Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 World Update 22 Releases on July 4

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Reveals World Update 22

XBOX has unveiled a new update for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, titled World Update 22, which will add over 30 US national parks on July 4. Additionally, the game will add National Championship Air Races in fall 2026.

The trailer showcases Acadia in Maine, Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina, Dry Tortugas in Florida, Guadalupe Mountains in Texas, Rocky Mountains in Colorado, the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado, Canyonlands in Utah, Bryce Canyon in Utah, Zion in Utah, Yosemite in California, Crater Lake in Oregon, North Cascades in Washington, Yellowstone in Wyoming, Grand Teton in Wyoming, Badlands in South Dakota, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Check out the World Update 22 trailer for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 below:

Microsoft Flight Simulator is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store. The store page describes the game as follows:

Fly with Purpose

Launch your aviation Career wherever you choose in the world. Gain experience, build your reputation, and complete certifications to gain access to authentic aviation activities ranging from Medevac, Remote Cargo Ops, Aerial Firefighting, Search & Rescue and more, all the way to becoming an Airline Passenger Transport Pilot. Set out on a truly global aviation adventure with virtually unlimited missions across the planet.

Compete against other pilots in the all-new Challenge League mode or hone your skills in dozens of Activities ranging from exciting Rally Races and Precision Landings to Low-Altitude challenges and more. Fly head-to-head in the iconic Red Bull Air Races and the legendary Reno Air Races, including the new Roswell courses.

Be a World Photographer and travel across our beautiful planet to capture awe-inspiring natural vistas, visit famous landmarks, and record these adventures with pictures in your travel book. Unique photo challenges test your creative eye along with your piloting skills while you strive to capture the perfect moment.

Advanced Simulation

Enhanced physics system allows 10,000+ rigid-body surfaces that enable the simulation of any shape of aircraft. Soft body physics supports cloth, ropes, balloons, and more. Improved ground and water handling further enhance realism.

New, highly accurate aircraft systems including electrical, pneumatic, fuel and hydraulic systems, payload and passenger systems, and avionics like the Universal UNS-1 FMS and Primus Epic 2. Preflight inspections and walkaround checks add to immersion.

Plan your flights with a groundbreaking flight planner which supports both IFR and VFR map layers, IFR charts, route planning, fuel and payload planning, vertical profile planning, and ETOPS planning. It also provides airport information including weather and NOTAMS and is available native in the sim, on mobile devices or web browsers for flight planning outside the simulator.

Explore Our Visually Stunning Digital Twin

Explore our most detailed re-creation of planet Earth to date. Enhanced digital elevation maps, over 500 TIN (triangular irregular network) cities and more than 100,000 square kilometers of countryside photogrammetry allow for visually stunning digital twin experiences. More than 150 airports, 2,000 glider airports, 10,000 heliports, 2,000 points of interest, and 900 oil rigs have been carefully hand-crafted while a procedural system generates all 40,000 airports, 80,000 helipads, 1.5 billion buildings, and nearly 3 trillion trees our planet.

Land anywhere and, for the first time in Microsoft Flight Simulator, exit your aircraft to explore 27 highly detailed biomes with hundreds of species of vegetation, dynamically created details including grass, rocks, and flowers – all influenced by seasonal changes. The all-new photometric lighting system renders the world more accurately than ever before, and enhanced weather features such as new cloud types, auroras, and other weather phenomena produce fresh and compelling atmospheric experiences.

The world comes alive with a vast array of land-based wildlife in their natural habitats and free-ranging livestock across the entire globe. The oceans and waterways are teeming with live, worldwide maritime traffic ranging from large tankers and cargo ships to trawlers, tugs, and more. A richly diverse, regionally accurate representation of humanity brings life to the airports, aircraft, and passenger cabins of the world. Enhanced real-world air traffic populates the skies and airport tarmacs with hundreds of accurately depicted aircraft models and dozens of officially licensed liveries.

Bad Magpie Announced for PC and Xbox Series X|S

Milktooth has announced its debut game Bad Magpie, a narrative adventure about a Magpie with one wing that causes trouble everywhere it goes. Bad Magpie will be coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC next year.

