MSFS World Update 3 to focus on UK, with improved terrain and new airports

MSFS World Updates have focused on specific regions of the world, with Japan being the the first, and the US following just a few days ago. Today, on the regular developer Q&A, it was revealed that the third World Update will be released in January, and will focus on the UK (with some hope to include Ireland).

The UK scenery will then be improved in several key areas. There will be new highly detailed elevation data, going up to 50cm to 2m resolution, and brand new aerial imagery. Besides these overall improvements in terrain quality and resolution, there will also be a series of custom-built airports (Manchester and Liverpool airports are among them), around 50 to 60 points of interest and many new procedural buildings, which will focus a lot on churches and cathedrals. Not enough? We will also have new landing challenges!

There will be many more details about this update in the coming weeks, but this is already an exciting new revelation, knowing how well the previous ones improved on the default scenery.

As usual, during the Q&A the developers talked very openly about current and future development, in a very honest and refreshing approach. They are continually looking to get feedback from the community in order to improve the sim. Future updates will focus on airliners, and we should expect two new tutorials focused on the A320. But many new things are coming, like an improved ATC experience during approaches, and the much awaited replay functionality.

On a final note, the team revealed some surprises to arrive just before the holidays. The first is about VR – it will be open for everyone to try right before Christmas. As for the second, it remains a mystery. It will be some kind of “goodies”, so we’ll have to wait until it’s revealed. Maybe new aircraft?