When Bluebird Simulations confirmed a Q3 2026 release window for their Boeing 757 at FSWeekend back in March, it felt like the project had finally turned the corner. Now there’s another concrete step to report: the team has entered stage 2 of their three-stage beta testing process, which is, by their own description, the biggest phase of the entire program.
In a Reddit post shared today, the developer confirmed that stage 2 is now underway, and it covers all major aircraft systems except the EFB, which is currently around 50% complete. This is a significant jump from stage 1, which began in October 2025 with a small group of testers focused on specific system groups, and which the developer themselves acknowledged at the time could be considered “a late alpha” given how many systems were still incomplete. Stage 2 is the real thing.
According to Bluebird, feedback from testers has been positive so far, and performance across test systems has reportedly been solid. Stage 3, which follows, will be a considerably shorter process focused mainly on the EFB and cosmetic areas of the aircraft. Crucially, Bluebird says a release date announcement will come “a few weeks” after entering that final stage.
That’s the most concrete release timeline signal the team has offered to date. For a project that has been in development since 2022 and has seen its share of delays and pivots, including a mid-development pivot from a mid-tier product to a full high-fidelity simulation that placed it in direct competition with PMDG and Fenix, the end of the road is starting to look genuinely close.
The update also came with a bundle of FAQ answers that fill in a few remaining gaps. The initial release will include the 757-200 with both Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney engine options, priced at $80 USD for all passenger variants, covering both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024. The 757-300, along with winglet and non-winglet variants, will follow as a free update. The freighter, meanwhile, is confirmed as a paid expansion with its own specialized systems, though it will bring some system enhancements to base package owners at no extra charge.
On the MSFS 2024 side, the situation is the same as previously stated: the initial release will be compatible with 2024 from a systems standpoint, but it will be missing native features like exterior interactive panels and walk-around mode. A fully native 2024 build is planned as a free update down the line. An Xbox release is also planned, but will not happen simultaneously with the PC version.
One area worth highlighting in the FAQ is the failure system. Bluebird confirms the initial release will include some failures, with a more comprehensive system coming post-release. The team says the 200-plus circuit breakers modelled into the aircraft were specifically designed with failures in mind, which suggests the groundwork for something fairly deep is already in place. A full feature list is promised for sometime in June.
The latest Navigraph survey, which places the 757 among the most anticipated aircraft in the community, is a reflection of how much goodwill this project has maintained despite the long wait. Whether the aircraft lives up to that anticipation is something we’ll only know at release, but the move into full systems beta is the most encouraging development update the team has shared yet.
We’ll have full coverage when the release date drops. In the meantime, you can catch up on our full history of coverage with the FSWeekend trailer reveal and Q3 2026 confirmation and the comprehensive systems deep-dive from February 2025.
