Microsoft Flight Simulator's Top Gun: Maverick Expansion Release Date Announced, And It's Soon

Microsoft Flight Simulator is getting free tie-in DLC themed around Paramount's Top Gun: Maverick, and now it has a release date. The DLC will launch on May 25, which is just ahead of the film's premiere on May 27.

Ahead of launch, there is a new promotional website where fans can create their own "call sign" by entering their name and snapping a photo of themselves.

The Top Gun DLC was always scheduled to arrive alongside the movie, so when Maverick was delayed from November 2021 to May 2022, the DLC was delayed as well.

Flight Simulator's Top Gun DLC will allow players to "experience first-hand what it's like to be a U.S. Navy Top Gun," Microsoft said in the expansion's original announcement in June 2021. The DLC comes with fighter jets from the movie, including Tom Cruise's own jet. Based on the announcement trailer, it looks like the DLC will also include aircraft carriers from the movie, according to GamesRadar.

Flight Simulator is a very ambitious title with significant hardware requirements, but you don't need a high-end PC or the latest Xbox to play it. The Xbox Series X version is playable over the cloud, so people on an OG Xbox One can play it, provided their internet connection is strong and stable.

As for Maverick, the film brings back Cruise with a new cast that also includes Miles Teller, Jennifer Connolly, Monica Barbaro, Glen Powell, and Jon Hamm. It's directed by Joseph Kosinski, who previously helmed the movies Tron: Legacy and Oblivion. He also is known for directing commercials for Halo 3 and Gears of War.