Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Adds Stranger Things Expansion

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (MSFS 2024) has launched a surprise crossover with the popular Netflix series Stranger Things, bringing the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, into the flight sim. Following the PS5 launch of MSFS 2024 on Dec 8, PlayStation.Blog announced the next day that “Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: Stranger Things” expansion would be available as a free update on Dec 9. 

The expansion recreates Hawkins' 40 iconic locations mentioned in the series, including Starcourt Mall, Hawkins Middle School, and the infamous Upside Down. The narrative positions Hawkins as “a town under lockdown, heavy patrols, and supernatural threats,” and the gameplay features an “adrenaline-packed journey” with Murray Bauman, the original cast.

Hawkins Helicopter Tour: Crossover Details

The Stranger Things expansion narrative centers on the launch of “Hawkins Helicopter Tour Company,” a company providing chopper service for tourists. The trailer features a Bell UH-1H Huey, sporting a “Hawkins Heli-Tours” paint, flying toward the Hawkins National Laboratory, a direct visual nod to the show’s core mythos.

Xbox Wire has detailed the narrative as “fun, cultural, and absolutely not suspicious!” The gameplay doesn’t stop at providing chopper service to tourists; it includes five missions, high-stakes rescues, late-night flights, cargo loads, and “shady supply ops.” To make the “unusual exchanges” more real, those are taking place “by the old forest road or around the radio station,” as shown in the series.

While full gameplay details remain limited, the announcement confirms the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: Stranger Things expansion will give fans and simmers a rare chance to view Hawkins from the air.

The Stranger Things expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is riding the current media buzz after the series' season 5 launch. Netflix has been using multiple cross-media collaborations since early 2025 for the series’ promotion; however, the current collaboration has brought together “two iconic franchises” in a never-seen-before pop culture collaboration. It also launched before Part 2 of Stranger Things season 5 drops on Dec 25, 2025.