Detailed Flight Simulator airports not included in base version

Like all simulator games--especially airplane ones--Microsoft's new Flight Simulator carves up key portions of content and sells it for extra money. Microsoft is locking higher-detailed airports behind the more expensive $90 and $120 deluxe editions.

The standard $59.99 version of Flight Simulator doesn't include many of the extras in the $90 and $120 deluxe editions--and rightly so, given the extra cost. The more premium versions come with more airports and more airplanes, but base game owners can buy them from an in-game microtransaction storefront. This is nothing new for the simulator genre. Aerofly FS 2, for example, has 21 DLC packs that cost $520 total, including $30 airplanes.

One key difference between the standard version and the Deluxe/Premium Deluxe editions is the quality of airport detail. The expensive versions come with handcrafted airports, meaning they have more detailed areas and are extremely realistic like-for-like renditions of their real-life counterparts. The standard edition comes with these airports, but they're basic renditions and lack the care and attention found in the meticulous hand-crafted ones.

Not all airports look better in the more expensive versions. Only some of them. The total of higher-quality hand-crafted airports amounts to 15 (there's 5 with the deluxe, and 10 with the premium deluxe).

Here's a side-by-side example from PC Gamer:

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Here's the main differences between the three versions, and which airports will look better on the deluxe and premium editions:

• Standard Edition - $59.99 base game with 20 airplanes and 30 airports
• Deluxe Edition: $90 base game +5 extra airplanes and +5 extra high-detail hand-crafted airports
• Premium Edition: $120 base game +10 extra planes and +10 extra high-detail hand-crafted airports

Deluxe hand-crafted airports:

• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands)
• Cairo International Airport (Egypt)
• Cape Town International Airport (South Africa)
• O'Hare International Airport (USA)
• Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport (Spain)

Premium Deluxe hand-crafted airports:

• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands)
• Cairo International Airport (Egypt)
• Cape Town International Airport (South Africa)
• O'Hare International Airport (USA)
• Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport (Spain)
• Denver International Airport (USA)
• Dubai International Airport (United Arab Emirates)
• Frankfurt Airport (Germany)
• Heathrow Airport (United Kingdom)
• San Francisco International Airport (USA)