Check out the trailer below:

The following description is from Steam:

Bad Magpie is a narrative adventure game about a magpie with one wing, a fixation on shiny things, and no interest in connecting the two dots.

YOU ARE A MAGPIE

One wing. No flock. One obsession: a fallen star that wants shiny trinkets and nothing else.

Burn a meadow, drain a swimming pool, write off a car… You can’t fly but there are plenty of other ways to navigate the world… and you’re going to try all of them.

Your plan is simple: Find the trinkets. Win over the star. Cure your loneliness. 

A WORLD TEEMING WITH SECRETS

Explore a small, densely packed, non-linear open world full of things to peck, steal, combine, and meddle with.

Bad Magpie runs on a delightfully elastic cartoon logic. Screech into a megaphone to shatter glass. Peck flint to spark fires. Drop an apple in oil and see what happens.

Tear through the world in a fury, or carefully sweep every corner leaving no stone unpecked. There’s no dialogue, no text, and no cutscenes. Just a world that rewards anyone curious enough to mess with it.

Every puzzle has multiple solutions. Most of them are intentional.

FIND SHINY THINGS

You want the star. The star wants trinkets. But trinkets don’t come free. Not when there’s meteorites to be found.

So what’s the use of wallowing? You have shiny things to find.

A MYSTERY DRIVING THE WHOLE THING

You are haunted by a mysterious vision. What is it? Why is it appearing now? And how long will the star keep you distracted from it? 

It’s probably nothing.

Sea of Thieves Trailer Highlights Season 20: Custom Seas Update

Sea of Thieves Custom Seas 20th Season

XBOX has shown the latest update for Sea of Thieves during the XBOX Games Showcase 2026, titled Season 20: Custom Seas. Coming June 18, this update “hands over the keys” to the community, offering tools for players to create their own modes and spaces. From hosting multi-crew hangouts to concocting unique competitive game modes, the season focus solely on player agency and creativity.

The trailer shows a few possibilities with Rowboat Royale, Skeleton Snipe Hunt, King of the Hill, Hide + Sneak and Team Deathmatch. Custom Seas allows for both gameplay tweaks and cinematic experiences, and adds an in-game Free Camera mode.

Check out the trailer below to see these modes in action:

This update walks back the previous plan to have server toolsets locked behind a subscription, and now opens up the possibilities of private sailing for everyone in the community. According to the game’s production director, the team felt like a premium feature wouldn’t tap into the full potential a custom mode can bring. You can check more details in the news post for the official direct

Sea of Thieves is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Microsoft Store and Steam. The Season 20: Custom Seas update is slated to release June 18 to all platforms, free of charge.

Valor Mortis Release Date Set for September 24

Valor Mortis

One More Level and Lyrical Games unveiled a new trailer for Valor Mortis at Xbox Games Showcase 2026, revealing the game’s September 24 release date. Valor Mortis will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, and Vincent Cassel stars as Napoleon.

The trailer can be seen here:

Valor Mortis can be wishlisted now, and the Steam page gives this description:

Valor Mortis is a first-person action soulslike from the creators of Ghostrunner. Rise from death as a former soldier of Napoleon’s army. Wield supernatural powers, battle horrifying monsters, and unravel a conspiracy that threatens all of humanity.

You are William, a soldier of the Grande Armée brought back from a battlefield grave. But the Europe you awaken to is not the one you sacrificed for. A mysterious plague now sweeps the continent, and you have been reborn with its corrupting power pulsing through your veins.

Harness corrupted power

Each death is a chance to grow stronger. Master a combat system of parries, dashes, and visceral finishers across a variety of weapons. Channel your power to enhance attacks and unlock new supernatural abilities to inflict upon your enemies. 

Secrets litter the battlefield

Navigate a 19th-century alternate history where the costs of endless war have corrupted the landscape. Use your newfound mobility to outmaneuver the plague-ridden abominations of Napoleon’s Eternal Guard and uncover environmental secrets that may increase your chances of survival.

Uncover a horrid conspiracy

Witness a compelling story where historical figures and realities intertwine with elements of horror and the supernatural. Explore beyond the dark corners of the world to discover the truth behind the plague and your unholy resurrection. 

