight Simulator's World Update XIII includes Polynesia (Hawaii and Easter Island), Melanesia (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Indonesia's West Papua, and the Solomon Islands), the Galapagos Islands and key regions of Antarctica, notably the Antarctic Peninsula. The update provides a total of 13 countries and 28 non-sovereign territories, many with improved resolution that will allow pilots to experience stunning new vistas throughout these regions. The release is based on the latest aerial photographs, satellite imagery, and digital elevation modelling data. There is an updated height field for Hawaii and features the city of Honolulu with dozens of handmade buildings.

Leading gaming accessories maker Turtle Beach Corporation today unveiled its all-new, eagerly anticipated Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flightstick, a universal simulation controller joystick for air and space combat simulation games. Designed for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PCs, the VelocityOne Flightstick is the gaming flight stick of the future, equipping gamers with immersive, accurate controls for navigating air and space flight sim and combat games. A total of eight axes, including contactless hall effect sensors on the main X&Y axes, provide precise control while two multifunction levers handle main engine power and adjustment of control surfaces. VelocityOne Flightstick's precise nano trim wheel allows for fine tuning of altitude, and an OLED Flight Management Display makes for easy adjustments. With 27 programmable buttons, a rapid-fire trigger, an integrated trackpad, and Bluetooth connectivity to its companion app, Turtle Beach's VelocityOne Flightstick arms gamers on Xbox and Windows PCs with a multitude of controls. VelocityOne Flightstick is available for pre-order now from www.turtlebeach.com and participating retailers for $129.99 (£119.99/€129.99) MSRP and launches November 17, 2022.

"VelocityOne Flightstick melds Turtle Beach's expertise in controller design with the latest technologies to give air and space combat sim gamers a groundbreaking, modern flight stick controller experience," said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "While our award-winning VelocityOne Flight products continue to impress the flight simulation community, there's a massive audience of gamers who love air and space flight combat, making the Flightstick perfect for games like Microsoft Flight Sim 2020, X-Plane, Elite Dangerous, War Thunder, Star Citizen, Everspace, and Star Wars flight games to name a few. However gamers want to fly - whether casually, or by the seat of their pants with their hair on fire - it'll be a better experience with VelocityOne Flightstick in their hands."

Microsoft Flight Simulator has recently been added to Xbox Cloud Gaming meaning that the title can now be enjoyed on more devices including Xbox One, iOS/Android devices, and low-powered computers. Xbox Cloud Gaming (formerly Project xCloud) is a game streaming service from Microsoft that allows players with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to stream a selection of 100+ Xbox games on supported devices. The addition of Microsoft Flight Simulator to the program will allow previous generation Xbox One consoles to play the game provided a suitably fast internet connection is available.

Leading gaming accessory maker Turtle Beach Corporation today announced the brand's award-winning VelocityOne Flight simulation control system has been restocked and is now available. VelocityOne Flight is one of Turtle Beach's most pre-ordered products and has sold-out multiple times due to strong demand since its initial release in November 2021. The only modern all-in-one flight control system, VelocityOne Flight delivers a new level of realism and simplicity for gamers taking to the virtual skies on Xbox consoles and Windows PCs. Paired with its unbeatable MSRP of $379.95, VelocityOne Flight has received an abundance of critical acclaim, driving continued interest in Turtle Beach's groundbreaking flight simulation control system. With today's restock announcement, fans can now get their hands on VelocityOne Flight and effortlessly guide their favorite aircraft into the sky.

"As the first entry in a growing portfolio of simulation products, our team produced the best all-in-one flight control system for Xbox and PC and I'm pleased to see their hard work and dedication being recognized by critics and fans alike," said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "It is clear that we delivered a remarkable flight sim controller, and we're excited to now be able to have more fliers take to the skies with the VelocityOne Flight."

NVIDIA today released the latest version of GeForce Game Ready drivers. Version 497.29 WHQL comes game-ready for "GTFO," and optimization for "Horizon Zero Dawn" with the added DLSS feature. Among the bugs fixed include a crash-to-desktop and visual artifacts with Microsoft Flight Simulator; a performance drop noticed with "Supreme Command:Forged Alliance/Supreme Commander 2," a stutter noticed with Windows Desktop when the mouse is moved after an extended period of time; and some localization issues in NVIDIA Control Panel.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 497.29 WHQL

Leading gaming accessory maker Turtle Beach Corporation, today announced its best-selling and award-winning brands - Turtle Beach, ROCCAT, and Neat Microphones - have delivered a stellar lineup of gear perfect for gamers, creators, and artists this holiday season. "Our 2021 portfolio is undoubtedly the richest and most diverse in our history, and we're thrilled to deliver such a great assortment of groundbreaking accessories for the holidays," said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "Our best-selling Turtle Beach console headsets continue to outperform the competition, while our ROCCAT PC peripherals rack up more high praise and grow share globally."

