Microsoft Flight Simulator lands World Update 21 with Australia focus and NSW RFS mission
Microsoft Flight Simulator's free World Update 21 adds 30-plus Australian points of interest, the locally built CAC Boomerang fighter, and a water-bombing mission built with the NSW Rural Fire Service.
Microsoft has released World Update 21: Australia, a free expansion for Flight Simulator 2024 and 2020 that adds more than 30 hand-crafted Australian points of interest, new aircraft, and a water-bombing mission built with the NSW Rural Fire Service.
The update is live now for existing owners on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Xbox Game Pass subscribers also have access at no extra cost. The release was announced on 6 May 2026 and rolled out the following day.
What's new in the update
Asobo Studio's update covers Australia from Sydney Harbour to the Great Barrier Reef and the central Outback. The 30-plus hand-crafted points of interest mix major civic landmarks with the country's roadside curiosities, including the Big Koala, the Big Mango and the Big Golden Guitar.
For Flight Simulator 2024 owners, the update adds four Precision Landings, two Low Altitude Challenges and two Rally Race Challenges. The 2020 release picks up three Landing Challenges and one Bush Trip. Both versions get a set of Discovery Flights covering the Whitsundays, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Canberra.
A new flyable aircraft, the CAC Boomerang, also ships in the update. Designed and built in Australia during the Second World War, the Boomerang was the country's first locally manufactured fighter.
NSW RFS firefighting mission
The headline scenario is a single-mission collaboration with the NSW Rural Fire Service, the largest volunteer fire service in the world with nearly 40,000 volunteers. Players fly a water-bombing run over a New South Wales fire and must extinguish it within the simulated mission window.
Assistant Commissioner Jayson McKellar AFSM, the NSW RFS director of aviation, sat for an Xbox Wire interview alongside the launch, discussing the role of fixed-wing and rotary aerial firefighting platforms in real bushfire response and the realism the team aimed for in the simulator scenario.
Why it matters
World updates are Microsoft's headline post-launch content for the Flight Simulator franchise. The Australia release is the second time the country has anchored one, after World Update 7 in 2021. Distribution is free for existing buyers and Game Pass subscribers, with no additional purchase required.
Pip Sanderson
Reviews editor on phones, wearables, and the gear that lands in Australian shops. Reports from Melbourne.
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