Flight Sim head wants content until 2032

Microsoft Flight simulator could still be getting content in another ten years, according to the game’s lead, but fitting it all on a console is tough

Head of Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann has said that he’d like the latest game in the series, simply titled Flight Simulator, to still be getting new content in 2032.

In an interview with VGC, Neumann said that in the next two years alone, the team has up to 100 planes in development for the game, which initially launched with 30 aircraft. According to Neumann, the success of the game has made it much easier to get access to aircraft to scan.

“We are speeding up now because the walls are falling down to get access to manufacturers,” Neumann said, “There were walls for everything. They didn’t want to give us licenses, but people now get what we’re doing, and when I say to them that I’d like to do something, the red tape is gone. When we call people now, they’re like, ‘we’re so glad you called, we’re so excited.’”

Microsoft Flight Simulator’s 40th anniversary update added a host of classic planes, including the Spruce Goose. Picture: Microsoft

That said, it might be a little difficult squeezing it all in on current consoles. Neumann reportedly joked with VGC that the team could probably fill an entire Xbox Series S with the game, or maybe even a Series X. On PC, a full install of the game takes up over 300 GB, and future updates are likely to add to that number. Neumann says that he wants content coming to the game until at least 2032, if not longer.

Neumann also recalled pitching the game to Xbox head Phil Spencer, who he said was blown away.

“When I first pitched this, the very first demo I showed to Phil was Seattle in 3D”, Neumann said, “I flew over Microsoft Campus – literally the building we were sitting talking in – and he was like, ‘why are you showing me a video of Seattle?’ Then I knew I’d got him.”

He says that Spencer couldn’t believe the game was running in real time. Flight Simulator runs partly on streaming tech from Asobo and Blackshark.ai, and contains the entire world mapped to a fairly accurate degree. Updates have come regularly to improve the accuracy since launch, too, with most international airports and major landmarks now in the game.

Microsoft’s Flight Simulator series has been running for forty years, with dozens of games in the series. Picture: Microsoft

A recent Flight Simulator update hides a retro secret, allowing players to play the first four Flight Simulator games, starting with 1982’s Flight Simulator. The Easter egg is accessed by getting into a specific plane, and can only be played using on-screen mouse controls.

Despite being one of the Xbox’s more prestigious exclusives, Microsoft recently said that Sony’s games were better than its own, in a shocking submission to the UK’s competition regulator. Microsoft said that Sony had five times as many first- and third-party exclusives, many of which were “better quality” than its own.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.