Microsoft Flight Simulator launches August 18 for PC

[Happosai]

Microsoft Flight Simulator will launch for PC via the Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass on August 18, publisher Microsoft and developer Asobo Studio announced. The Xbox One version is planned for release at a later date.

Here is an overview of the game, via Microsoft:

And here is an overview of each edition:

Gematsu

Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows 10 | Xbox

Microsoft Flight Simulator. Coming to Xbox Series X|S in Summer 2021.

www.xbox.com

I've been using flight simulator since the C64. I look forward to this. Recently had my hard drive wiped and lost FSX Gold (It's an older ThinkPad and the game was installed via disc and paper code for activation...all were lost years ago). I took flight training in 2011 & 2012. Hopefully, this will encourage more to take flight lessons IRL.

 

[mango drank]

How important is the CPU for a game like this? I've got an 8600K, don't plan on upgrading it for a long while.

Also, how important is single-thread speed here vs multi-thread? Does a game like this use a lot of multi-threading?

 

[M1chl]

Amazing, I only have pilot licence to fly small aircraft, but I'll day 1 for it. Although something like this should be trailer:

Can I talk someone from MS?

 

[funking giblet]

This was one of my first video games. It's insane how far technology advanced....

FA 18 Interceptor on the Amiga! Aw man ,brings back memories! Was surprisingly good!

 

[Tesseract]

Microsoft Flight Simulator will launch for PC via the Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass on August 18, publisher Microsoft and developer Asobo Studio announced. The Xbox One version is planned for release at a later date.

Here is an overview of the game, via Microsoft:

And here is an overview of each edition:

Gematsu

Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows 10 | Xbox

Microsoft Flight Simulator. Coming to Xbox Series X|S in Summer 2021.

www.xbox.com

next level fidelity, grats to the team

day 0

 

[nikolino840]

How about this aviocontroller?

 

[Abear21]

If Microsoft was smart they will package this in with Series X and make money on the flight stick sold separately.

 

[diffusionx]

If Microsoft was smart they will package this in with Series X and make money on the flight stick sold separately.

its part of GamePass and that’s the play

 

[CSJ]

Umm a month? Having played it I am surprised it's ready.
I've a feeling there's going to be a little bit of talk about this not being ready at launch. Ah well whatever, I enjoy flight sims so will check it out eventually.

Edit:
HOLD ON A FUCKING SECOND.

I need to spend $120 to get the 787?
Fuck that I'm not buying it at all then, what the fuck, locking a bunch of stuff behind $120?

 

[mango drank]

List of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 planes and aircraft

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is here, with an extensive collection of aviation craft to go with it. Here's the list of every plane, its required edition, and what you need to know before taking to the skies.

www.windowscentral.com

Apparently these are the planes included in the Standard Edition of the game:

• Airbus A320neo
• Aviat Pitts Special S2S
• Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental
• CubCrafters XCub
• Daher TBM 930
• Diamond DA62
• Diamond DA40 NG
• EXTRA 330LT
• Flight Design CTLS
• ICON A5
• JMB VL-3
• Robin CAP 10
• Robin DR400-100 Cadet
• Beechcraft Bonanza G36
• Beechcraft King Air 350i
• Cessna 152
• Cessna 172 Skyhawk (G1000)
• Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan EX
• Cessna Citation CJ4
• Zlin Savage Cub

Seems like a good starter set. Some business jets, jetliners, Cessnas, stunt planes. I'm also glad there's a Piper Cub-alike. That was one of my favorite planes in FS2004, along w/ user-created ones like the SR-71. Looking forward to the crazy user-created planes in this new one.

 

[nikolino840]

Umm a month? Having played it I am surprised it's ready.
I've a feeling there's going to be a little bit of talk about this not being ready at launch. Ah well whatever, I enjoy flight sims so will check it out eventually.

Edit:
HOLD ON A FUCKING SECOND.

I need to spend $120 to get the 787?
Fuck that I'm not buying it at all then, what the fuck, locking a bunch of stuff behind $120?

Is not a game for everyone...i think they know they can't do 10m Players like sea of thieves...so they rise the prices

Imho

 

[King Harkinian]

10m Players like sea of thieves...so they rise the prices

Steam has over 650 million registered accounts, but only 10 million to 20 are daily online. Sea of Thieves does not have 10 million players. It includes trials&disgruntled rare fans quitting the game years ago.

World of Warcraft had about 20mill. subs and like 300 servers .. if not more. Does Sea of Thieves have that many? Nope. Peak value since steam was around 50,000 daily.

 

[Shai-Tan]

I wonder how long until I give up learning how to fly. I should buy a flight controller so I feel too guilty to give up right away.

 

[GHG]

How important is the CPU for a game like this? I've got an 8600K, don't plan on upgrading it for a long while.

Also, how important is single-thread speed here vs multi-thread? Does a game like this use a lot of multi-threading?

For this game the more cores the better.

32-64GB ram plus running the game off an SSD (Sata is good enough) will make a big difference.

