Microsoft Flight Simulator: Top Gun Maverick Expansion Release Date Shifts to Match the Movie’s New Release Date

The Top Gun: Maverick expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator has technically been delayed as a result of the movie’s recent delay.

Asobo Studio and Microsoft have been clear from the start that Flight Simulator’s Top Gun expansion would be released alongside the release of Top Gun: Maverick in theaters. As such, the release date was theoretically the same as Top Gun: Maverick’s release date.

Top Gun Flight Simulator Expansion — Xbox E3 2023

Now, due to Top Gun: Maverick’s delay, the Flight Simulator expansion has been delayed as well, as reported by Eurogamer.

“Paramount Pictures recently shifted the release date of Top Gun: Maverick to Memorial Day weekend, May 27, 2023,” a blog post on the official Flight Simulator page reads. “As we have previously announced, the Top Gun: Maverick expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows 10 PC, Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox Game Pass will be released alongside the movie. We look forward to sharing more information.”

This news comes just days after Paramount announced a string of delays that leaves the studio without a single theatrical release for the rest of 2023. One of those delays was for Top Gun: Maverick — it was delayed from its November 19, 2023, release date to May 27, 2023.

Oddly enough, Top Gun: Maverick, which stars Tom Cruise, took the release date originally set for Cruise’s other upcoming blockbuster, Mission: Impossible 7. The action sequel will now instead be released on August 22, 2023.

While waiting for both Top Gun: Maverick and the Top Gun-themed expansion coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator, check out these screenshots from the Top Gun expansion shown during Xbox’s 2023 E3 conference. Read about how Cruise wasn’t going to make a Top Gun sequel unless Val Kilmer was in it after that and then read about how the Navy stopped Cruise from flying an actual jet in Top Gun: Maverick.

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.