How To Cut Microsoft Flight Simulator's Xbox Download Size In Half

Microsoft Flight Simulator is the talk of the town for Xbox Series X and Series S owners right now, but regardless of which system you own, you might be worried about the effect of its 97GB download size on your storage space.

Fortunately, there is actually a way of reducing that size by up to a whopping 59.7 GB, albeit with some potentially major caveats. Developer Asobo Studio says this 50+ GB is reserved for "World - Offline Mode", which allows the game to be playable offline, as well as "vastly improves" the experience when facing streaming interruptions due to issues like low bandwidth, along with the world (scenery), air traffic and weather data.

Here's exactly what the Xbox version's official FAQ has to say about this:

• The base game files are roughly 42.4 GB, and the "World - Offline Mode" is an extra 59.7 GB. It is not necessary to download the "World - Offline Mode" for base gameplay, however, downloading this will vastly improve the following:

• Interruption to streaming due to issues like low bandwidth
• The world (scenery)
• Air Traffic
• Weather Data
• Offline mode - A user will be barred from using this functionality without the Offline Scenery downloaded.

With all that said, if you do want to reduce Microsoft Flight Simulator's file size to around 42.4GB on your Xbox Series X or Series S, all you need to do is head to the Game Pass app on your console, find Microsoft Flight Simulator and scroll across to the 'Manage' section. In there, you'll find two files, one of which is the offline mode, which could be anything from around 54GB to 59.7GB. You can then choose to untick / uninstall this separately.

Keep in mind that if you don't have the best of internet connections, this probably isn't even worth considering. If you're really tight on space though, and this is your only way to try Flight Sim, the option is there for you to use.

Will you be making use of this feature, or sticking with the full 97GB? Let us know down below.