Magicians: The Devil’s Deal Announced, Releasing in 2027

Uppercut Games and Focus Entertainment have announced Magicians: The Devil’s Deal. Not much is known currently, but the trailers show a world of magic from a first-person perspective. The game will be coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in 2027.

Check out the trailer below:

The following description is from the Steam page:

Step into a world where stage magic becomes real. In Magicians: The Devil’s Deal, every ability shapes how you fight, adapt, and survive, as you face powerful enemies in a twisted world built on illusion and control.

Power, Illusion, and Deception

In this first-person tale, magic has broken free from the stage and shattered the world. Play as Jacob Menteuro, a celebrated stage magician whose talent bordered on the supernatural. Cast into Hell, he is trapped in Theatreland, a twisted domain ruled by the rivals who betrayed him: the Masters. Bound by a treacherous pact with the Devil, Jacob must survive this infernal stage where performance is power, and deception is survival.

Become the Ultimate Trickster

As you descend through Theatreland, discover powerful abilities that expand your control and precision. Stage magic is more than a weapon. It becomes a lethal discipline as cards turn into razor‑sharp projectiles, chains ensnare your enemies, and gravity itself bends to your will. Each Realm is ruled by powerful Masters and filled with relentless fanatics and nightmarish performers. Every encounter demands observation, adaptation, and mastery, pushing you to turn spectacle into dominance and fully embrace the role of the ultimate trickster.

Take Your Revenge, Escape if you Can

Betrayed by his peers, hounded by his mentor and compelled by The Devil himself, Jacob hunts the Masters across Theatreland to steal their powers and uncover the truth behind their treachery. In a world ruled by hubris and temptation, his revenge offers no way out, only a deeper pull toward darkness.

A Twisted Stage Awaits

Theatreland is an infernal reflection of Victorian London buried in the depths of Hell. Explore realms erupting with the twisted powers of their Masters. Nothing in Theatreland is ever what it seems, and every scene tells a story shaped by performance and deception.

This story is still developing, so stay tuned.

Clockwork Revolution Announced for 2027 as Xbox Console Exclusive

inXile Entertainment have released a new trailer for Clockwork Revolution revealing a 2027 release date. Clockwork Revolution will be releasing as an Xbox Series X|S console exclusive, alongside a PC release through Steam.

The Heist trailer, which included character and story details, can be seen here:

Clockwork Revolution will be available through Xbox Game Pass on day 1. It can be wishlisted now. The game’s Steam page provides this description:

Wield the power of an incredible device to travel back in time, changing the past and rewriting the future of the city you call home: the vibrant steampunk metropolis of Avalon.

In this immersive RPG, you’ll step into the shoes of Morgan Vanette, a fully customizable player-character and member of the Rotten Row Hooligans. Travel between past and present as you battle the ruthless Lady Ironwood, who has been manipulating time to keep the working class struggling while amassing immense wealth and power.

Your interactions and choices will have a butterfly effect on the deep, narrative-driven world, shaping characters and events in unexpected ways.

With the power of time in your hands, how will you fight your way through Avalon’s history and redefine its future?

CONTROL YOUR JOURNEY, YOUR WAY

Create your character from the ground up and specialize with gear, attributes, and skills. Your choices can let you hack hostile automaton robots, craft intricate steampunk weapons and gadgets, and control time itself.

A WONDROUS STEAMPUNK WORLD

Welcome to Avalon, a Victorian-era metropolis where automaton robots patrol the streets, wealthy citizens replace their limbs with ornate clockwork prosthetics, steam trains fly overhead, and mechanical servants fulfill their masters’ every whim.

YOUR CHOICES RESHAPE AVALON

Your decisions in the past echo through time, reshaping Avalon in unexpected ways. From character interactions to storefronts to the city itself, your choices–big and small–won’t just change the world, they’ll rewrite it.

A DEEP AND GRITTY ADVENTURE

Experience the industrial rot, class warfare, and occult machinery that make Avalon a dangerous, unpredictable, and darkly funny place. You’ll cross paths with unforgettable characters: friends who betray you, enemies who make a little too much sense, and a city that remembers every choice you make.

