10 best Microsoft Flight Simulator mods and add-ons 2022

Microsoft Flying Simulator delivers a consummate digital recreation of planet World, but it's only the beginning of a multi-year journey. The championship provides a platform for future updates to come, and is also supported past a growing community of third-party developers and their content. Microsoft Flight Simulator already features a wide selection of mods and add-ons, and more than are added all the time, both in the official Marketplace and from a multifariousness of other sources, further cementing MSFS equally i of the all-time PC games effectually.

The MSFS Market place provides a hassle-free channel to access new content from both Asobo Studio and 3rd-political party developers, only it can be difficult to know where to offset or what content is worth your attention (and much of the content is premium). Outside of the Marketplace, at that place are innumerable sources for additional MSFS content. Now that Microsoft Flight Simulator is on Xbox, at that place are more people than always with eyes on the game, asking what the best mods and add-ons are.

Here are our picks for the all-time mods and add-ons for Microsoft Flying Simulator.

What is Microsoft Flight Simulator?

Microsoft Flight Simulator is the 2022 revival of the classic flight sim franchise from Microsoft. This fourth dimension around the helm was controlled past Asobo Studio, and the ambition for the project was higher than ever: a top-grade simulation feel that encompasses the entire world. To accomplish this, Asobo Studio and Xbox Game Studios combined the very all-time of modern gaming hardware with Microsoft's course-leading cloud technology and over 2 petabytes of earth digital information.

The cease issue is 1 of the most visually stunning and technically impressive video games of all time, and a title that, peculiarly after numerous postal service-launch updates, caters to both flight sim veterans and casual players. Asobo Studio truly knocked information technology out of the park, but the original release was limited to powerful gaming PCs. However, Asobo Studio recently brought Microsoft Flight Simulator to Xbox, a fantastic port that immediately became the showcase for Xbox Series X|S consoles and made Microsoft Flight Simulator one of the all-time Xbox games for those interested in a premier flight sim.

Both the list of Microsoft Flight Simulator airports and the list of Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft are impressively extensive, and continue to ameliorate over time. MSFS even gives players ways to augment their flight sim experience with optional first-political party and third-political party content from the official Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace or external sources.

This might include boosted planes or airports, improvements to existing planes or locations, visual and quality-of-life improvements, new activities and missions, custom liveries, and more. Microsoft Flight Simulator is absolutely the premier flying simulator available right now, and is even more unique cheers to its recent Xbox launch.

Microsoft Flying Simulator is available right at present on PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Game Pass for Xbox and PC.

What are the best mods and add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator?

The official Microsoft Marketplace is one of the best ways to add new content to your game, but fifty-fifty now it'southward still a little light on content, and much of it is premium. Equally Microsoft Flying Simulator grows in size, more creators will undoubtedly bring their projects to the Marketplace, but a lot of the best mods and add-ons for Microsoft'southward flagship simulator tin can be found from third-political party sources similar Flightsim.to, GitHub, and even private creators. Nosotros've done the research, and here are ten of the best mods and add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator right now.

Microsoft Flight Simulator Premium Deluxe Upgrade — Asobo Studio

Bachelor from the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace for $85
Uniform with PC and Xbox

Microsoft Flight Simulator includes 3 different editions from which to cull, ranging from the base game to the Premium Deluxe Edition with 20 additional DLC add-ons. If yous only purchased the base game of Microsoft Flight Simulator, or are playing through Xbox Game Pass, you may be wondering how you lot tin obtain the high-quality additions of the Premium Deluxe Edition without paying full price for the entire game.

Fortunately, the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace provides exactly this pick with the Premium Deluxe Upgrade add-on, which is available for a pretty decent discount over the total Premium Deluxe Edition of the game. The Premium Deluxe Upgrade for Microsoft Flight Simulator includes 10 new aircraft and 10 handcrafted enhanced airports.

Shipping:

Diamond Shipping DA40-TDI
Diamond Shipping DV20
Textron Aviation Beechcraft Baron G58
Textron Aviation Cessna 152 Aerobat
Textron Aviation Cessna 172 Skyhawk
Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
Cirrus Shipping SR22
Pipistrel Virus SW 121
Textron Aviation Cessna Citation Longitude
Zlin Aviation Stupor Ultra

Airports:

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands)
Cairo International Airport (Egypt)
Greatcoat Town International Airdrome (Southward Africa)
O'Hare International Airport (Us)
Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Aerodrome (Spain)
Denver International Airport (U.s.a.)
Dubai International Airport (United Arab Emirates)
Frankfurt Airport (Germany)
Heathrow Airport (Britain)
San Francisco International Airport (U.s.a.)

