Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
| Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Asobo Studio |
| Publisher(s) | Xbox Game Studios |
| Series | Microsoft Flight Simulator |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | November 19, 2024 |
| Genre(s) | Flight simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a flight simulation video game developed by Asobo Studio and published by Xbox Game Studios. A successor to Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), the game was released on November 19, 2024, for Windows and the Xbox Series X/S.
It was announced at the 2023 Xbox Games Showcase on June 11, 2023. It includes a career mode with missions such as agricultural flight and firefighting. It uses Asobo's in-house engine.
Gameplay
[edit]New mission types include aerial firefighting, air search and rescue, helicopter cargo hook transport, air ambulance, cropdusting, mountain rescue, skydiving, commercial aviation, aerial crane construction, outsize cargo transport with the Airbus Beluga, arctic cargo transport with the Airbus A400M, VIP air charter and executive transport, air racing, weather reconnaissance, experimental aircraft testing, and nap-of-the-earth flight with the A-10 Warthog. New aircraft types include gliders, airships, and hot air balloons.[1] New environmental features include wildfires, snow, tornadoes, auroras, animal migration and herds, live marine and flight tracking, the four seasons, and better ground traffic reporting.[2][1]
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a standalone version, but Microsoft stated that "virtually all" addons purchased on Flight Simulator's online marketplace for the previous version will work with the new release.[3] Whether external third-party addons will be supported is unclear.[1] The company described the new missions and aircraft as part of aviation career modes. 2024 features an electronic flight bag, improved physics engine with greater control for addons' flight dynamics, improved electrical, pneumatic, fuel, and hydraulic aircraft systems and avionics, and multithreading for better performance.[2]
Development
[edit]Asobo Studios serves as the game's lead developer. A team of more than 200 at Asobo mainly worked to update the game's client to accommodate for its new features, while Xbox partnered with more than 30 external partners to work on various aspects of the simulator.[4]
The game was released on November 19, 2024, on Xbox Series X/S and Windows.[5]
Reception
[edit]![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2024) |
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 77/100[6] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Eurogamer | 4/5[9] |
| IGN | 9/10[7] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 90/100[8] |
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 received "generally positive" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic, with several publications praising the game for its new features, enhanced visuals and landscape streaming features. Criticism was directed at long loading times due to the large influx of players causing server overload. This later resulted in players sitting in virtual queues for long periods of time when attempting to play the game.[10] Flight Simulator head Jörg Neumann issued an apology in a YouTube developer stream that was posted on the day of the game's release, while Asobo Studio CEO Sebastian Wloch said that a database cache was "completely overwhelmed", causing loading issues and missing content.[11] The issues led to the game receiving an "Overwhelmingly Negative" review rating on the Steam platform after its release,[10] with media outlets including GameSpot suggesting that the game had been review bombed.[12] The following day an update was posted to the official Flight Simulator support account on X, stating that more server capacity had been added, but there were continued issues accessing the game.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 - All the Details (YouTube). Squirrel. 2023-06-12.
- ^ a b Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 - NEW Features & System CONFIRMED (not well confirmed release date to late in 2024) (YouTube). Aus Flight Simmer. 2023-06-23.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 FAQ". Microsoft Flight Simulator. 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
- ^ Tolbert, Samuel (September 19, 2024). ""I think you have to be honest and trusting. You need to not treat them as business entities, but as partners." Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 team talks collaboration, community, feedback, and building a bigger sim". Windows Central. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: Release Date Announcement". 9 June 2024.
Take to the Skies on November 19th with the All-New Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024! Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, cloud, or play it day one with Xbox Game Pass.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Critic Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2024-12-01. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
- ^ G. Macy, Seth. "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024". IGN. Archived from the original on 2024-12-02. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
- ^ Hafer, Len (2024-11-27). "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2024-11-30. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
- ^ Wales, Matt (9 December 2024). "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 review - a stunning achievement made even better". Eurogamer. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ a b Yin-Poole, Wesley (20 November 2024). "As Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Steam Reviews Collapse to 'Overwhelmingly Negative,' Dev Admits It 'Completely Underestimated' Excitement for the Game". IGN. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ Chalk, Andy (19 November 2024). "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 crashes on takeoff thanks to massive server woes, devs say they're working on it: 'The team is on it, and we will keep going'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ Lewis, Claire (20 November 2024). "Microsoft Flight Sim 2024's Steam User Score Plummets As Game's Servers Struggle". GameSpot. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ Marnell, Blair (21 November 2024). "Microsoft Flight Sim 2024 Adds More Servers While Team Works "Around The Clock" To Fix Issues". GameSpot. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