But that's based off the beta, just wait for the final version and see how it runs on your rig via gamepass before deciding where you need to make upgrades (if any).

 

[Lone Wolf]

All you guys with monster rigs need to post some nice pics when this launches.

 

[nikolino840]

Steam has over 650 million registered accounts, but only 10 million to 20 are daily online. Sea of Thieves does not have 10 million players. It includes trials&disgruntled rare fans quitting the game years ago.

World of Warcraft had about 20mill. subs and like 300 servers .. if not more. Does Sea of Thieves have that many? Nope. Peak value since steam was around 50,000 daily.

And so?
10m player are 10m
If doesn't play anymore doesn't matter,10mil have created a character

 

[brokenduck]

Great, very excited for this and wasteland 3.

 

[mango drank]

For this game the more cores the better.

32-64GB ram plus running the game off an SSD (Sata is good enough) will make a big difference.

But that's based off the beta, just wait for the final version and see how it runs on your rig via gamepass before deciding where you need to make upgrades (if any).

I'll give it a shot with my current config. I've already got 32 GB of RAM. And I've got an NVMe drive I can clear some space on. I wonder how my GTX 1070 will do.

I wouldn't upgrade my hardware just for FS2020. I might get a VR headset later this year, and one of the new 3xxx GPUs, and then I'll decide if a CPU upgrade is worth it (or necessary, with regard to the 3xxx).

 

[Onikaan]

Can anyone explain why they've release a trailer with a date for this on the Xbox youtube channel when in fact this date is for a PC release?

Misleading shite.

 

[nikolino840]

Can anyone explain why they've release a trailer with a date for this on the Xbox youtube channel when in fact this date is for a PC release?

Misleading shite.

?

Xbox is a brand not a machine

 

[Havoc2049]

Great launch trailer. My PC specs are slightly above the recommended specs and I have an SSD. I also have Game Pass and a HOTAS stick, so I should be good. If I really get into it, then maybe I’ll get a flight yoke.

I haven’t messed around with the Flight Simulator series since Flight Simulator II on my Atari ST.

 

[GHG]

I'll give it a shot with my current config. I've already got 32 GB of RAM. And I've got an NVMe drive I can clear some space on. I wonder how my GTX 1070 will do.

I wouldn't upgrade my hardware just for FS2020. I might get a VR headset later this year, and one of the new 3xxx GPUs, and then I'll decide if a CPU upgrade is worth it (or necessary, with regard to the 3xxx).

I recently upgraded for this and for Assetto Corsa Competizione.

I've gone from an i5 @ 4.6ghz, 16gb ram and a 980ti to a 3900x, 32gb ram and a 2070 super (and an nvme ssd) so it's been quite the jump.

 

[DigitalScrap]

I’m super excited for this. Been a long time. Now I have to go shopping for some controls...

 

[Metroiddarks]

I need this game so bad.

The thing is which version should I buy.

 

[nikolino840]

 

[diffusionx]

For this game the more cores the better.

32-64GB ram plus running the game off an SSD (Sata is good enough) will make a big difference.

But that's based off the beta, just wait for the final version and see how it runs on your rig via gamepass before deciding where you need to make upgrades (if any).

Uh-oh, everything I’ve read on this forum this year has been that all PCs are equipped with 5400rpm hard drives from 2005, and that is going to change only because of the new consoles.

 

[Skyr]

Ok that's actually funny.

The physical version of the game that gets released in europe comes on 10 dual layer DVD's inside the box.
But it's still not enough to provide the full installation data. You have to download the rest

https://www.aerosoft.com/de/flugsim...38/microsoft-flight-simulator-standard?c=1610

 

[HeadsUp7Up]

Ok that's actually funny.

The physical version of the game that gets released in europe comes on 10 dual layer DVD's inside the box.
But it's still not enough to provide the full installation data. You have to download the rest

https://www.aerosoft.com/de/flugsim...38/microsoft-flight-simulator-standard?c=1610

Oh I definitely remember doing this with floppy disks and countless CD-ROMs back in the 90's.

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

Who’s making the Spitfire DLC?

 

[Hudo]

Ok that's actually funny.

The physical version of the game that gets released in europe comes on 10 dual layer DVD's inside the box.
But it's still not enough to provide the full installation data. You have to download the rest

https://www.aerosoft.com/de/flugsim...38/microsoft-flight-simulator-standard?c=1610

I kinda like it and I respect that they actually ship a physical version with actual discs (and even a physical manual, it seems?) than just a box with a fucking code. So I don't want to sound like an ass but I kinda wish that physical PC games (and games in general) would adopt a cartridge format or even a USB stick for physical versions. It is clear that DVDs aren't the way to go forward and BluRay just never took off in the PC space.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Game looks amazing. I love that sims are coming back.

 

[Skyr]

I kinda like it and I respect that they actually ship a physical version with actual discs (and even a physical manual, it seems?) than just a box with a fucking code. So I don't want to sound like an ass but I kinda wish that physical PC games (and games in general) would adopt a cartridge format or even a USB stick for physical versions. It is clear that DVDs aren't the way to go forward and BluRay just never took off in the PC space.

