Microsoft/Asobo in their latest development update shared earlier this week, announced that the hotly anticipated Airbus A320Neo being developed in conjunction with iniBuilds is targeted for a March 26, 2024 release alongside Sim Update 15 for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Other stuff in the latest sim update will include bug fixes, improvements, and hardware support.
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A320Neo background
Late last year in 2023, the A320Neo by iniBuilds for Microsoft Flight Simulator was having major stability issues on the Xbox platform. As had been reported previously by me, the application crash rate on console was far too high to be certified for release. As such, the aircraft that had been targeted for release alongside Sim Update 14 is now slated for a release alongside Sim Update 15.
According to the latest dev update from MS/Asobo, the stability of the A320Neo is improving but has not improved to the point to guarantee a release. The team state that they will try to get the aircraft “into SU_15 but not confirmed yet.” The fidelity level of the A320Neo will be similar to the Airbus A310 also created by iniBuilds to celebrate MSFS’ 40th anniversary.
Other improvements in SU15
Sim Update 15 is slated to bring a whole host of new features, bug fixes, and other improvements; AI traffic improvements include better aircraft models and corresponding livery matching, and data factoring to improve fidelity. Microsoft and its first party developers are working closely to bring improvements and fixes for open issues of many aircraft such as the A310, Pilots PC-6, ATR 42/72, and Saab 17.
Working Title is also working on improving the performance of complex JavaScript based avionics. They are also working on adding the popular G3X Touch, which will be supported on the VL-3, Cub, and NXCub at launch of SU15. Asobo have also increased the threshold of snow depth that causes water surfaces to ice from 27cm to 72cm to limit wrongly iced water surfaces. Furthermore they are also working on implementing a new memory allocator which will result in better FPS and less stutters.
Development Roadmap
According to the roadmap shared by the team at MS/Asobo, March 13 will treat us with a new developer livestream, and March 26 will see them dropping Sim Update 15 onto our PCs and consoles. April 17-18 will see the release of City Update 6 and the Local Legend 15, along with their respective release trailers. Late May is targeted for the release of World Update 17, Local Legend 16, and their release trailers.
Closing Notes
To know more about what is coming with Sim Update 15, you can read our other dev update articles shared by both Jean and me. Sim Update 15 is coming with a lot useful changes and new features along with much needed improvements and bug fixes. For more flight sim-related news, announcements, releases and more, check us out at FSNews.
