With Sim Update 5, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 finally pushes one of its most anticipated updates live. After months in beta, multiple release candidates, and even a last-minute delay, expectations were high. The result? A mixed bag that raises a bigger question: is MSFS 2024 moving forward—or just constantly fixing itself?
At first glance, the update reads like a success story. New career certifications (Heavy, Oversized, VTOL), PSVR2 support, and “thousands of fixes” suggest a major step forward. But that wording—thousands of fixes—is exactly where the problem begins.
A simulator stuck in repair mode
When a platform repeatedly advertises thousands of bug fixes per update, it stops sounding like progress and starts sounding like damage control. Many of the “fixes” listed in SU5 address issues that have existed since release—or were even introduced in previous updates.
This creates a frustrating cycle familiar to long-time simmers:
- Update introduces new features
- Existing systems break (again)
- Next update fixes them—partially
The result is a simulator that rarely feels stable, only temporarily less broken.
Career mode: expansion over stability
The new certifications are a welcome addition on paper. Heavy cargo operations and VTOL progression finally add depth to a career mode that initially felt undercooked.
But here’s the issue: expanding systems that are still fundamentally unreliable doesn’t strengthen the experience—it exposes the cracks. Career mode has struggled with inconsistent mission logic, AI behavior, and reward balancing. SU5 adds more layers on top, without clearly addressing those core problems.
VR and PS5: impressive, but not the priority
PSVR2 support and the opening of the PS5 Marketplace are technically impressive steps. Bringing full cockpit interaction into VR is no small achievement.
However, for many PC simmers—the core audience—this feels like a shift in priorities. While platform expansion continues, long-standing issues with performance, avionics stability, and flight model inconsistencies remain only partially resolved.
In other words: new platforms are polished, while the foundation still wobbles.
AAU4 delay: a familiar pattern
The delayed release of Aircraft & Avionics Update 4 reinforces a pattern we’ve seen before. Key improvements—especially to aircraft systems—arrive separately and later, fragmenting the update experience.
It’s increasingly difficult to point to a single update and say: this is a complete step forward.
The real question
Sim Update 5 is not a bad update. In isolation, it’s substantial. But taken in context, it highlights a deeper issue:
Is Asobo Studio building a next-generation simulator—or maintaining a constantly shifting one?
For many users, the excitement of new features is now tempered by a simple expectation:
Will everything still work tomorrow?
Until that question has a reliable answer, even “thousands of fixes” won’t feel like progress—just necessary maintenance.
What’s your experience with SU5 so far? Improvement, or more of the same?
