Earlier this month, FSElite was humbled to be invited to the Grand Canyon to experience Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 as amongst the very first in the world to fly in the new simulator. The event itself, hosted in the Squire Hotel next to Grand Canyon Airport, was the perfect location, as we could go and explore one of the Wonders of the World in real life before then checking it out visually in the simulator.
You can read more about the trip itself with in trip report, but in this article, we will be summarising everything we learned during the opening presentation from Microsoft. And boy, is there a lot to unpack.
To set the scene, 24 content creators, media outlets and journalists (in this group anyway) were brought to a presentation room surrounded by a number of huge canvases of screenshots taken from in the game. Shortly after being settled, five key presenters were welcomed to the room, which included:
- Jorg Neumann, Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Sebastian Wolch, CEO of Asobo Studio
- David Dedeine, CCO of Asobo Studio
- Christopher Burnett, Co-founder of Working Title Simulations
- Brandon Yaeger, Founder and Project Lead at Got Friends
Note: This is our factual piece from the presentation. Our hands-on will provide you with our experience and take on Microsoft Flight Simulator. You can read that here.
An Introduction to Flight Simulation
Jorg began the presentation with welcoming remarks and thanked everyone for travelling long distances to be here with the team. Over the last 42 years of flight simulation history, the team has enjoyed various awards for best simulator of the year and over 45 million pilots take to the skies. Specifically for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, he said this is the “highest user number” any flight sim has ever seen, with over 15 million users.
What was very interesting to learn was how the teams are fully aware of the varying experience levels and reasons people use flight simulators. Jorg said that they estimate that there are 3-4 million ‘core simmers’ with the remaining user base split between two other categories: gamers and ‘Digital Tourists’. All of these people have provided over 1 billion flight sessions since MSFS 2020 released. A remarkable achievement, with a figure that will only continue to grow as we enter the next generation of flight simulation.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Core Concepts
With around 800 people working on the simulator and with the support of a number of partners (more on that shortly), the team is seemingly confident that this will be the “most ambitious sim” created by the team. That seemingly could be the case following hands-on time and based on what we saw during the event.
What helped define the core concepts for the new simulator was community feedback. Jorg said he reads content, watches videos, and spends hours in the forums gathering input from community members. All the significant changes with Microsoft Flight Simulator and the core concepts came from suggestions and feedback from the three types of simmer groups previously mentioned. Even if you are a core simmer, it’s still hugely important for the success of the franchise to continue to cater to all types, whilst respecting how each group wants to use their simulator.
Each concept was covered, and this is now where we begin to learn more about what the future of Microsoft Flight Simulator looks like.
Thin Client
Before we even look at the core concepts, it’s important to know how the simulator will function on your PC or Xbox. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is known for its huge installation size, which only grew bigger and bigger with add-ons, World Updates and additional content. This ballooning in size impacted load times and often became a pain when installing new updates. For MSFS2024, an all-new technology called ‘Thin Client’ is how this large install size and bloat will solve many of the issues from before.
With the new ‘Thin Client’, instead of downloading aircraft, scenery, and other types of data to your hard drive, everything will now be served from the cloud and only be downloaded when you need it. Never fly big jets? Then you won’t see them clog up your install. Won’t ever discover Africa? That data won’t download. This more dynamic approach, according to Microsoft, will mean faster load times, take up significantly less storage, and also require less internet data.
In an example shown to us via video, it took just 5 minutes to install Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, compared to the 2 hours it took to install 2020 (in their example). That install for MSFS2024 gets you everything you need to begin your simulator, but if you want to then fly the 737 MAX from a specific airport, it will take a few minutes initially to download those (only when selected) before the sim loads. I will talk more about this process in my hands-on.
Another new thing we learned was that World Updates will now be streamed rather than a huge download. To be clear, you will still need to ‘install’ it via the Marketplace (a super small file to say you ‘own’ it), but then only the data required will stream into your simulator as you overfly it. This will be great for those wanting to have the prettiest version of those parts of the world, without the huge install sizes.
So where does this data go? It goes into your rolling cache. So whilst overall install sizes will be smaller, if you decide you want to fly everywhere with every plane, then your rolling disk space will still be pretty big. The perk of this rolling cache is that once you have data downloaded and stored in it, your system will read that data, instead of relying on an internet connection.
