Home Microsoft Flight Sim 2024 – can you use marketplace purchases from MSFS 2020?

Microsoft Flight Sim 2024 – can you use marketplace purchases from MSFS 2020?

It’s almost here. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is on its final approach and set to bring a whole new raft of virtual pilots into the ecosphere. But what if you have been playing since Flight Simulator 2020 and have built up quite a library of DLC, be it scenery, airports, or aircraft? Does jumping on board Flight Simulator 2024 mean you need to forego all that expense and start from scratch? Let’s have a look.

Using older DLC with MSFS 2024

There are already a few issues, even before the game arrives, that are beginning to flare up but we are confident that Microsoft and Asabo, along with the myriad of third-party developers will be quick to sort these out.

On launch day, Microsoft has confirmed that you should be greeted in the Marketplace, whether you are on Steam, Xbox, or Game Pass, with all your currently owned FS2020 purchases, ready to add straight into your shiny new game.

Microsoft has however stated that the Marketplace in MSFS 2024 will not be open for new purchases for a short period of time (weeks rather than days we believe) in order to give partners more time to get all their new DLC ready.

To make the situation further unclear, Miltech Simulations – the team responsible for the default C-17 in FS2024 has said that all its products will require an update to work properly in MSFS 2024 and that no updates will be made on release day, then implying that versions “ported” over by the Marketplace team for Day One access will be likely to contain bugs and are urging customers not to use them and rather wait for official updates.

You can read all about this on Miltech’s Discord.

So the situation seems to be that you should have access to all your older content from MSFS 2020 but, in the interim, expect bugs and issues and that you will also have to wait for new MSFS 2024 content to arrive in the Marketplace when it launches for real.

Of course, we expect there to be plenty to get stuck into on Day One with all the pretty new things without worrying about how janky some of our old content might be out of the box.

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Paul McNally
Gaming Editor

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media. Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020. Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine,…

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