Ye it's a good move from them.

I'm not even sure what would speak against a USB Stick with most of the installation data on it these days.
I guess a 100gb USB Stick would be still more expensive than 10 DVD's?
Would be more environment friendly too.

 

[Lux R7]

Next gen started on pc

 

[TheMan]

For those who don't play a lot of flight sims, you should know that it is unfortunately standard practice to charge an arm and a leg for things like extra planes and extra scenery. For example, regular prices for extra planes in Digital Combat Simulator (basically the only ongoing commercially developed flight sim offering "study level" military aircraft) can climb as high as 80 dollars. 80 bucks for one plane. Then you pay extra for campaigns, usually around 10 bucks, which may require terrain that costs 40 bucks. There are frequent sales but you get the idea. You can check out the x-plane 11 store page on steam to get an idea of what they charge for airports, but extra planes for that game range from 20-ish to 65 dollars. The market for people who pay for flight sims is pretty tiny nowadays so developers need to make money to continue development by selling DLC at higher prices. It sucks and it gets expensive but that's how it is. Prices can really escalate if you have the need to buy all the DLC and you don't wait for sales. Whether its worth it is obviously up to you but hardcore fans shell out a lot for software and hardware (rudder pedals, hotas systems, flight yokes, button panels, head tracking/VR, etc).

So prepare yourselves, lol.

 

[Gamezone]

Ok that's actually funny.

The physical version of the game that gets released in europe comes on 10 dual layer DVD's inside the box.
But it's still not enough to provide the full installation data. You have to download the rest

https://www.aerosoft.com/de/flugsim...38/microsoft-flight-simulator-standard?c=1610

All with glorious MS Store DRM. After activation they are probably worthless.

 

[Dane]

Ok that's actually funny.

The physical version of the game that gets released in europe comes on 10 dual layer DVD's inside the box.
But it's still not enough to provide the full installation data. You have to download the rest

https://www.aerosoft.com/de/flugsim...38/microsoft-flight-simulator-standard?c=1610

Lol, i recall that X-Plane 9 had like 8 DVDs.

 

[mango drank]

Ok that's actually funny.

The physical version of the game that gets released in europe comes on 10 dual layer DVD's inside the box.
But it's still not enough to provide the full installation data. You have to download the rest

https://www.aerosoft.com/de/flugsim...38/microsoft-flight-simulator-standard?c=1610

The hardware requirements for this game are nuts, so you'd need a modern PC, or one you built / upgraded yourself recently. In either case, optical drives are uncommon on modern-day PCs, so it's unlikely most people would have an optical drive. And if they did, a Blu-ray drive would make more sense these days.

So if MS was going to release a game like this on optical, why in the world would they choose DVD instead of Blu-ray, given the above? Bizarre lol.

 

[mitchman]

Who’s making the Spitfire DLC?

Play DCS for Spitfire and P-51 with proper flight model and cockpit

 

[VFXVeteran]

Looks incredible! But so is a lot of other PC games that have come out in the last year. Look forward to it and HZD coming out next month.

 

[diffusionx]

The hardware requirements for this game are nuts, so you'd need a modern PC, or one you built / upgraded yourself recently. In either case, optical drives are uncommon on modern-day PCs, so it's unlikely most people would have an optical drive. And if they did, a Blu-ray drive would make more sense these days.

So if MS was going to release a game like this on optical, why in the world would they choose DVD instead of Blu-ray, given the above? Bizarre lol.

Who has a BR drive on their PC?

 

[mango drank]

Who has a BR drive on their PC?

My point was that optical drives are much less common on modern PCs (I haven't had an optical drive in 3+ years), but if I was going to spend money on one in 2020, I'd be less likely to buy just a DVD drive--I'd go all the way and spring for a BR drive. And why would MS waste money printing 10 DVDs, if most modern PCs don't have optical drives at all? I gotta imagine printing 2 BRs is cheaper? It's just a weird situation.

 

[Come On Tars]

Buying this just to fly into my house. Fingers crossed it's there.

 

[Yamakua]

people are gonna need quantum computers to run this ngl lol

 

[Come On Tars]

This has got to be one of the best cut video game trailers ever made.

 

[FacelessSamurai]

A lot of people at work have been talking about it, quite a surprise as I didn’t think this was the kind of game to generate this much hype.

Still the most graphically impressive game I’ve seen so far, current or next gen. Hopefully my GTX 1080 will handle it well in ultra wide for the time being!

 

[mango drank]

 

[Ballthyrm]

The tech keeps getting more impressive.


It would be hard to compete with them when MS can go have this type of stuff integrated in games.
I don't think game studios usually have the time, ressource or skillset to do this type of technology.

 

[VFXVeteran]

That's insane.

 

[Tonidayo]

What’s the best gaming laptop today to be able run this on ultra settings (without 4K as I have no 4K monitor)

 

[skneogaf]