For those wondering about add-on products, we learned that developers will still be able to use the conventional ‘Community’ folder for your products. These won’t be ‘streamed’ but instead read from the folder as it is today. Therefore, your older add-ons should work (at least the majority).
Core Sim Focus
Moving the focus on the simulation aspect of the simulator, Sebastian stepped up to deliver new information about the improvements to the aerodynamics model. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 brings with it an evolution of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) that was eventually added to the 2020 simulator. Airflow in the simulator is now multi-threaded, meaning all your cores will be utilised on your system.
Sebastian spoke about how there will be four different areas in which airflow will be created in the simulator. The world around you will have a big impact on airflow being created and how it moves. Mountains, buildings, hills, and any nearby terrain will have an impact on how air is distributed within the atmosphere. All of these areas are calculated in real-time and have a bearing on your aircraft. Complex shapes in the simulator, multiple wing levels, fuselage shapes, and even more experimental aircraft will now be supported in the simulator.
One of the new things in MSFS 2024 is wake turbulence airflow. Just like in real life, the wake will hang around for 6 minutes and will gradually dissipate realistically – which will obviously vary depending on the aircraft types and other factors. Finally, atmospheric airflow will have consequences for your flight, with elements like weather having a big impact. As there is a new walk-around mode with the simulator, you will see things like the pitot flags react realistically in the simulator, giving you an idea of wind conditions even before you look at the windsock.
As we saw in the trailers, balloons will be a key “aircraft” in the simulator, and the team has gone to great lengths to make them realistic. Balloons will inflate, deflate and use convection realistically. That means, if you don’t give enough convection air to the balloon, expect it to deflate in real time. Another new addition utilising this same technology are parachutes for aircraft. Whilst some developers (FSReborn for example), created their own system, a parachute system is now native to the simulator and will be available for any creator to use.
Continuing with how CFD will impact the world, Seb confirmed that vegetation, cargo and even particle effects are all now physics-based, meaning that aircraft movement and the air itself will have an impact on how things react. For example, vegetation will sway in the wind, cargo will move in the cabin if you pull off too many G forces and particle effects react to the airflow around your aircraft (e.g. flares, smoke, etc).
Although we’ll cover the world in more detail soon, Seb gave us even more information on how the core simulator has been vastly improved over its predecessor. The ground now has 3D collisions and waves on the water are generated in 3D, meaning sea plane users will have a legit challenge and will need to really read the ocean before landing. Additionally, when flying planes with cargo loaded in the back, 3D objects will react and move in your plane.
Ray tracing is now present in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which has been confirmed and shown off before. However, we were shown some more comparisons between how light rays really are more accurate in the simulator and cast better shadows, especially in the cockpit.
Above: No ray-tracing (left); ray-tracing (right).
As for aircraft system improvements, pretty much all systems have seen an overhaul with improvements. Electrical, pneumatic, fuel, hydraulic, payload and a new wear and tear system hhave been implemented. Some of this will be unnoticeable to the common user, but these improvements have been implemented on all aircraft included, and will of course be open to add-on creators to take advantage of.
Avionics and Simulated Systems
As mentioned at the top, one of the five presenters at the presentation was Christopher Burnett, Co-founder of Working Title Simulations. Working Title Simulations has had a long relationship with Microsoft and we have seen their work in Sim Updates and Avionics and Aircraft updates. Most notably, we have seen improvements to the G1000, the Boeing 787 and Boeing 747-8i in various updates for MSFS2020.
With MSFS2024, Working Title will continue to provide simmers with even more detailed and feature-rich systems that will be open for any creator to use. Chris began the presentation by showcasing us the new EFB which will be included in all aircraft. This EFB will enable you to plan routes, view airport and procedure charts and also change various settings of the plane you’re sitting in. Regardless of whether you’re flying the Cessna or the Boeing 737 MAX, the EFB will be included.
The flight planning tool will include performance, fuel information, and even advanced oceanic ops. Chris said that some of the features can be found in real-world ops centres that airlines use. He added that the reason that this will be included as part of the base sim was to help ensure that everyone had access to this functionality, even if they’re flying on Xbox.