Stark continued, "Beyond our best-selling and multi-award-winning gaming headsets and PC accessories we've now also launched the Recon Controller as well as the highly sought-after VelocityOne Flight simulation control system. Both products in these new categories have seen strong reviews and editorial accolades since launching. In fact, the Recon Controller was named a Best Xbox Controller by IGN, and VelocityOne Flight received a fantastic 9/10 review in the upcoming issue of PC Pilot Magazine, a highly respected publication among flight sim enthusiasts."

We are excited to announce that the Microsoft Flight Simulator: Game of the Year Edition (GOTY) is available today! This new edition celebrates all the positive feedback, reviews and awards garnered, and is also a "Thank You" to our fans - new and old - that have made Microsoft Flight Simulator such a phenomenon. The Microsoft Flight Simulator: Game of the Year Edition features five new handcrafted aircraft, eight new airports, six new Discovery Flights and updated weather systems and incorporates all six World Updates.

AMD today released the latest version of Radeon Software. Version 21.11.3 beta comes with optimization for Microsoft Flight Simulator: GOTY Edition, and Farming Simulator 22. Additional extensions of the Vulkan API are added. The drivers also fix driver-timeouts or game crashes noticed with "Battlefield 2042" on graphics cards such as the RX 6900 XT. Stuttering or poor performance with "DayZ" on RX 5700 XT was fixed. Also fixed is elevated disk usage by the Multimedia Athena dumps folder. Grab the driver from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.11.3

-Leading gaming accessory maker Turtle Beach Corporation (Nasdaq: HEAR) today announced its groundbreaking, Designed for Xbox VelocityOne Flight simulation control system is now available for pre-order. Announced during E3 2021, VelocityOne Flight garnered a "Best of Show" from Android Authority and boldly marks Turtle Beach's foray into the gaming simulation hardware market. VelocityOne Flight is the complete flight control system, developed in collaboration with aeronautical engineers and pilots, and by a dedicated Turtle Beach team with over two decades of experience creating many premier flight and racing simulation controllers. VelocityOne Flight delivers the most immersive, authentic, and modern Xbox and PC flying experience on the market and is the perfect all-in-one flight controller system for experiencing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 on Xbox Series X|S. Pilots and flight sim enthusiasts can pre-order VelocityOne Flight from Turtle Beach and participating retailers worldwide. Initial quantities are limited, so reserve your VelocityOne Flight today!

"We had over 21k fans sign-up to be notified when pre-orders were available so if you've been considering upgrading your current PC flight sim hardware or you're interested in playing Flight Sim 2020 on Xbox Series X|S, reserve your VelocityOne Flight now because interest is very high," said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "As a pilot and hardcore flight simmer myself, my experience with VelocityOne Flight has been nothing short of fantastic. We've seen similar interest and anticipation from the flight sim community as well as from gamers looking forward to experiencing the thrill of flight for the first time on Xbox. VelocityOne Flight will deliver the most realistic simulation experience on Xbox and PC, and pre-ordering now will be the best way to ensure you get one first. For the great price of $379.95, there's nothing else like it."

The upcoming Update 5 for the Asobo Studio-developed Microsoft Flight Simulator will be a welcome boon to any and all players of the simulator. The development studio has issued an update via YouTube describing the performance improvements they've seen with their latest work into the game engine, which has integrated DX 12 capability - taking advantage of its "closer to the metal" capabilities so as to improve performance.

The update is dropping on July 27th, the same time that the game will be made available on the Xbox family of consoles. One can easily construe a scenario where Update 5's DX 12 and performance optimizations were made mostly as a way to make the game perform better on Xbox console hardware - the game is absolutely capable of bringing the most powerful graphics cards in the world to their knees at high resolutions and highest quality settings. With the same hardware, quality settings and playable scenario, average performance went from 32-40 FPS before the update up to the 55-60 interval post Update 5 optimizations. The update sees CPU utilization dropping by 25%; memory usage drop by 50%; and GPU utilization climbs from 75% up to 100%. Look for the break for a video showcasing the latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator - with Update 5 applied.

MonsterLabo, the maker of fanless PC cases designed for gaming with zero noise, has today tested its upcoming flagship offering in the case lineup. Called The Beast, the case is designed to handle high-end hardware with large TDPs and dissipate all that heat without any moving parts. Using only big heatsinks and heat pipes to transfer the heat to the big heatsink area. In a completely fanless configuration, the case can absorb and dissipate a CPU TDP of 150 Watts and a GPU TPD with 250 Watts. However, when equipped with two 140 mm fans running below 500 RPM, it can accommodate a 250 W CPU, and 320 W GPU. MonsterLabo has tested the fully fanless configuration, which was equipped with AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT processor, paired with NVIDIA's latest GeForce RTX 3080 Ampere graphics card.

There were no fans present in the system to help move the heat away, and the PC was being stress-tested using Microsoft's Flight Simulator. The company has posted a chart of CPU and GPU temperatures over time, where we see that the GPU has managed to hit about 75 degrees Celsius at one point. The CPU has remained a bit cooler, where the CPU package hit just above the 70-degree mark. Overall, the case is more than capable of cooling the hardware it was equipped with. By adding two slow-spinning fans, the temperatures would get even lower, however, that is no longer a fanless system. MonsterLabo's The Beast is expected to get shipped in Q3 of this year when reviewers will get their hands on it and test it for themselves. You can watch the videos in MonsterLabo's blog post here.