Microsoft Flight Simulator World Updates — Asobo Studio

Bachelor from the Microsoft Flying Simulator Market for free
Compatible with PC and Xbox

Since its launch, Asobo Studio has attempted to add together new content to Microsoft Flight Simulator every single month, usually in the form of Earth Updates. These free content add-ons provide a variety of visual and gameplay enhancements to specific areas of the world, amping up the realism in Microsoft Flight Simulator to new levels. To appointment, there have been five Microsoft Flying Simulator World Updates, with a sixth i announced during the Xbox Gamescom 2022 outcome.

All of these World Updates are completely costless and available through the Market, but players need to download them manually.

World Update I: Japan. The beginning World Update includes enhanced digital tiptop mapping for Japan, enhancements for six cities (Sendai, Takamatsu, Tokushima, Tokyo, Utsunomiya, and Yokohama), enhancements for 6 airports (Hachijojima, Kerama, Kushiro, Nagasaki, Shimojishima, and Suwanosejima), 18 custom Points of Interest (POIs), improved countrysides and architecture, and iii new activities.
World Update II: Us. The second World Update includes enhanced digital elevation mapping and aerial imagery for several states in the United states of america, four enhanced airports (Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Friday Harbor, and New York Stewart), visual and logistical improvements to 48 additional airports, about 50 custom POIs, and two new activities.
World Update III: Great britain & Ireland. The third World Update includes enhanced digital tiptop mapping for the U.1000. and Ireland, v enhanced cities (Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, London, and Oxford), five enhanced airports (Barra, Liverpool, Land'south End, Manchester-Barton, and Out Skerries), visual and logistical improvements to 85 additional airports, new compages and landmarks, over 70 custom POIs, and three new activities.
Globe Update 4: French republic, Belgium, Netherlands, & Luxembourg. The fourth World Update includes enhanced digital mapping and aeriform imagery for France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg, two enhanced cities (Paris and Amsterdam), iii enhanced airports (Megève, Overnice, and Rotterdam), visual and logistical improvements to 100 additional airports, and 2 new activities.
World Update 5: Nordics. The fifth World Update includes improvements to mural details and compages, five enhanced airports (Bornholm, Ísafjörður, Stockholm Arlanda, Svalbard, Vaasa), visual and logistical improvements to 100 boosted airports, 77 custom POIs, and ten new activities.
World Update Half-dozen: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The sixth World Update volition arrive in Microsoft Flight Simulator on Sept. 7, 2022, and includes enhanced digital elevation mapping and aeriform imagery for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, v enhanced cities (Frankfurt, Wuppertal, Basel, Graz, and Vienna), iv enhanced airports (Lübeck, Stuttgart, Klagenfurt, and St. Gallen), 100 custom POIs, and lots of new activities.

A32NX — FlyByWire Simulations

Available from FlyByWire Simulations for gratuitous
Compatible with PC

The Airbus A320 family unit of airliners are some of the about pop and instantly recognizable aircraft in the world, and the A320neo is one of the standard aircraft included in Microsoft Flight Simulator. However, the customs apace realized that Asobo Studio's implementation of the A320neo was far from perfect, and a group of talented creators (who go past FlyByWire Simulations) set out to improve upon the base of operations.

The A32NX mod adds a whole range of improvements to the default A320neo, including an all-new cockpit interior supported by the anecdotes of dozens of existent-world A320 pilots, and various other enhancements all over the aircraft. If you desire to fly this legendary aircraft with the highest degree of realism, this is the mod for yous.

FlyByWire Simulations is a smaller group of creators who work on this project when they can, so new developments and features can be dull to arrive at times. However, every bit the A32NX mod stands right now, it's already a fantastic add-on to Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Boeing 747-viii — Salty Simulations

Available from GitHub for free
Compatible with PC

In a like vein to the A32NX modern listed above, Salty Simulations has worked tirelessly to introduce a ton of improvements to the beastly Boeing 747-viii airliner, which dominates any sky it's flying in. Improvements include internal and external textures and a myriad of additions and enhancements to the cockpit, which is, at least to hardcore flight simulator users, the most crucial function of an aircraft, and certainly the about important to get right.

The 747-eight is a truly massive aircraft, and so only the well-nigh confident of pilots should settle down in the cockpit, but with Salty Simulations mod, you're at to the lowest degree guaranteed it'll look equally real as possible. You lot'll have to grab this mod from GitHub versus other "more than official" MSFS add-on sources, but the installation process is nonetheless relatively painless.

Airbus H135 Helicopter — Hype Functioning Grouping

Available from Flightsim.to for free
Compatible with PC

Microsoft Flying Simulator boasts of an impressive number of aircraft across all purposes, ranges, and sizes, and the number continues to abound over time. Nevertheless, ane category of air-capable transportation that players missed at launch was the inclusion of helicopters, which add an entirely dissimilar dynamic to your flying feel. Fortunately, courtesy of Hype Performance Grouping, you lot tin achieve that dream in Microsoft Flying Simulator.

