Microsoft and Asobo Studio opened public beta access for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 6 on July 6, 2026, delivering build 1.8.5.0 to testers across Windows PC, Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation. The release marks the first hands-on look at what the next major patch will bring — and community chatter already points to significant graphics and lighting overhauls.

What’s in the beta today?

The beta, now live for anyone enrolled in the simulator’s testing program, installs version 1.8.5.0. While an official changelog had not been published as of the beta’s opening, the forum thread announcing the build explicitly references three marquee items: DLSS 4.5, FSR 4, and night lighting improvements. These headers — drawn from the community discussion rather than a formal release note — suggest that Sim Update 6 will refresh the simulator’s upscaling and frame-generation technology while tackling one of the most persistent complaints from virtual pilots: how the world looks after dark.

DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4 represent the next iterations of Nvidia’s and AMD’s upscaling stacks, respectively. Neither has appeared in a shipping AAA title yet, which would make Flight Simulator 2024 the first consumer-facing showcase for both. Night lighting, meanwhile, has been a thorn since the sim’s launch. Users have reported overly dark cockpits, washed-out city lights, and inconsistent exposure when transitioning from dusk to night. Any meaningful rework would directly affect immersion and operational realism, especially for those who fly real-world routes at night.

What this means for you

For home users, the beta is an optional download that lives alongside the stable build. If you’re already enrolled in the Microsoft Flight Simulator Insider program, you can switch to the beta channel through your platform’s store settings. On PC (Microsoft Store and Steam), the update appears as a separate install; on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation, you’ll see a distinct beta tile. Progress and purchases carry over, but Asobo warns that beta builds can be unstable and may require a full reinstall if you later revert.

For power users and hardware enthusiasts, the mention of DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4 is the headline. Flight Simulator is historically a benchmark for new graphics tech because it’s both GPU-bound and deeply scalable. DLSS 3, with its frame generation, gave the sim a massive performance lift on RTX 40-series cards. If DLSS 4.5 brings an enhancement like multi-frame generation or an even more aggressive upscaling model, it could unlock smooth 4K at ultra settings on a wider range of hardware. Similarly, FSR 4 could close the gap for AMD and console players, potentially delivering frame rates that finally make densely modeled airports and photogrammetry cities feel fluid at high resolutions.

IT professionals managing simulator deployments for training or commercial visualization will want to monitor stability and compatibility, especially around third-party add-ons. The beta is not approved for production use, and Asobo cautions that aircraft and scenery that work fine on the stable branch may break. If your organization relies on a curated set of mods, hold off until the update’s final release and the add-on ecosystem catches up.

How we got here

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launched in November 2024 as a generational leap over the 2020 version, with a much-streamlined install footprint, deeper aircraft systems, and a career mode. Post-launch, Asobo settled into a rhythm of quarterly Sim Updates that mix bug fixes, world improvements, and occasional feature drops. Sim Update 5, released in April 2026, introduced replay tooling and a revamped flight planner, but left the rendering engine largely untouched.

Graphics technology in the sim has been a moving target. The 2020 release popularized Nvidia’s DLSS 2 and eventually DLSS 3, while the Xbox versions leaned on FSR 2. The 2024 sim launched with DLSS 3.5 and FSR 3, adding things like ray reconstruction and frame generation on supported cards. An early 2025 patch quietly upgraded DLSS to version 3.7, but the community has been asking for DLSS 4-class features since Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs arrived. Simultaneously, AMD’s FSR 4 was teased as an AI-driven upscaler that would require dedicated hardware on Radeon cards, making its inclusion in the sim a forward-looking move.

Night lighting has its own history. Asobo revamped atmospheric scattering and city lights in Sim Update 3 for the 2024 title, but feedback was mixed. Some airports became impossibly dark, and instrument panels often lost readability against a bright external night scene. The studio acknowledged the problem in a developer Q&A back in March 2026, promising a “fundamental relighting” pass that would decouple cockpit illumination from the outside world and improve light source draw distances. That promise now appears tied to Sim Update 6.

What to do now

If you want to test the beta immediately, follow these steps:

  1. Visit the Microsoft Flight Simulator Insider page and sign in with your Microsoft account.
  2. Enroll in the beta program if you haven’t already; you accept the testing terms.
  3. On PC (Microsoft Store), open the Xbox Insider Hub, navigate to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and select “Join” under the Sim Update 6 preview. The client will download the beta build.
  4. On Steam, right-click the sim in your library, choose “Properties,” then “Betas,” and pick “simupdate6_beta” from the dropdown.
  5. On Xbox Series X|S, launch the Xbox Insider Hub, find the Flight Simulator preview, and select “Join.” The beta tile will appear in your games library.
  6. On PlayStation, the process is similar through a separate beta app; check the official forum for the exact enrollment link.

Before jumping in, back up your community folder and any control profiles, especially if you use VR. Beta builds have been known to override or corrupt custom configurations. If you rely on third-party aircraft like the PMDG 737 or Fenix A320, assume they will not work until their developers issue patches.

When testing, focus on the areas the community thread calls out: toggle DLSS and FSR settings and watch for new presets or version strings in the graphics menu. Fly a night leg from a major hub to a smaller regional airport, paying attention to cockpit flood lighting, PAPI lights, and city illumination at varying distances. Submit feedback through the official forums or the in-sim reporting tool; Asobo has historically used beta telemetry to tune these features before wide release.

Outlook

Beta periods for major Sim Updates typically run four to six weeks, barring significant showstoppers. If Sim Update 6 follows past timelines, a stable release could land in mid-August 2026. Between now and then, expect iterative patches that may enable or disable individual features as Asobo gathers performance data. The biggest open question is whether DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4 are truly present or if the beta merely lays groundwork for a future activation. Testers should watch the build’s config files and debug output for explicit version strings — those will tell the real story. In the meantime, the beta is a free preview that, for the first time, lets simmers across four platforms collectively stress-test the next evolution of a simulator that continues to push PC and console hardware in equal measure.