The Microsoft Flight Simulator is nearing a development milestone. Players have been flying through the skies playing the alpha version since late last year, and now the closed beta will finally begin.

Asobo Studios hasn't said much about the beta so far, but in a May roadmap update they did sneak in a release date of mid-July. However, next week should clarify when it will be released.

The latest development update teased a timeline for a closed beta release, and we'll catch that in the next update on July 2. Hopefully, we'll also find out what new players can expect and what will change in the leap from alpha to beta.

Those who are already in alpha will automatically be in beta, and in the meantime, another alpha update will be made. Alpha 5 is in the final stages of internal testing and a release date will be announced next week.

As always, development updates are accompanied by lots of impressive player screenshots, but unfortunately they are full of watermarks. A selection of some of the best shots are shown below.