
Microsoft and Asobo Studio have today opened up pre-orders and all that jazz for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 ahead of its November launch - it's also on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate if that's your preferred way to go. However, alongside this pre-order info dump, the developer has gone into lots of detail on its upcoming sequel, including how it's worked its magic to make MSFS 2024 a much smaller game to install.
Thanks to new techniques with the cloud, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will only take up about a 30GB install on your system. That's like, a quarter of the size of 2020's Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is pretty amazing if you ask us.
"By tapping into the latest cloud streaming technology, installation size has been trimmed down to about 30 GB to get you in your seat and flying as quickly as possible, streaming in the higher detailed areas that are only necessary for your flight path; why install all the data for the United States when you’re intending to just fly over Europe for the evening?"
What's more, the team says that post-launch 'World Updates' — which are often huge and contain new levels of detail in certain areas — are "just streamed seamlessly" and won't require any sort of update download. That's fantastic too!
Anyway, this new Xbox Wire preview also goes into lots of detail on what content is coming at launch, etc., so it's absolutely worth a read through if you're excited for MSFS 2024 later this year and want to know more. All of this, combined with the fact that you can actually get our of your plane and walk around in the next game, has us very much looking forward to future of flight simming over at Microsoft.
Who's excited for this MSFS sequel? Tell us what you make of this news down below!
[source news.xbox.com]
Comments 23
Tidy. Love Flight Simulator but the last one was a victim of the limitations of my hard drive. Very clever and very well needed.
WOW! I think the current version, with all updates is around 150+GB
The download size was the number one reason I never played the 2020 version.
My current install with all free world updates and only 1 or 2 DLC planes is over 300gb... The updates are so big now. This is welcome news...
I downloaded the last game, played a little and then deleted it to make room. At 30gb this could be a permanent fixture on my Series X.
I wonder if the cloud being involved so much would affect gameplay with slower internet.
Wow. That's a huge difference. I remember when The Coalition reduced the HD space of Gears 4 and I think it went from 100GB to 73? This makes that seem like childs play lol
This is day 1 for me. Reduced install sizes are always welcome 🙂 glad they’ve reworked the “world updates” - that was a bit of a bugbear of mine in the last game.
Can’t wait. Got to be my most expected game of 2024.
Well yeah, of course it's going to be a smaller size when it's an always online game. That kinda sucks, I was looking forward to freeing up 285gigs from MFS.
I'm curious if this is going to be an entirely new simulator requiring existing owners to pay full price or if there will be an upgrade option priced accordingly. Will marketplace purchases somehow carry over? Will it be cross-buy on the Microsoft Store again? I've been on several forums and there doesn't appear to be a consensus as of yet. My biggest asks, other than the welcome install size is for it to be easier to scale optimization perhaps for various PC rigs (I must have spent hours on YouTube videos!) and finally to ensure a nicely optimized VR experience too. Or maybe playing with settings is all part of the fun!
@16BitHero this is a completely new game
So are they ever going to release this in 24? We're running out of time for that to happen with no release date yet.
@JayJ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47SDd6Lv910
Very interested in this one as well. 2020 felt like a pain in the ass to install and enjoy (for a noob like me), 2024 looks like a massive improvement on all levels. Beau boulot Asobo ! <3
@16BitHero all purchases on MFS are supposed to carry over per the developer.
@JayJ It already has a release date - 19 Nov 2024
The file size always put me off downloading it, it's something developers should pay more attention to. We don't all have superfast internet or space on hard drives for those 100GB+ installs. I just wonder how well the cloud streaming parts will work...
I love the small file size as this will be a permanently installed PCVR game for me. But I do wonder how seamless the streaming is, especially for VR where you do NOT want any kind of stutters.
Pretty cool! Always nice to see little optimizations here and there, and I’m sure countless fans’ SSD’s will be thankful. This is one of those games that if it winds up getting ported to PS5, I’d be very curious to see if any further file-size reductions would occur with the better compression tech.
@NEStalgia I use Virtual Desktop to stream MSFS 2020 from a Ryzen 5 3070 rig to Quest 3 and it's wonderfully smooth - although I'd love a higher resolution, alas the 5090 is around the corner.
@16BitHero nice, I have my quest 3 and a 6ghz router ready 4090 soon, didn't wait for 5090 because I feel between scalpers and delays it'll be next summer till its available anyway and affording it is questionable. I'm actually considering a Pimax Crystal Super, but I'm not sure finances will allow when it launches in a frew months.
How would it all work and what if your internet isn't good or stable?
Hooray! I can actually play the game now!
I hope too they sort out the problems with the downloads manager.
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