Flight Simulator's UK and Ireland overhaul delayed into next week

Flight Simulator's third World Update - which is set to give the UK and Ireland a welcome spruce-up - will once again launch a little later than anticipated, with its release now scheduled for next Tuesday, 16th February.

World Update 3, which continues the impressive work seen in previous makeovers for the United States and Japan, had previously been given slightly delayed launch window of 9th-11th February by developer Asobo as it attempted to address teething troubles relating to the integration of new photogrammetry city data into the game.

While the studio didn't indicate the reason for today's additional delay, it did confirm that World Update 3 is now "in its final polish phase" and that its launch has been "locked in" for 16th February. "The team is putting the finishing touches on all aspects of this massive update, it explained, "and we appreciate your continued patience."

World Update 3 introduces improved aerial and elevation data for the UK and Ireland, new landing challenges, "nearly 80" new points of interest, five new hand-crafted airports - Barra, Land's End, Liverpool, Manchester-Barton, and Out Skerries if you're looking for specifics - plus five brand-new photogrammetry cities.

Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford, and London make up the disappointing England-centric city selection, but Asobo has thankfully cast its net wider as far as new points of interest and landmarks are concerned - and the brief, recently shared video tease of World Update 3 looked, as you'd expect from Flight Simulator, absolutely gorgeous.

Land's End, the Eden Project, Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, the Spinnaker Tower, Brighton Palace Pier, the Cliffs of Dover, Canterbury Cathedral, the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Stamford Bridge, Windsor Castle, Blenheim Palace, Hampton Court, and Warwick Castle are all confirmed as new landmarks in England, as are Snowdonia National Park, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, and the Principality Stadium in Wales. The Forth Bridge and Blarney Castle are also in, but we'll get the full list next week.

Once World Update 3 is out the door, Asobo will turn its attention to improving Flight Simulator's rendition of France and Benelux - that is, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Expect more details ahead of its planned "end of March" launch.