Microsoft Flight Simulator was one of the big sleeper hits of 2020 in the gaming world, helping people who were duty-bound to stay at home to see the world and travel to far-flung places without any risk.

It's clearly going to continue as a source of escapism through this new year, though, and developer Asobo Studio isn't going to leave it stagnant. It's already had a significant update in the form of VR support and, at the same time, it got a wintery makeover.

Asobo didn't make as much of a big deal about that part of the update - it added more wintery weather conditions to the game, going further than just airborne storms to actually carpet the environment below your plane in blankets of snow.

The above trailer shows just how transformative that can be, as well as easily demonstrating the fact that Asobo's system is smart enough to make everything look just right. Buildings have their tops covered but not their sides, forests have trees poking through the white, and ice floes cover bodies of water with startling realism. 

Many people might have missed this part of the new Flight Simulator experience in amongst the hype around its VR compatibility, but it's a really great little change that can make flying above and around some of the world's more famous landmarks even more inspiring. It's one thing seeing the Pyramids, but quite another seeing them snowy