Working Title is also hard at work on bringing new avionic systems to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This includes the Garmin G1000 NXI, the G3X touch, and the Collins Proline 21. In addition, they have also added the Honeywell Primus Epic 2, which is a super modern set of displays found in a lot of business jets.
During FlightSimExpo 2024, Microsoft teased the Boeing 737 MAX 8 as a base product for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Working Title has worked in tandem with the team to provide the avionics, meaning if you like their work, you will be familiar with what to expect from that aircraft. The 787-10 and the 747-8i from MSFS2020 will also be updated for MSFS2024 with new avionics.
In a big surprise of the morning, Microsoft confirmed that we will also see the Boeing 747 LCF Dreamlifter come to the simulator. Working Title has been working on this alongside support from Boeing to recreate the 747-400 avionics. To be clear, a 747-400 was not announced for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
Activities
The first trailer we saw for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 in June 2022 had a huge focus on missions and activities. In that trailer, we saw the likes of search and rescue missions, tornado hunting, air ambulance services and much more. It was made clear that many in the community were craving more reasons to use flight simulator outside of free flight and the occasional landing challenges. Activities as a whole will be a huge part of Microsoft Flight Simulator, and David Dedeine shared more about this with us.
The new activities within the simulator go far beyond anything offered in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. The concept of this was to provide an “authentic and multi-layered progression system” for all.
When you first start up Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 for the first time, you will be prompted to create an optional avatar. You can customise everything to either create a character that resembles you or your favourite maverick aviator. Or something totally wild – the choice is yours.
Optional being the key word here: if you want to fly anywhere in the world and discover on your own merit, fly airliners or anything else, you are completely able to do so from day one. The activities, missions and career mode are not replacing the freedom of flight, and they are completely optional.
Career Mode
Career mode is one of the most significant additions to the simulator in this new activities section. Once you have made your avatar, you can pick any airport in the world to begin your career. You will meet your mentor and take part in some basic flying tasks in order to earn a reputation and in-sim currency.
This reputation and in-sim currency will enable you to buy aircraft for your fleet and eventually take on new missions around the world. Once you have completed your initial training, you can then take certification exams that somewhat mirror real-world exams. “Somewhat”, because there have been adaptations to ensure it’s suitable for use in a simulator, and caters to a large audience. Ultimately, the concept is designed to help those ‘digital tourists’ and more casual simmers understand flight better and become more invested.
There is no point in having a robust mission where you could be firefighting or flying advertising banners if people are unable to take off and land. It has been designed, we’re told, in order to progress people in a layered approach and help to prevent that overwhelming sensation, in an engaging manner. You will be able to take your own certification path thanks to the skill tree-like design. In practice, this means that if you want to chase a commercial pilot’s licence over a helicopter certification, you can do so. To further help with the exams, there will be 65 different training exercises.
As you earn money, you will be able to own the business and planes. You will need to be careful though, because if you crash a plane, you will lose it forever. Likewise, if you cause damage, you will have higher maintenance fees.
Specialisation Missions
After you have earned enough reputation, you will be able to take part in a variety of missions. These missions, such as fire, search and rescue, etc, are all dynamically generated on a daily basis. Seasons and locations are all taken into account, so for example, in the winter near the Swiss Alps, you will find a lot more missions related to search and rescue compared to other times of the year.
In the examples we saw, the map is hugely populated with missions in all kinds of locations – not just near your airport. In total, there are 3 million missions, and with elements like live weather having an impact, those missions could be different every time.
We were also told that missions can be started either from scratch in a cold and dark state, or with help. Whilst not mentioned in the presentation, we later found out that these missions are not discoverable when in free flight mode and have to be selected from the menu. Who knows, though, this may change based on feedback in the future.
Challenge League
When MSFS2020 was released, the landing challenge was updated somewhat regularly and it became quite the competitive scene amongst simmers. It died down a bit, but the teams saw that simmers and gamers liked to have an element of competition. This is where the all-new ‘Challenge League’ comes into play.
