The current edition of the Microsoft Flight Simulator flight sim game franchise first launched in August 2020 for the PC, and later expanded to Xbox Series X and S consoles in July 2021, along with Xbox Game Pass. Today, Microsoft revealed some new stats on that game, along with plans to keep updating the game with new content.
Microsoft revealed the new stats about the game during a presentation at the FlightSim Expo 2024 in Las Vegas that was live-streamed on the game"s YouTube channel. Ironically, Microsoft Flight Simulator just released a major city graphical update on Las Vegas.
The presentation was hosted by Jorg Neumann, the head of the Microsoft Flight Simulator game franchise, along with Sebastian Wloch, the CEO of the game"s main developer Asobo Studio. They began by announcing that the current Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 title now has 15 million unique users. They added that"s the highest number of unique users for any flight simulator game in history.
The current game"s players have also taken 1 billion flights since the game launch in 2020, and 230 million of those flights have happened in just the last six months. Also, people who create content for the game have now made almost 5,000 add-ons for the title. That includes new aircraft, city updates, airports, missions, and other content.
The presentation also mentioned the devotion of the fans to Microsoft Flight Simulator and how the development team tries to connect to the community. That includes virtual fly-ins and developer streams every week and even connecting at real-world aviation events such as Reno Race Days and also at Alaska Aviation Days.
Even though the development team plans to launch the next major version of the game, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, on November 19, the current 2020 edition of the game will still receive nearly monthly updates until at least 2028. That will include new aircraft, new city and world updates, and more.