2020 is running amazingly well as it is for myself and many other people - if you break it with this next SU as discussed in the developer blog it would be a catastrophe because right now 2024 is not ready, nor are many of the addons we use (PMDG 737 for example).
Personal Comments and Observations
Many XBox Users would disagree with this sentiment. SU16 is supposed to bring the GDK improvements and free up more working RAM so they can actually also run the sim without game-breaking stuff like Avionics Black Outs.
If you don’t want SU16, back out of the Beta Flighting.
Please don’t break it Asobo! I mean, I love XP12, but don’t force me to switch. FS2020 works fine now. Yes there are bugs, but nothing like FS2024, and given Asobo’s track record, they can’t seem to fix one thing without breaking another, and that’s usually a big thing that they’ll never fix.
But if there are things they want to fix, let us vote on it! They ought to tell us exactly what they want to update and let us choose if we want it or not. IMO, there’s nothing in 2020 that really needs to be fixed.
Are you saying SU16 will be a beta track? I was under the impression that it would be a mandatory update for the simulator.
If it’s a beta update then great, and this thread is meaningless - so long as we can roll back to SU15 then all is good.
From today’s blog:
“We’re also preparing for the Sim Update 16 beta for Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), which will be launching very soon. Stay tuned for more information.”
As @CasualClick says, back out of any 2020 Betas you may have enrolled in, and you’ll stay on the current 2020 release until SU16 is released.
But SU16 will be a forced update upon full release, correct?
My Personal Comment & Observation
AFAIK, yes. All previous SUs for 2020 have been mandatory, and I see no indication that this will ever change.
Roger that, it better be a good one 
The dev said that SU16 will bring new aerial ground texture shared with the one in 2024. I think it’s important because in 2020 it’s very ugly in many locations, and 2024 had improved it significantly. Apart from it yes I hope they won’t change anything else, at least for PC version.
Every 2020 SU has had a Beta Flighting since around after SU2, so yes, it won’t arrive as a RTM Build immediately.
With due respect to those who disagree, I do think they ought to do SU16. I’m not sure where some folks got the idea that 2020 is this finished work under museum glass. It’s not. (And to be honest, with 2024 here now, I don’t think it ever will be, either.) But with a lot of people without Internet speeds needed to run 2024 smoothly, I think Microsoft owes it to those people to advance MSFS as much as they can. (And by the way, they have committed to that.)
With that being said…I do fear that the beta is going to uncover regressions, people are going to identify them and write about them, some of them will get logged, others will not, and still some others will be uncovered late in the process. And then they will go live with dozens of logged bugs from the beta, and it takes another year before SU17 drops.
My hope is that in the developer stream next week, Jörg lays out the release cadence for MSFS 2020, going forward. I understand that work on 2020 has been delayed due to the 2024 launch, but we’re past that now. Like it or not, the team has two sims to maintain, and I don’t think it’s far to 2020 folks to have just one update per year, if it means leaving regressions hanging that long.
Please concentrate on Msfs2024 with SU 3 and 4 first.
By end of the year nobody wants msfs2020 anymore so better don’t touch.
Hi,
What???
I sure hope that this will NOT happen!
In my area the MSFS2024 ground textures look HORRIBLE! Pale washed out colors, grass which is a pale yellow or greyish brown instead of a lush green in and around the Alps. Too many trees on the mountains etc. MSFS2020 looks so much better than 2024.
Please Asobo do not destroy the beautiful landscapes in MSFS2020 !!!
I don’t really care about the graphics quality improvements I just don’t want to end up in a situation where I have two simulators sitting on my computer that I can’t complete a flight in without being frustrated.
SU16, if it is mandatory, better not screw 2020 up like 2024 SU2 is because that would be a huge problem for many people who use 2020 simply because 2024 is so broken for them.
Hi,
Below are some screenshots from the Enns valley in Austria while enroute from LOWS to LOGO.
They really illustrate the differences of the scenery qualities between MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024.
Note how green the meadows are in 2020, which is correct. The 2024 screenshot shows the pale greyish brown meadows which resemble the grass like in the western U.S. Here in Austria the grass is a lush green.
I heard that brown ground texture is due to season overlay. Have you tried changing month to spring or summer?
All SUs are mandatory on general release. Having them be optional / voluntary would be a support nightmare because you’d have endless different combinations of people on different SU levels.
The best thing you could do would be to join the beta and provide good feedback and if there are regressions, report them and get people to support fixing it.
I agree.
Because, even though I had previously reported problems with the beta version of pimax8kx, and many others had reported them, they went ahead with a forced update, rendering it unusable for half a year.
No amount of pretty talk can change this fact.Unplayable bug left unchecked for half a year by ASOBO
Hi,
These screenshots were taken today May 16, 2025 using live weather, the same date and almost the same time. The difference is about 15 minutes which it took to launch the other sim.
This statement is completely wrong. I, and several others I know will be sticking with 2020 for the foreseeable future. The “stream everything” model is fine for people with huge data pipes available, but many that I know live in rural areas where it simply would not work reliably. My biggest gripe is that even though you can download many assets locally, they’re all (last I heard) encrypted so that you can’t make personal edits. Many default planes don’t have differential braking on a twist stick rudder input enabled, so ground handling is a real PITA when you need to make a tight turn.
Asobo promised a ten year support roadmap at launch, and I sincerely hope they stick to that promise.