For a set time period, a series of challenges will be available for anyone to take part in. This could be a type of landing challenge, a low-altitude flight, or a running race (through gates). Once completed, you will get a score and a ranking on a leaderboard. If you then finish within certain ranks, you can progress to a new tier to compete with them. After a season ends (seasons last for around 10 to 11 weeks), you will get certain rewards within your rank.
World Photographer
For those looking for a more tranquil and peaceful experience, the all-new photography mode is a new way to discover the world. From the new menu, you will be able to see a set of categories such as animals of the world, interesting landscapes, or many of the world’s points of interest. Once you’ve selected your category, you can then view the criteria for each location. For example, you could take a picture of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, but then achieve further goals by taking it at night with the moon in the frame. There are plenty of photography challenges included, and it’s the type of thing that can easily be expanded by World Updates or Sim Updates in the future.
What is interesting is that during our time with the simulator we learned that you can initiate world photographer mode at any time, take a picture and if it meets the criteria, it will tick it off the list. When you do take a picture in the simulator, it gets added to your in-sim scrapbook to review at any time. The concept is all about discovery. It’s all about those moments of breathtaking vistas or finding a new part of the world you want to share with others. Find an animal, take a screenshot and record it as a memory for the future.
The World
One of the biggest pieces of feedback given to Microsoft and Asobo in MSFS2020 was how the world looked close to the ground. As helicopters and gliders were added, plus a bigger focus on exploration and discoverability, it became apparent that the world needed an overhaul to look even better when close to the ground. The teams have worked hard to make this world much more lived-in, dynamic, and far more realistic than ever before.
Microsoft Flight Simulator will have over 4000 times more detail in the geometry of the world. This creates bumps, cracks, and realistic ground formations in far more impressive detail than we have ever seen before. This increase in detail is the same for the texture detail. The comparison imagery shown demonstrated huge visual differences between Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
Above: MSFS 2020 Ground poly detail (Left); MSFS 2024 Ground Poly detail (Right)
New satellite imagery, elevation maps (also coming to MSFS 2020) and a doubling of TIN cities all contribute to redefining this concept of a digital twin found right in your simulator. New countryside technology also helps the teams recreate areas of the world up to 50cm per pixel detail. Microsoft has purchased 1 million square KM and what we saw mostly fell in North America and Europe, but there are plans for them to keep going. In areas where it is impossible to capture high-resolution data, the simulator is now able to generate satellite imagery in 3D for a far more realistic effect.
27 new biomes are now part of the simulator, with over 100 new tree species giving the entire globe a much more natural look. Seasons, although already confirmed, were shown off with vegetation reacting accordingly to the month, location and weather. All of this information is completely data-driven, meaning you won’t find huge forests in the middle of your favourite town.
Above: Notice how there is so much more tree variation compared to the two simulators. Left is MSFS 2020 and right is MSFS 2024.
All of this data helps to pave the way for a dynamic world that goes far beyond anything the original title could achieve. Animals (thanks to the help of the team at Planet Zoo) will populate the world in realistic ways, complete with migration, and customised characters will fill your airports. Microsoft even consulted with the United Nations in order to have a character creation tool that represents humankind on a global scale, complete with traditional clothing that reflects various cultures and the depiction of diverse complexions.
Speaking of data, any vertical obstruction is now rendered and accurately placed in the simulator. Thanks to work from Orbx and Puffin Flight, you will be able to see phone towers, windmills, antennas, and much more. Over a million of these landmarks are now in the sim.
Weather and Environment
The entire atmospheric lighting engine has been worked from the ground up to provide more realism than ever before. Light is now the correct unit of measurement with accurate values from light sources (e.g. the sun, street lights), meaning atmospheric conditions can now be accurately depicted rather than fictional values from before. Cloud thickness has been adjusted to be more faithful, and cirrus clouds have been added. All of these changes mean storms, visibility conditions, and the overall atmosphere are now depicted as much more life-like than previously seen.
Another new feature shown off was how the aircraft leave dynamic trails in some of these new nature environments. If you land on snow, for example, a trail will follow where your wheels touch the ground. Similarly, if you take off through thick grass, you will flatten it as you go.