Age of Empires IV: Raiders of the North Expansion Announced

Relic Entertainment, World’s Edge, and Xbox Game Studios have announced the latest expansion for Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition, titled Raiders of the North. Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition – Raiders of the North will have you commanding the Vikings and Scots when it releases this fall.

Check out the trailer below:

Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition is currently available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. Here’s an overview, via Steam:

Celebrating its first year of delighting millions of global players, the award-winning and best-selling strategy franchise continues with Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition, putting you at the center of even more epic historical battles that shaped the world.

Featuring both familiar and innovative new ways to expand your empire in vast landscapes with stunning 4K visual fidelity, Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition brings an evolved real-time strategy game to the next level in this celebratory new version that includes a host of free new content such as brand-new civilizations, new maps, additional in-game updates and languages, and new masteries, challenges, taunts and cheats – all at an amazing value that packs in more history than ever before!

Two New Civilizations, 8 New Maps – Lead the mighty Malians of West Africa as one of the richest trading nations of all-time as you focus on strong economic prowess in mining and investing in gold.

Or assemble one of the longest lasting empires in history with the Ottoman civilization and its well-trained military force, which features the largest gunpowder siege weapons available – the Great Bombards – mighty cannons that can fell any opponents who stand in your way.

Customize Your Game with Mods (Beta) – Chart your own course with powerful creator tools in the latest beta release of Mod Editor. Sculpt your own skirmish and multiplayer maps, craft unique mission scenarios, forge data driven tuning packs and envision new modes of play for Age of Empires IV.

Return to History – The past is prologue as you are immersed in a rich historical setting of 10 diverse civilizations across the world from the English to the Chinese to the Delhi Sultanate in your quest for victory. Build cities, manage resources, and lead your troops to battle on land and at sea in 4 distinct campaigns with 35 missions that span across 500 years of history from the Dark Ages up to the Renaissance.

An Age for All Players – Age of Empires IV is an inviting experience for new players with a tutorial system that teaches the essence of real-time strategy and a Campaign Story Mode designed for first time players to help achieve easy setup and success, yet is challenging enough for veteran players with new game mechanics, evolved strategies, and combat techniques.

Challenge the World – Jump online to compete, cooperate or spectate with up to 7 of your friends in PVP and PVE multiplayer modes that include ranked seasons and much more!

Choose Your Path to Greatness with Historical Figures – Live the adventures of Joan of Arc in her quest to defeat the English, or command mighty Mongol troops as Genghis Khan in his conquest across Asia. The choice is yours – and every decision you make will determine the outcome of history.

Vivarium Announced, Releases in 2027 for PC and Xbox

Vivarium Announced, Releases in 2027 for PC and Xbox

Studio Meadowflower and Serenity Forge have announced Vivarium during the Xbox Games Showcase, a new cozy life sim that will release in 2027. It will be available for Xbox Series X|S and PC, and launch day one on Xbox Game Pass. 

The trailer highlights the calming gameplay alongside the stunning hand-drawn artstyle, inspired by classic anime. Check out the full trailer for Vivarium below:

The Steam page describes the game as follows:

Step into a summer that never ends.

You wake up in the golden haze of late afternoon. The air is warm, cicadas hum somewhere in the distance, and sunlight spills across your bedroom.

And outside your window… there’s a tiny world waiting.

You play as 11-year-old Jenny, a bright and energetic resident of the terrarium.

But this isn’t just her story.

Somewhere, buried deep under the summer days and small-town routines, is another life.

Unravel the mysteries of the terrarium.

Beneath the nostalgic atmosphere of this close-knit town lies a hidden truth. Explore a “perfect” pocket world to reveal its secrets and progress through a non-linear narrative shaped by your choices.

Meet dear friends you’ve always needed.

Jenny’s charming neighborhood is inhabited by a charismatic cast of characters, each with their own branching and dynamic storylines:

    • A reclusive woman slowly becoming something else
    • A shopkeeper that gives daily album recommendations
    • A funny postal worker who drinks like a fish, and is a fish
    • A nosy retiree birdwatcher, who keeps tabs on the other townies
    • A wandering fortune teller who seems to know too much
Live your days as dreams.

