Microsoft Flight Simulator Takes Players to Dune for Its Next Expansion

By Ricky Frech

Microsoft Flight Simulator prides itself on accurately portraying nearly the entire Earth for players to fly around. That intricate level of detail is among the most impressive in the business and helps the game serve as a tool that even real-world pilots can use to practice. Obviously, you aren't going to get your pilot's license just from playing the game, but it can give you a leg up. Today, Xbox revealed that you'll soon be able to take everything you learned to an entirely new world when Microsoft Flight Simulator – Dune Expansion launches on November 3.

You read that correctly. The next MFS expansion is taking playing to Arrakis where they can explore the world seen in the Dune book and film franchise. Players will be piloting an Atreides Ornithopter that's been developed in partnership with the teams at Legendary and Warner Bros, as well as a member of the Dune film design team. Considering the Ornithopter uses hummingbird-like wings, it'll be a brand-new learning curve for even veteran Microsoft Flight Simulator players once they first load it up. Unfortunately, the trailer didn't reveal if we'll be running into any sandworms, but it did show the drilling rig that's featured in the first movie.

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The upcoming Dune expansion wasn't the only thing Microsoft Flight Simulator announced at the Xbox showcase, though. The team also announced that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is in the works. The brand-new version of Flight Sim is currently slated to release at some point next year and is being "powered by the significantly evolved Asobo Studio engine." There's no firm release date, but that seems to suggest we shouldn't expect it until the middle of the year, at the earliest.

It'll be fun to see what we'll be able to explore when the game launches. Arrakis is a mostly desolate desert in the movie, so it could seem a bit boring on the surface. That said, we've only seen the first movie so far. It's likely we'll explore some of the novel's locations in the sequel, and the Flight Sim team doesn't want to spoil any of them ahead of the movie. Either way, Microsoft Flight Simulator – Dune Expansion is due on November 3, which is the same day Dune: Part 2 will release in theaters. 

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