Yep, we've finally got a date! Microsoft Flight Simulator is officially coming to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S in Summer 2021, and as you'd expect, it'll also be included with Xbox Game Pass from day one.
Developer Asobo Studios says fans "can expect the same level of depth as the PC version", allowing you to travel the entire planet in amazing detail with over 37 thousand airports, 2 million cities, 1.5 billion buildings, real mountains, roads, trees, rivers, animals, traffic, and more.
You can check out the brand-new Announce Trailer above!
"Critically acclaimed Microsoft Flight Simulator will come to life on the Xbox Series X|S starting Summer 2021. Players will get to experience the same level of depth and complexity that fans of the sim have come to enjoy and love on PC."
Excited to get started with Flight Sim for console? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 35
So, not Xbox One right? Not even Xbox One X?
This was the easily highlight of the Game Awards for me, will get day 1 provided I can get a Series X by then.
@lostfields No sign of it, although it's been suggested as coming to Xbox One in the past.
@lostfields I doubt it’ll come to Xbox One. I don’t think it could handle a game of that scale, just look at how it’s struggling to run Cyberpunk 2077 and that’s no wear near as technical and ambitious as this game.
Can barely wait to play this
Yes! This is it. The first "must have" game for the new consoles.
I definitely need to have my Series X by summer next year then
@MaccaMUFC the games couldn’t be more different. Cyberpunk is a living breathing world with hundreds of NPCs, cars, macro detail as you get up close, alpha effects, etc. - the CPU power to run all that was always going to struggle on the old Jaguar CPU and CPU tasks don’t scale easily.
Flight Sim on the other hand - while there is still an element of that - will really be pushing the GPU which is much more scalable.
I played about a bit with it on PC due to Game Pass, but although I can run it on high settings, I don't have 4K displays, so was trying to hold back as much as I could for the console version. It feels a bit like an early access release now, but regular world updates are coming all the time. Should be in a great state by the time we get it on Series X.
Finally!! The news I've been waiting for. Seems I got my XSX a bit early as I was getting it for this really but guess I should be grateful I have one.
@themightyant Flight Sim is VERY CPU intensive, it's a simulator, there are a lot of variables it has to constantly calculate in order to make the simulation realistic.
In terms of system requirements for the PC, the recommended CPU to run Flight Sim at max is an i7-9800X. For Cyberpunk, the CPU for max is an i7-4790, far far less powerful.
Even to run Flight Sim at the medium levels, MS recommends an i5-8400, which is still above the i7-4790 that Cyberpunk recommends for max.
And as Macca said, if the XBO can't run Cyberpunk properly, it won't come close to MS Flight Sim.
@Xeno_Aura That's an interesting insight. Thank you.
Happy to be wrong and learn something.
Do you think there are several systems that could likely be dropped/refactored/simplified/faked for an XBO experience (Flight sim lite) whilst still giving a good facsimile of the game? Flying around the world but less of a 1:1 simulation.
And what about Cyberpunks systems?
@themightyant There are Simulation Realism settings in Flight Sim, I don't know what affect they have on the CPU, but it basically means things such as Wind/Weather don't have an affect on your plane. I guess if they really wanted to, they could force settings to arcade mode, not simulation mode, and just cut out all of those calculations, but it's a lot of work for them I'd imagine at this point. And it kind of misses out on the spirit of a Flight Simulator.
Eurogamer has said that it's the CPU in the XBO/PS4 that is the problem in Cyberpunk, not the GPU, interestingly enough. Both last-gen systems struggle to get above 25FPS in the game, both dropping below 20FPS in driving and fight scenes outdoors. It was ultimately branded by them as "Unplayable on the base systems". And they recommended you use an Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, PS5 or Xbox Series X|S to play it, not a PS4 or Xbox One S.
I'm glad they've got rid of Xbox One.
With how CPU intensive this game is on PC, I think next-gen only is the way to go.
@Xeno_Aura not surprised it's the CPU on CyberPunk... I got that half right on my first (misinformed) post
The truth is Jaguar was slow at the beginning of the gen. I remember Ubisoft devs (quietly) complaining about it near launch of last gen, holding them back with AC Unity saying they couldn't do the complex city and crowd simulation they wanted. (Aside: that similarly came out the gate as a hot steamy mess but was grand in scope)
It kinda misses out on the spirit of Flight Simulator. I get your point but I think there are many millions of people who wouldn't initially be that interested in an accurate flight sim, it's still niche, but would be interested in a more arcade experience. And it would potentially introduce a lot of new blood to the genre this way.
