2020 to 2024
So earlier this week Microsoft and Asobo dropped a bit of a bombshell on the Flight Simulator community by announcing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. First, you deserve a bit of context; when Flight Simulator 2020 was released it was the first major Flight Simulator release in quite some time. The previous iteration was back around 2007 with FSX and it was a long stretch with no mention of an update. The fanfare and general community excitement around the release of Flight Simulator 2020 was palpable especially since the graphics were leaps and bounds better than the previous version and even significantly better than any of its competitors.
The key take away here is that when it was announced, Microsoft and Asobo were very clear that they had a ten year roadmap for this product which reassured the community that an investment here would be a good ROI. As those who are into this genre are aware, Flight Simulation can quickly become a very expensive hobby. Jump forward to this week, just four years into the ten year roadmap and we’re hearing about the sequel to Flight Simulator 2020. There are a wide variety of points of view on this but I would say that the trailer looks stunning, the new ideas being introduced for some sort of mission or career mode are interesting and will surely draw even more people to the platform. However, the trailer ends with an announcement that this is not DLC but a sequel and that’s it, no more information is given and people have questions.
Almost immediately the discord servers and forums are flooded with concerned people who have paid for the original product and some of which have paid significantly more for third party add ons for aircraft and scenery etc. They’re (rightly) concerned about the whether their purchases will be able to work in this new product, if they’ll need to re-purchase them, if the original product will be completely superseded by Flight Simulator 2024, and the list of questions goes on.
It took the company almost a full twenty-four hours to put forth a statement answering the most hotly discussed questions which, to me, is telling that they had not taken the community into account. Many of the more senior Flight Simmers didn’t seem too fussed as other simulators do a similar upgrade cycle though they aren’t really marketed as a Game-as-a-Service. Anyhow, this delay in details shows an oversight in understanding that their original product drew a large number of new people into the fold who were rightly concerned about their investment and this was a fairly major fumble on their part.
The statement released does address the biggest concerns though:
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a standalone simulator and the next-generation sequel to Microsoft Flight Simulator that launched in 2020. Current aircraft and airports that are in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), as well as virtually all Marketplace add-ons, will be supported in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
We will continue to deliver our Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) Roadmap which has content ranging from Aircraft and Avionics Updates, Sim Updates, City and World Updates, and also the free Dune DLC. We will continue to support Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) post the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launch.
With very few exceptions, virtually all add-ons that work in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) today will function in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Add-ons that were purchased from the in-simulator Marketplace will not need to be re-purchased in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
There are still a few vocal people in the forums and discords who are picking on the wording that doesn’t assure them about all add ons being functional in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 but I feel like there’s no way for them to make those kind of absolute assurances so early in the progress of the new product. A few third party developers have come forward to say they are confident there won’t be too much of an issue porting their products over and they don’t foresee anyone needing to repurchase anything. Notably silent (so far) are the large players: PMDG and Fenix Simulations but I think it’s likely that they simply need time to figure out how their very complex aircraft will transfer.
At the end of the day, I think Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a good thing both for the company (obviously) and for the community. While the developers and marketing may not always make the best decisions with regards to things like this announcement I don’t think there’s too much doubt that they intend the best. This isn’t to say that they shouldn’t work on it and improve but more as a way to say, “hey, take a breath, this is going to be ok”.
