Flight Simulator shows off UK overhaul in gorgeous first video footage
France and Benelux next in line for makeover.
Flight Simulator's eagerly awaited UK and Ireland overhaul is, as we learned last week, now due to arrive in the second week of February, and ahead of that launch, developer Asobo has shared the first in-game footage - and revealed the next part of the world to be getting the makeover treatment - in its latest developer livestream.
Flight Simulator's UK and Ireland World Update continues the stunning work seen in previous geographical overhauls for the United States and Japan, and includes improved aerial and elevation data, new landing challenges, "nearly 80" new points of interest, five new hand-crafted airports, plus five brand-new photogrammetry cities.
As far as the new airports go, there's Barra, Land's End, Liverpool, Manchester-Barton, and Out Skerries, and the new photogrammetry cities were previously confirmed as Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford, and London.
While that city selection is disappointingly England-centric, the rest of the update does, thankfully, spread its makeover magic far and wide, and there's a typically gorgeous (albeit brisk) look at Flight Simulator's new and improved UK landmarks in Asobo's latest dev video.
Hop to the 18:17 mark above and you'll see Land's End, the Eden Project, Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, the Spinnaker Tower, Brighton Palace Pier, the Cliffs of Dover, Canterbury Cathedral, the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Stamford Bridge, Windsor Castle, Blenheim Palace, Hampton Court, and Warwick Castle.
Sadly, the trailer tease ends just after the first hop across the border - although we do get a look at Snowdonia National Park, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, and the Principality Stadium in Wales - but hopefully Asobo will share the full video soon. Previous teases, incidentally, have also confirmed the likes of the Forth Bridge and Blarney Castle.
All this is scheduled to arrive as part of World Update 3 between 9th-11th February, after which Asobo will be turning its attention to improving Flight Simulator's rendition of France and Benelux - that is, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Expect more details on this next World Update ahead of its planned "end of March" launch.