For a long time, the Boeing 757 was the most conspicuous absence in Microsoft Flight Simulator’s airliner hangar. Simmers have a PMDG 737, a Fenix A320, the iniBuilds L-1011 and even a TFDi MD-11, but no high-fidelity version of the “Flying Pencil”. Well, not anymore!
BlueBird Simulations’ Boeing 757 is out now for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024. It’s priced at $80 plus applicable taxes and is available from BlueBird’s own website and on Just Flight. It’s the studio’s first commercial product, and one of the most anticipated aircraft releases the sim has seen.
A long approach to the runway
If you’ve followed our coverage over the years, you’ll know this release has been a long time coming. BlueBird first announced the 757 back in February 2022, with Just Flight’s backing. At the time, the plan was a mid-fidelity airliner, something closer to a “fly from A to B” experience. In early 2024, the team changed course and committed to a high-fidelity simulation, largely in response to community demand.
That decision came at a cost in time. The release slipped into 2025, then into 2026, and at one point BlueBird memorably promised the 757 would land “before GTA6”. Things picked up pace this year. The aircraft’s full feature list was revealed in July, and in September BlueBird finally set a date.
Even that date landed a few weeks past the Q3 window. According to BlueBird, the aircraft itself was mostly done by then, and the extra time went into building everything a first-time studio needs to sell a product: activation services, download delivery, web portals and enough server capacity for thousands of simultaneous downloads on day one.
That work is also where launch day ran into trouble. On October 23, BlueBird told us that the team member directly responsible for its deployment infrastructure and backend had been admitted to urgent care, and that a delay had become a real possibility (we covered it here). In the end, the 757 arrived a few hours later than planned.
What you get at launch
The launch build covers the 757-200 passenger variant, with both Rolls-Royce RB211-535E and Pratt & Whitney PW2000 engines. It’s built on the MSFS 2020 SDK and runs in MSFS 2024 as a compatible aircraft, and one purchase covers both simulators.
BlueBird describes the 757 as “truly study level”, and the scope it has published backs up the ambition. More than 500 circuit breakers are mapped to their electrical buses, with over 200 working at launch. The FMC is modeled on the real Pegasus unit, with LNAV, VNAV, holds and missed approaches, and BlueBird says more than 300 EICAS messages are simulated. A custom autopilot runs across all three Flight Control Computers, including autoland, and the team says it spent around 1,500 hours tuning the flight dynamics, with real 757 pilots checking the results. BlueBird’s release post also says engine, hydraulic, electrical, pneumatic and avionics failures are built into the systems simulation from day one.
Then there’s the sound. The package was built with Boris Audio Works and includes more than 450 cockpit samples, with engine sound changing depending on where you sit. If you haven’t heard it yet, our Boris Audio Works preview is worth a listen.
The key points at a glance:
- Price: $80 plus applicable taxes
- Simulators: MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 (compatible, not native), single purchase
- Variant: 757-200, RR and PW engines
- Integrations: SimBrief, Navigraph charts and performance uplinks, Hoppie ACARS, SayIntentions.AI CPDLC, MobiFlight for external CDUs
- EFB: ground services and pushback, weight and balance, interactive system synoptics and a maintenance page
- Hardware: existing WINGFLEX Boeing CDUs supported from day one
- Manual: a 357-page Master Manual
What’s still to come
BlueBird has been open about the fact that today is a starting point. In its final pre-launch update, the developer said no complex add-on is perfect on day one, and that it will be monitoring feedback and releasing patches.
The roadmap from here includes a native MSFS 2024 version as a free upgrade, and with it the weather radar and walkaround interaction. The 757-300 will follow as a free update, built natively for MSFS 2024, because the -200 is BlueBird’s last MSFS 2020 product. In August, BlueBird said its more complete failure suite would follow after launch, alongside an ATA-chapter breakdown of the systems built to support it. BlueBird is also working on the 757-300, while the 757F freighter remains planned as a separate paid expansion.
Console simmers will need some patience, too. BlueBird says the Xbox version is planned several months after the PC release. And on the hardware side, the company recently named WINGFLEX as its exclusive hardware partner, with a dedicated 757 lineup planned for 2027.
Our verdict
We had the chance to fly the 757 ahead of launch, and our full review is live with a 9/10, Highly Recommended score.
João came away impressed by how deeply the systems connect. Pulling a circuit breaker has real consequences down the line, the cabin temperature responds to passenger count and open doors, and the custom FMC and the CRT displays drew particular praise. He also found performance in MSFS 2024 better than expected for an airliner this complex.
It’s not a flawless debut, though. The cabin modeling falls short of current standards, the aircraft misses many of MSFS 2024’s native features, and he felt $80 is a little steep until the native version and the -300 arrive. BlueBird has clearly built a very solid simulation foundation, and we’re hopeful the full package will come together as the promised updates arrive.
The 757 and the others
At $80 + tax, the 757 sits in the same price bracket as airliners from PMDG, Leonardo, and iniBuilds, which is a bold position for a studio with no previous commercial release. But it also arrives with no direct competition. There’s currently no other high-fidelity 757 for MSFS 2020 or 2024, and the type has a loyal following among simmers who flew it in earlier simulators.
It also arrives in a busy week for airliner fans, with Fenix’s free A320 version 3 update out on Wednesday and PMDG starting its 747 news cycle. Beyond the 757, BlueBird is developing the 767-300ER in parallel with a separate team, with the 767-400 confirmed for later.
For now, though, after four years of previews, betas and moving release windows, the 757 is finally in simmers’ hands. We’ll be following the launch closely, along with the first patches, and you can keep track of everything in one place on our BlueBird 757 hub.