Days in Vivarium are synced to the player’s real-world calendar, allowing for daily new discoveries while unraveling its mysterious narrative. Completing major story events will progress time, but every night provides endless slice-of-life comfort and time that can be spent:

    • Cooking new recipes and tending to your garden
    • Collecting stickers, vinyl records, and classic novels to enjoy
    • Crafting items and decorating your cozy home
    • Repairing equipment and preparing for tomorrow’s adventure

Spyro: A Realm Beyond Announced, Releases in Spring 2027

Spyro: A Realm Beyond Announced, Releases in Spring 2027

Xbox and Toys for Bob have finally announced the next entry in the Spyro franchise, titled Spyro: A Realm Beyond. It will release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC in 2027. 

The new entry seems to take the series back to its platforming roots. The trailer’s description provides more details about the release:

Take flight on a brand-new adventure through a strange and wondrous realm. When Spyro finds himself stranded, his journey to discover a way home is interrupted by the arrival of a vicious invading force known as the Scavs. Spyro must make new allies and rise to protect this realm before it’s changed forever. Feel the freedom of flight as you soar above vibrant landscapes, weave between treetops, dive off massive landmarks and wing your way through this new realm in Spyro ’s boldest evolution yet. Carve your path through the skies and chain together dives, climbs and tight turns as you navigate the world your way. Crafted by Toys For Bob, this is a new evolution of Spyro, built to send the purple dragon soaring higher than ever before.

Check out the first trailer for Spyro: A Realm Beyond below:

Insomniac and PlayStation released the first Spyro in 1998 for the original PlayStation. Over the years, several sequels, spin-offs, and reboots have made the franchise a classic among fans. In 2019, Activision and Toys For Bob released a collection of the first three games called the Reignited Trilogy. The trilogy is available now on all consoles. Recently, the game passed 10 million sales. Lastly, Spyro Reignited Trilogy is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

UPDATE:

A new Xbox Wire post has revealed more details about the upcoming game. It reveals that Tom Kenny will reprise his role as Spyro and that the gameplay focuses on Spyro having the ability to freely fly anywhere for the first time ever. In an Xbox Wire post, Toys for Bob outlines this new change: “…I can tell you that our biggest ambition in Spyro: A Realm Beyond is to give the player the freedom and fantasy of dragon flight – to be able to take the skies at a moment’s notice and make interesting and active decisions to flow through the spaces as you charge on the ground and now soar through the air. This is such a significant addition to the game, and we’ve built a whole world around that promise.”

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Sequel Senua Announced for 2027

The next game in Ninja Theory’s Hellblade franchise, Senua, has been announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026. It will release in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

The reveal trailer can be seen here:

The website for the game provides this description:

Senua is a single player action-adventure game and a bold new chapter in Senua’s story. It builds on the emotional depth and cinematic presentation of the Hellblade series, while expanding the gameplay with varied and exciting tactical combat — including encounters against multiple enemies with multiple weapons — alongside exploration, puzzle-solving and greater player agency. Designed for both longtime Hellblade fans and players new to Senua’s world, the game is set within a fantastical, evolving reality shaped by her perception, and delivers an action and gameplay focused journey that expands on the heart of the franchise.

What makes Senua different from previous Hellblade games?

With Senua, we’ve taken a bold step forward for the franchise. While the game stays true to the heart of Hellblade — its atmosphere, and character driven storytelling — we’ve placed a much stronger emphasis on action and gameplay. Combat has greater depth and agency, encounters are more varied, and players have more control moment to moment than ever before. At the same time, the story is more tightly focused on Senua herself, telling a complete, standalone chapter that works for both existing fans and new players.

Senua is currently available to wishlist. The Steam store page provides this description:

A Celtic warrior is trapped between life and death in a fractured vision of purgatory. In an action‑adventure set in the Hellblade universe, Senua fights to reach the afterlife and reunite with those she loved and lost, battling forces that threaten all she believes in.

Break through a vision of Senua’s mind to confront the threat within and without, mastering tactical combat to overcome nightmarish creatures born of myth and fear. Explore a world shaped by memory and meaning as Senua seeks a path to inner peace, in a defining standalone story of defiance, choice and legacy.