Airport, Helipads, Oil Rigs and Vehicle Upgrades
Just like the world has seen vast improvements, so have locations where you still start or end your journey. Airports, of course, have seen big visual changes with all airports from the previous title receiving a facelift. We saw screenshots of scratches, bumps, and other wear and tear on the runway clearly visible, along with signs of weathering and general ageing. Runway lights are also 3D. Additionally, procedurally generated airports will benefit from improvements to how taxiways and runways are rendered thanks to even more realistic textures.
Another new addition to airports will be vastly improved AI traffic. Microsoft has now modelled all aircraft types and their variants to better improve how they look in the sim – so no more weird Boeing A390 aircraft with strange liveries and pointy noses. Speaking of liveries, expect a number of real-world liveries to be included, with many more to come in the future.
When helicopters and gliders were introduced in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, helipads and glider airports were not really a thing. That is all changed with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, thanks to extensive research from the Microsoft team.
Microsoft contacted every glider airport on Earth and hand-crafted all 2100 airports for MSFS2024. Oil rigs are a similar deal, with 940 now recreated in their correct location in the sim. Finally with helipads, because no database for it exists, the team analysed the world to find nearly 80,000 in the world. Any found on a building or at specific elevations have been hand-crafted for the simulator.
That’s a lot of landing opportunities for anyone anywhere in the world.
Because oil rigs and helipads will make up a big part of the simulator now, Microsoft is now populating the oceans with a fleet of ships, thanks to the new 3D models made by Gaya Simulations. Real-world data will be injected to get ships moving through the water as you overfly them. The world will be alive almost everywhere now.
Aircraft
In short, there will be 70 aircraft in the standard edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator and a total of 125 in the newly announced Aviator’s Edition. This is a mix of aircraft from Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and all-new ones only to be found in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Those brought from the original release have seen improvements to avionics and beyond, taking advantage of the new SDK and powers of the simulator.
But let us talk about all-new planes.
Firstly, a bunch of new aircraft were confirmed during the presentation. As mentioned, the Boeing 747 Dreamlifter will come to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. In addition, we learned that the Airbus A321LR is also coming (developed by iniBuilds), the Airbus Helicopter H125 (Hype Performance Group), and the Pilatus PC-12 are coming to the Standard Edition.
Not enough for you? How about the new DHC-6 Twin Otter (S&H Simulations) or the Heart Aerospace ES-30, or even the Powrachute Sky Rascal? This is all in addition to the previously announced aircraft such as the Hot Air Balloon, the Joby S4, and of course the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
Pretty much all of the new aircraft have been developed by third-party add-on creators. The list is extensive and includes the likes of iniBuilds, Hype Performance Group (newly confirmed), Carenado, GotFriends, Blackbird Simulations, and many more. Ultimately, Asobo and Microsoft are now able to spend time on creating the core simulator better and leave aircraft development to those who know how to best develop planes. The exception is the 737 MAX 8, which has been developed by Asobo whilst being supported by Working Title’s custom-made avionics suite.
I’ll talk specifics about the new Editions of Microsoft Flight Simulator a little further down, but expect a range of aircraft in their respective versions. In the Deluxe version, you will find a further 10 added to your hangar, whilst Premium Deluxe will host an additional 15.
For those looking for a complete list of the 45 new aircraft to Microsoft Flight Simulator, check it out below:
- AeroElvira Optica
- Air Tractor AT-802
- Airbus A321LR
- Airbus A330 (-200, -300, 300P2F)
- Airbus A330-743L Beluga XL
- Airbus A400M Atlas
- Airbus Helicopter H125
- Airbus Helicopter H225
- Airship Industries Skyship 600
- Amphibian Aerospace Albatross G111/HU16
- Archer Midnight
- Beechcraft C90 GTX King Air
- CCS Hawk Arrow II
- Cessna 188 AGTruck
- Cessna 400 Corvalis TT
- Cessna 404 Titan
- Cessna 408 SkyCourier
- Cirrus Vision SF50 (Vision Jet)
- De Havilland Canada CL-415
- De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
- Dornier Seastar
- Draco X
- Erickson S-64F Aircrane
- Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
- FlyDoo Hot Air Balloon
- Heart Aerospace ES-30
- Hot Air Balloon
- Jetson Jetson One
- Joby Aviation Joby S4
- MX Aircraft Company MXS-R
- Magni Gyro M-24 Orion
- Pilatus PC-12 NGX
- Pilatus PC-24
- Pipistrel Taurus M
- Powrachute Sky Rascal
- Robinson R66
- Saab 340B
- Stemme S12G
- The Boeing Company 737 MAX 8
- The Boeing Company 747-400 Global Supertanker
- The Boeing Company 747-400 LCF Dreamlifter
- The Boeing Company C-17 Globemaster III
- The Boeing Company CH-47D Chinook
- Zivko Edge 540
- Zlin Aviation Savage Norden
It was said that this is the most advanced selection of planes ever to feature in a simulator, thanks to the many partnerships with third-party developers. GotFriends told us that their work on the Draco X has been supported by Mike Patey who was blown away by what was achieved. Even the more experimental aircraft will see updates in the future as those planes are developed in real life.