Phil Spencer has talked about how Game pass is a great model for these niche titles for this reason.
Summer 2021 is more than a few months away, which means the release date is likely to slip. It could be next fall or winter before we see it on Xbox.
@hallower1980 Sad but probably true. It's also a vague Summer 2021.
I'm hoping that the extra time, most were expecting it a little sooner, means that they have a good flight path planned.
It's been showing in the 'picks for you' section (under console) of the gamepass app for the last 2/3 weeks so this isn't a surprise really.
As I predicted, all AAA games are skipping Xbox One except Halo Infinite. That's better than Cyberpunk last-gen version at 15fps 😉.
@Xeno_Aura I should also add that being funded by Microsoft as a Game Pass title from the start they had clear expectations on what systems and performance targets they have to hit.
That's not saying it will come to XB one, maybe it shouldn't, but I'll leave those difficult balancing decisions to the devs.
Kinda had a feeling this wont drop for Xbox 1. I'll look forward to this when i finally grab a series x
So its kind of a 1 year timed exclusive for PC.
/s
This game should definitely skip the Xbox One. And I say that as an Xbox One S owner. This game is a visual showcase on PC. Hopefully, Asobo can do the same on XSX.
Oh and Game Pass is amazing. 😁
@KelticDevil I traded in my s for an x. I guess I have one up on your Fandom quota.
@sixrings
You said you sold your X in another article’s comment section. Lol.
And I didn’t get an X because of my TV. It’s the same reason I am waiting to get an XSX......until I get a new TV.
Well that & they are impossible to get right now & I wasn’t going to sit on the internet all day at pre-order launch. I have a job.
I'm playing A Plague Tale: Innocence. After this and Flight Simulator, I think Microsoft should acquire Asobo.
@BlueOcean A plague tale is amazing, very skilled dev.
@KelticDevil nice. But I had a one x and I got a series x on launch day. True fan. Btw I have a job too and it's not being a hitman. No excuses.
@sixrings
Ok. So I have a buddy that I play Madden online with. He bought a One X & had his wife (who doesn’t work) stay online pre-order day & find him a Series X while he went to work.
Funny thing is......he only plays Madden. Lol. Oh and he plays some NHL too. And if I switched to PlayStation, he’d switch too because he just wants to play Madden online. He doesn’t play any of Microsoft’s first party games & could care less. I would hardly call him an Xbox fan.
You remind me of him, with one huge exception.....he doesn’t come on to a website to comment saying Xbox franchises are “slipping” when he hasn’t played them.
You see, supporting the console by buying games or investing into the services of said console is actually quite important. I would explain it to you, but there is no point as you clearly wouldn’t understand.
But hey.....have fun playing Fortnite on your new XSX (if you even have one, which I doubt). 👍🏻
@KelticDevil I ordered it and then found out Halo was delayed. So I sold it on launch day for profit because there wasn't any games to play other than a gears patch.
@sixrings
So you don’t even own an Xbox & you scalped the one that you did have? Classy.
I’ll just hit the “ignore” button as you are a fraud & a troll. Bye. 👋
@KelticDevil thanks for the favor
Flight Simulator just doesn't look like my type of game
Back in the day Flight Sim was one of the most interesting, and most PC-focused things around. I'm not sure I'd pay full price for it today, just not having time to sink into something like this, but on Game Pass, I'm looking forward to trying it for the first time since 2002! I miss the Sidewinder force feedback sticks though...they added so much to the game.
This is one game I thought they said from the very beginning would be Series XS only and not X1. Even when Phil was still saying years of support for X1 with all the titles (I'm still uncomfortable how that changed, probably in response to fan backlash regarding Sony's "generations" only for Sony to reveal they were doing crossgen after all) - I thought Flight Sim was always said to be Series-only. That's not surprising, it's a heavy simulator that's always been PC-bound for a reason.
It used to occupy such a weird space, back in the time when MS was releasing games as though they were packaged by the MS Office team. Anyone remember Flight Sim 2000 and Flight Sim 2000 Pro with box art that could sit side by side with Power Point 98 and not look weird?
@lostfields I thought this was pretty well known. I was half expecting it to miss SeriesS!
I think the fasts load of the SSD is the difference maker.
@hallower1980
Giving an exact day doesn't mean it will be released that day (Cyberpunk) and giving a season as releasewindow doesn't mean it will be out half a year later. I prefer this instead of a delay, it can be june but it can be also august. Fine for me, we will hear it when the game goes gold for XBox.
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