Microsoft Flight Simulator was built from the ground up to achieve three key goals: realism, accuracy, and authenticity of flight. Today, we're excited to share that Virtual Reality for Microsoft Flight Simulator is now available on your favorite VR headset for PC, offering simmers the deepest and most immersive virtual flight experience in the new simulator to date.

The flight sim community has been a very active and insightful partner in shaping how the team approached VR, and continues to be a critical partner in our continued development as we make further improvements and add new features to the simulation. Adding VR to Microsoft Flight Simulator was a direct result of community feedback, and we look forward to continued involvement in the future of the franchise with us.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is set to receive VR support later this month after a closed beta took place in October & November. VR Support will be available to all Steam VR compatible headsets, not just the HP Reverb G2 and other Windows Mixed Reality devices as originally stated. Microsoft Flight Simulator is a notoriously hard game to run and the addition of VR will require some fast hardware to run. The closed VR beta featured minimum requirements of an i5-8400/Ryzen 5 1500X, NVIDIA GTX 1080, and 16 GB memory. Microsoft is aware of the high hardware requirements and is working to introduce a series of new performance optimizations for the title.

Microsoft has been working to bring VR support to Flight Simulator in time for the launch of the HP Reverb G2 WMR headset later this year. Microsoft is now ready to test VR support in a limited two-phase closed beta. The first phase will focus on Windows Mixed Reality Devices with the second phase expanding to include additional devices. The minimum specifications for VR support were also revealed by Microsoft to be an Intel i5-8400/Ryzen 5 1500X, NVIDIA GTX 1080, and 16 GB ram.

The Microsoft Flight Simulator team is looking for dedicated Microsoft Flight Simulator community members to help test the upcoming VR builds. Participants will require a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator, a compatible VR headset, and sign an NDA to join the beta. If you are interested in being part of these tests be sure to review the criteria and then head over to the sign-up page.

Microsoft have recently released Flight Simulator patch 1.8.3.0 which provides major optimizations, especially in CPU-limited scenarios. The specific improvements include; Optimized cockpit screen display when screens are not displayed on screen, New option available to control cockpit screen update frequency, Tweaked CPU thread priorities to reduce interruption of frame critical threads, Optimized loading system to reduce overall loading times, Optimized heavy airport scenes impact on CPU, Reduced the amount of GPU overdraw to improve GPU performance, Memory optimizations to reduce software memory footprint and improve performance on limited memory computers.

These improvements will provide strong performance benefits to all players especially those who are CPU constrained. Overclock 3D has tested the latest patch and have recorded improvements of 11.4% at 1080p with average framerates increasing from 79.5 FPS to 88.6 FPS on their NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti and an AMD Ryzen 9 3950X test bench. They also noted an improvement in 1st Percentile framerates increasing from 71.3 FPS to 74.6 FPS. These performance improvements will be most notable in "heavy airport scenes" where Microsoft has focused their optimization efforts.

In a recent report from Jon Peddie Research (JPR) they estimate that $2.6 billion will be spent on PC gaming hardware in the next three years thanks to the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator. This $2.6 billion will be split across Entry-Level, Mid-Range, and High-End PC gamers with the High-End category contributing the most. JPR estimates that 2.27 million copies of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 will sell over the next three years. JPR predicts that these sales numbers will result in $2.6 billion being spent on hardware with the specific intent of improving the game's experience while much more will be spent over the title's complete life cycle.

This estimation includes new computer builds, processor upgrades, display upgrades, flight sticks and throttles, flight system control units, rudder pedals, simulation pit components such as seats and frames, and VR sales. This will benefit all computer components and accessory manufacturers as hardware upgrades are required across the board in most cases. With the introduction of 8K and VR support the game will continue to drive computer upgrades in the years to come.

In the list of typos with extreme relevance to the world, this one doesn't register unless it's at the "comical" side of the scale, but it's interesting, nevertheless, to look into. Recent reports on the recently-released Microsoft Flight Simulator mentioned the existence of an eldritch-esque obelisk in the in-game representation of Australia. This obelisk was nothing more than a 212-story building, which became a visual skyscraper, the top of which where particularly gifted flight simulator pilots managed to land on.

While one could think of this as a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke or as a manifest of Robert Silverberg's Tower of Glass, the truth, as always, follows Occam's Razor. Microsoft Simulator makes use of OpenStreetMap data for its Bing Maps service, which runs on Microsoft's Azure servers. The integration of OpenStreetMap featured a bug on that particular building that was introduced, as has been discovered, by Nathan Wright, a university student who, as part of his degree work last year, made an edit to that particular building's specifications. A 2 became 212, and thus the tower was born and manifested in-game. Other bugs have been found in-game, but some of them defy skepticism: turning Buckingham Palace into an office building seems like a particularly snobbish way of criticizing Britain's royalty. As a particular Disney and Pixar character would say, "Coincidence? I Think not!".