Marketplace
Jorg went into further detail during the presentation saying that many people like the Marketplace because it’s “accessible for everyone in the sim”. With that in mind, key changes needed to be made in order to make it even easier to use. We saw the first images of the new in-sim Marketplace during FlightSimExpo 2024, which saw an upgraded UI, but we learned a bit more about some of the new functionality coming to the Marketplace in 2024.
Searching and discovering products is now much easier in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Product pages are more informative now, thanks to a new feedback score which breaks down certain elements. So for example, a user could score the visuals of a plane different to the system functionality in order to give potential customers more information on what the product itself is like.
One of the most significant changes to the Marketplace is the new ‘rental system’. Creators can choose if they want to rent out a product before a user makes a full purchase. For example, an aircraft developer can rent a plane to the community member for $5.00 for a specified number of days. After that, the plane will be unusable, but the user can then choose to purchase it fully. What is cooler is that within a certain period of time, the rental amount already paid will be deducted from the final total of the product, really opening up a try-before-you-buy experience (e.g. full price is $50, but the $5 rental charge will decrease the final amount to $45). Jorg even confirmed developers can offer a free trial if they so wish.
Finally, those looking to gift products in the Marketplace can do so with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Editions
When Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launches on November 19th 2024, you will be able to buy any number of versions, similar to how previous renditions of the simulator were released before.
As with MSFS2020, at launch, there will be the Standard Edition (70 aircraft, 150 upgraded airports), Deluxe Edition (80 aircraft,155 upgraded airports), and Premium Deluxe (95 aircraft, 160 upgraded airports) – each adding additional planes to your line-up. For Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, there will be a new edition and also a physical collector’s edition for those wanting even more value.
The ‘Aviator’s Edition’ will include all previously released payware planes from Microsoft’s collection (e.g. Local Legends, Famous Flyers) all in a single package, bringing the aircraft total to 125 planes. The physical Collector’s Edition will feature a physical AN-225 model, pins, MSFS 2024 pins, and a physical edition of the Aviator’s Edition. Jorg described it as a “love letter to the community”. Finally, there will also be a physical edition of the Premium Deluxe edition.
If you’re looking to pre-order, you can pre-order any of these editions beginning today. If you do so, you will get a free copy of the Canadair CL-415 to fly in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
Post Launch Plans
Just like with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Microsoft and Asobo are committing heavily to the future of the title after its upcoming release this November. Jorg said that we can expect “monthly” updates to happen following the launch, just as we saw with 2020. What those updates will be will vary from month to month, and we can expect this level of support for years to come.
In Summary
As you can see, there is a lot of change with Microsoft Flight Simulator. From a huge new suite of aircraft and activities to a more realistic world and advanced aerodynamics, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is really building on the foundations of 42 years of history.
Time and time again we have heard from Microsoft that this is their most ambitious simulator ever made and based on the presentation, it certainly seems that way. They have demonstrated that they are listening to the community across multiple play styles and are aiming to find ways to engage new players, re-ignite those who may have dropped off before, and also keep core simmers happy with new features.
November 19th is only 2 months away (or 61 days for Jorg who told me he prefers this calculation) and there is still plenty to digest ahead of the ambitious launch.
For more on Microsoft Flight Simulator, check out all of our Global Preview Event coverage down below.
Image Credits: Microsoft
