Microsoft Flight Simulator

Lore & Background

Development of Microsoft Flight Simulator began six years prior to its release on August 18, 2020 for Windows. A virtual reality version was released in December 2020 as part of a free update, and it became the first installment in the series to see a VR and console release, launching on Xbox Series X and Series S on July 27, 2021. The game uses Microsoft Azure's cloud computing to render and enhance visuals, and real-world data to generate real-time weather and effects. It features a physics engine providing realistic flight control surfaces with over 1,000 simulated surfaces, and realistic wind modeled over hills and mountains. Some places are handcrafted, introduced in region-specific updates. Azure incorporates real-time elements like natural weather and real-world air traffic.

The game includes a tutorial segment divided into sequences for new players, assisted by fictional pilot Captain Jess Molina, voiced by Marie Westbrook. It offers landing challenges at famous and dangerous airports, and sight-seeing bush trips in Nevada, Patagonia, and the Balkans. An AI air traffic controller and virtual co-pilot can assist players, and helper features include waypoint arrows, markers, landing path guidance, a 'Travel To' function, and 'Active Pause'. The game features no animations or depictions of damage or collision when an aircraft crashes; instead, it cuts to black with a one-line message. Damaging the plane without crashing can degrade flight characteristics and cause structural failure, with a message saying the aircraft exceeded limits but not which limits.

The Standard edition includes over 20 flyable aircraft; the Deluxe has five more, and the Premium Deluxe edition has ten additional airplanes. Most aircraft are of American, French, or German origin, with a few from Austrian, Czech, and Slovenian companies. The game includes around 37,000 manually edited airports, with 30, 35, or 40 hand-crafted airports in the Standard, Deluxe, and Premium Deluxe editions respectively. Third-party add-ons, including those from Flight Simulator X, are supported, and an in-game marketplace features a variety of third-party content. The team committed to introducing new paid downloadable content every 'two or three months'.

Reader's Guide

Microsoft Flight Simulator was released to critical acclaim, with universal praise for its visuals and realism. Several reviewers placed it on their favorites' lists and called it the most aesthetically pleasing game of 2020, though there was some criticism of its slow loading times, inaccuracies in rendering certain buildings, and unrealistic aerodynamics models. It has been considered one of the greatest video games and received several accolades, most notably winning 'Best Sim/Strategy Game' at The Game Awards 2020, and 'Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year' at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. The game's use of Microsoft Azure to provide over two petabytes of world map data from the cloud on demand, and its partnership with Blackshark.ai to analyze map data and photogrammetry for photorealistic 3D models, represented a technological leap for the genre. Its ability to depict parts of the world in 3D photorealism and others in high definition, combined with real-time weather and air traffic, set a new standard for simulation games. A sequel, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, was released in November 2024.

Did You Know?

• The game uses data from Bing Maps and Microsoft Azure AI to generate 3D representations of Earth's features.
• It was the first installment in the series to receive a VR and console release.
• The game includes over 1,000 simulated flight control surfaces and realistic wind modeled over hills and mountains.