One of the most realistic tiles of the year is on the way, featuring every inch of the planet.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 may have started with delays due to COVID-19, but the game will soon land!
Let’s go over everything you need to know about the game.
Latest News – The iconic Legacy Music features in the game
A recent post on Reddit will have some fans very excited as it appears Microsoft are honouring the past in a, particularly unique way.
We’re often used to legacy controls featuring in new iterations of our favourite games, but now fans will have Legacy music too!
The classic and uplifting Flight Simulator music can be switched on in the game menu. Just what you need you’re about to willingly fly through a thunderstorm!
Release Date
Microsoft Flight Simulator will arrive on Tuesday, 18 August 2020.
Trailers
The most recent trailer covered the many airports and planes in the game – and how stunning they will look on release! You can watch this trailer below:
The following trailer was released on Monday, 13 July as Pre-orders went live!
The launch trailer was shown off at XO19 all the way back on 9 June 2019.
Consoles
The clue is in the title here, “Microsoft” Flight Simulator is confirmed to release on PC and Xbox One.
There is also no information regarding a Next-Gen console release, however, thanks to Smart Delivery, it’s highly likely you’ll be able to play the game on Xbox Series X.
Although there is no confirmation of this, we don’t expect Flight Sim to feature on other platforms such as PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Pre-Orders now OPEN
Pre-orders for the game are now live on the Microsoft Store and Steam!
The standard version of the game can be pre-ordered for $59.99 / £59.99, whereas the Deluxe Edition comes in at $89.99 / £79.99 and Premium Deluxe at $119.99 / £109.99.
Take a look at the additional airports and aircraft you get in this video:
Free Beta with Xbox Game Pass
Those of you that have Xbox Game Pass will be happy to hear that the Beta will be included with your monthly subscription!
Thanks to this week’s notes, we also know the Closed Beta will officially open up on 30 July, so mark your calendars.
Closed Beta live
Microsoft Flight Simulator has now entered its closed beta, as we take one more step towards taking to the skies.
For those who took part in the alpha testing stage, they were given early access to the beta. However, now newly invited players can get in on the action!
As part of the 1.6.13 closed beta build, the game now has TrackIR, which means it has support a solution for head motion tracking.
This can also be used in the hanger menu, in-flight cockpit and more.
The beta also includes landing challenges, bush trips, and new planes including jets, piston and turbo prop air-planes.
Graphics
Microsoft hasn’t released any minimum or maximum spec requirements for Flight Simulator, however, from what we’ve seen, it does look like the graphics are rather in-depth.
We do know there will be moving traffic and individually rendered leaves, meaning a lot of RAM will be needed to store/run each of these entities.
READ MORE: Xbox Game Studios – Xbox Series X, Flight Simulator, Bleeding Edge & more
This is likely to split their player base, so the ability to lower graphical settings will most likely be included to allow less advanced systems to run the game.
Ray Tracing is a way of realistically rendering light and reflections. From the trailers, we can see that ray tracing is likely to be utilised in Flight Simulator.
Locations
The world is literally your oyster in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Every single airport in the world will be available for you to take off from and land.
With the whole world at your disposal, where should you go?
Here’s our best picks as you get jet setting.
Gameplay
With its improved physics engine, Flight Sim will feel much more realistic.
You will still be able to use compatible joystick controls making the game incredibly realistic.
Whether the game will involve haptic responses to elevation changes and turbulence, we still don’t know, and we’ll have to wait for more information regarding this, or even for a full release of the game
READ MORE: Mircosoft Flight Simulator PC Requirements
Ultimately, the game tries to immerse the player in the best way possible with realistic scenarios and high-fidelity graphics.
Multiplayer
The most peculiar requirement is, of course, bandwidth.
Then again, for the “seamless” multiplayer feature to really pay off, you should aim for the recommended requirements at least.
In a recent interview, the developers confirmed the minimum bandwidth should still be more than enough to have a ‘good representation of the world’ anyway.
10 Disc Version
For those who may want to own a physical copy of the epic Flight Simulator, you may be getting more than you thought…ten times more in fact.
For gamers in Europe, you’ll be able to purchase a pack of 10 discs for the game, which come inside an expandable box.
Why get the discs when you can download? Well, remember not everyone has access to super-fast internet, or the space for the whopping 150GB of data for the new game.
The discs come up to 90GB of data, and won’t require crazy internet speeds to install. You will still need an update from Microsoft before the game can be played, however.
