Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 just added 30 US National Parks

Microsoft has released World Update 22 for Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020). The patch adds high-resolution terrain data for 30 United States National Parks alongside a flyable blimp. The update is live today across PC, Xbox Series consoles, and cloud gaming platforms.

Asobo Studio built this content for the 2020 release of the simulator, not Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

Mapping the wilderness

Previous world updates focused on European countries or major metropolitan areas. Those patches utilized dense photogrammetry to recreate city skylines and famous architecture. World Update 22 shifts the focus to remote wilderness. Asobo relies on updated digital elevation models and fresh satellite imagery to render the 30 national parks.

Places like Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon have always existed in the base game. The problem is that standard satellite data often flattens steep cliffs or misinterprets dense forest canopies. The new elevation data fixes the melted look that sometimes plagues mountain ranges in flight simulators. Complex rock formations in parks like Arches or Zion require precise geometry to look correct from the air.

The Microsoft Flight Simulator engine uses Azure cloud computing to stream petabytes of map data to the user in real time. Upgrading the source data for these parks means the AI generation tools can place trees and rocks with much higher accuracy. National parks cover millions of acres of land. Processing that much topographical data takes time, which explains why these areas are only getting bespoke updates nearly six years after the game's initial launch.

Cruising at 35 miles per hour

The patch introduces a blimp to the aircraft roster. Flight Simulator usually prioritizes fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Adding a lighter-than-air vehicle introduces a completely different flight model. Blimps operate on different aerodynamic principles. Players have to manage buoyancy and wind drift rather than traditional lift.

It is a logical pairing for a national parks update. You do not want to sightsee the Grand Prismatic Spring at Mach 1 in an F/A-18. A blimp tops out around 35 miles per hour. That gives you plenty of time to look at the trees. The blimp is fully modeled with a functional cockpit and realistic physics. Navigating a massive gas envelope through the unpredictable wind currents of a mountain valley is a distinct challenge. Flying one requires patience and a complete disregard for arrival times.

Two active simulators

The decision to release World Update 22 for the 2020 client highlights Microsoft's dual-track approach to the franchise. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launched with a new engine, career missions, and improved atmospheric physics. Usually, a sequel means the immediate death of the previous software.

The civilian flight simulation market used to be dominated by X-Plane and Prepar3D before Microsoft returned to the genre. The 2020 release built a massive ecosystem of third-party developers.

Those developers created nearly six years of community mods, custom liveries, and VATSIM configurations. Keeping the 2020 client updated means that entire ecosystem does not have to be abandoned just yet. Players can explore the new national parks using their existing hangars.