Microsoft Flight Simulator Update 13 takes you to Antarctica and over the white sand beaches of Oceania

World Update 13 is now available for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and it takes you over the lovely regions of Oceania and the lonely, desolate expanse of Western Antarctica.

When you're flying around Oceania, which is not only a geographical region, but a continent in its own right, you will find remote coral islands, white sand beaches, beautiful blue water, volcanoes, and rainforests, along with populated cities.

On the other end of the spectrum, you will find Antarctica full of lovely, pristine vistas, glaciated terrain, towering mountains, and quiet solitude.

The Oceania portion of the update includes Polynesia, made up of Hawaii and Easter Island, Melanesia, which encompasses Fiji, New Caledonia, New Guinea, the Galapagos Islands, Indonesia's West Papua, and the Solomon Islands.

With Antarctica, you will fly around the Antarctic Peninsula, dotted with islands and 80% covered in ice. It goes by many names, depending on the country. It is known as O'Higgins Land in Chile, Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, was formerly known as Graham Land in the UK, and the Palmer Peninsula in the US. As the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica, it is the larger peninsula of West Antarctica with an ice sheet covering many bedrock islands.

The update consists of 13 countries and 28 non-sovereign territories, many with improved resolution. The release is based on the latest aerial photographs, satellite imagery, and digital elevation modeling data. Plus, there is an updated height field for Hawaii that features the city of Honolulu with dozens of handmade buildings.

World Update 13 features 150 points of interest, including four series of Moai monoliths on Easter Island, the Autograph Tower, which is the tallest building in Indonesia and the Southern Hemisphere, a series of Antarctic research bases including McMurdo Station, Scott Base, and Davis Station, and the Point Venus Lighthouse on Tahiti.

Over a dozen handmade airports are part of the release, some of which feature short take-off and landing. The airports include some highlands dirt airstrips in Papua New Guinea, Easter Island's Mataveri International Airport, Hawaii's Kona International Airport, Nusatupe Airport on the Solomon Islands, and French Polynesia's Bora Bora and Moorea Airports.

You can also participate in eleven Oceania missions, including five discovery flights, three landing challenges, and three bush trips.

The update is available for free to owners of Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox Series X/S and PC with Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Windows, and Steam, Xbox One-supported mobiles, and lower-spec PCs via Xbox Cloud Gaming.