The Airbus H135 added via this add together-on may not exist explicitly perfect in every way, but it'south existence constantly improved and iterated on over time. This mod is a lot of fun if you take ever fancied flying a helicopter over a bustling city or breathtaking countryside, and the H135 here looks peachy, is entirely functional, and even comes with different liveries from which to choose.

Liveries Mega Pack — Project Mega Pack

Bachelor from Projection Mega Pack for free, Livery Manager from GitHub for costless
Compatible with PC

Microsoft Flying Simulator features a ludicrous corporeality of options and settings to configure your game exactly how you want information technology, but options for customizing individual aircraft tend to be limited. At that place's currently an official "Aviator Club" livery pack in the MSFS Marketplace to celebrate how far the game has come, merely it's only ane MSFS-branded livery for the default aircraft.

If you want to go to a higher place and beyond, in that location's no better option than the Liveries Mega Pack, which to date includes well over 700 unique liveries beyond all of Microsoft Flight Simulator's shipping. The liveries are all high quality and offer a range of options from real-world liveries and brands to not-every bit-existent options. This pack is genuinely impressive, only information technology's also a lot to install.

If you desire specific liveries from the pack, you lot tin can also install the pick Livery Director to customize which liveries from the pack are installed. Also, exist sure to check out our guide on how to utilise custom liveries in Microsoft Flight Simulator for even more guidance on the subject.

We Love VFR — PuffinFlight

Available from Flightsim.to for free, Region two from Flightsim.to for costless
Compatible with PC

Microsoft Flight Simulator features unbelievably spectacular visuals, but plenty of finer details are sacrificed to achieve the grander scale the game enjoys. Some of these finer details are actually crucial to pilots looking for the well-nigh realistic experience in MSFS, as they provide visual cues in the world to align an aircraft. With the We Love VFR addition from PuffinFlight, thousands of these objects are accurately placed all over the world.

The pack includes objects like communication towers, antennas, chimneys, construction cranes, and much more. There are ii regions to We Love VFR, with each adding tens of thousands of new objects. Region 1 covers Europe and Asia, while Region 2 mostly covers North and South America.

Global AI Ship Traffic — KL791

Available from Flightsim.to for free
Compatible with PC

Microsoft Flight Simulator features live AI traffic of aircraft that accurately follows existent-world traffic or commercial aircraft, providing a greater sense of depth to the game. Even so, pilots that spend a lot of fourth dimension by coasts or over oceans may have noticed a foreign omission: ships are nowhere to be seen. With Global AI Transport Traffic, a similar solution to Microsoft Flight Simulator's built-in alive AI aircraft traffic is added, but for water vessels.

Dozens of kinds of ships are added in this addition, including military machine vessels, cargo ships, prowl ships, fishing boats, and many more. What's more, many of the most famous and well-known ships really follow their real-world routes in-game, so you lot tin can detect those ships while flight around if yous want. MSFS is an impressive simulation experience, but the addition of ships takes information technology to a new level.

Bushtalk Radio — Bushtalk

Bachelor from Flightsim.to for free, account from Bushtalk Radio for complimentary
Uniform with PC

Many Microsoft Flight Simulator players may but exist looking for the realest virtual flight experience they can find, just more coincidental players may want but flying around and exploring parts of the world. For those who fall in the latter grouping, Bushtalk Radio is perfect. This optional addition is entirely complimentary (merely does require an business relationship), and acts every bit a "tour guide" of sorts for MSFS flights.

When yous're flying around, Bushtalk Radio will provide interesting facts and information about surrounding locations and points of interest, and can give you a greater sense of where you are in the world. This is a neat add-on for casual flights, and pairs wonderfully with Microsoft Flight Simulator'due south already existing Discovery Flights.

Orbx MSFS Products — Orbx

Bachelor from Orbx and the Microsoft Flight Simulator Market place for a range of prices
Compatible with PC and sometimes Xbox

Finally, the final addition for Microsoft Flight Simulators is actually a collection of MSFS mods. Orbx is one of the biggest creators for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and they've created mods for enhanced airports, locations, and much more. Some of their content is available in the Microsoft Market, near of it through their website, and prices range from free to approximately $30 (although some may go higher).

Orbx creates quality mods and add together-ons for MSFS, and so whatever of their products are likely a prophylactic bet to drag your feel. There'due south a lot to cull from, and unlike many of the other mods on this listing, Orbx does take options in the MSFS Marketplace, meaning you can also install them on Xbox consoles!

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