Microsoft Flight Simulator’s Jorg Neumann on its Australia update

Microsoft Flight Simulator's World Update VII -- aka its Australia update -- is now available, and we sat down ahead of time to speak with Flight Sim head Jorg Neumann about the new content. World Update VII will follow in the footsteps of updates that reinvigorated locations like the UK and Ireland, this time adding a true sense of realism down under. "It's so much fun, right, when you dive into a country and you research," Neumann told Stevivor in an interview. "We researched for a year... [and] I very quickly realized,'I need to get some local knowledge,' so I I partnered up with... Orbx." Orbx may be familiar to Flight Sim fans -- they not only have offered paid updates for Sydney, but for Brisbane as well. "They are actually in Melbourne and... they're all Australians," Neumann continued. "From our side we can bring things like new satellite images and new aerials and the the the cities that you saw -- we have 11, which is unprecedentedly many for a world update. We have Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Cairns, Darwin, Townsville, Bunbury and Mackay. So it's a tonne." Asobo also teamed with Geoscience AU, a local geographical institute, to gain access to three terabytes of data including height data. "Everybody contributes, right?" Neumann continued, adding that Microsoft Australia and New Zealand also played a part. "They contribute; they're like, 'I gotta do the banana, and what about Luna Park?' and I'm like, 'ok, I'm making the banana'," Neumann exclaimed. World Update VII will also offer up new Australian-centric Discovery Flights and a mission involving the Southern Cross -- the famed Fokker F.VIIb/3m trimotor monoplane that made the first trans-Pacific flight from Australia to the United States -- alongside points of interest (POIs) like the aforementioned Sydney Luna Park and Coffs Harbour's Big Banana. The Great Barrier Reef will also receive a facelift, in response to fan feedback. You can watch or listen to our full conversation with Neumann below. You can also check out the main trailer that Neumann refers to below (it's nicer when it's not being streamed over Microsoft Teams.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s2I0mSvJIY Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update VII improvements A detailed listing of World Update VII improvements can also be found below: Handcrafted airports * YLRE – Longreach * YMBT – Mount Beauty * YPBO – Paraburdoo * YSHL – Shellharbour Bush Trips * Tasmania * Southeastern Australia * Sea to Desert * Great Barrier Reef * Northwestern Kimberly Coast Landing Challenges * Brisbane * Shellharbour * Mt Hotham * Katoomba * Mabuiag Discovery Flights * Gold Coast * Sydney * Perth * Darwin * Melbourne * Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park New Photogrammetry Cites * Adelaide * Sydney * Melbourne * Brisbane * Perth * Hobart * Cairns * Darwin * Townsville * Bunbury * Mackay Microsoft Flight Simulator received Stevivor's Best PC award back in 2020. You can read our Xbox console review here or our original PC review here.