It has been four years since Microsoft set the bar extremely high for accessible realistic flight simulation.
The rebirth of theMicrosoft Flight Simulatorfranchise naturally ushered in a sequel, and it was all looking great until players realised that their new $69.99 game wasnot playable.
As of right now,the Steam reviews forMSFS2024 sit at a tragic 18%, and scores of virtualpilots have given up, opting for the refund option instead.
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Like the first AsoboMicrosoft Flight Simulator, the 2024 edition usescloud streamingto deliver high-quality maps without cramming hundreds of terabytes into your drive.
While the principle itself is solid, it means that playing the game is reliant on the Microsoft server infrastructure.
Over the last two days the game has been out, this has been nothing but heartache for most.
Whether it is loading languages, packages or login queues,players found themselves stuck for hoursas the line between the installer and Microsoft servers went mute.
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Those who managed to best the loading screen did not fare much better. Since the game relies on cloud streaming at each and ever turn, trying to load into a flight often meant missing planes, textures, and missions.
Microsoft Responded
According to Sebastian Wloch, CEO of Asobo, they had planned and tested the server load for 200,000 users, but the real demand exceeded that by a decent margin.
The team has launched a recovery plan today which it hopes will alleviate the problems to some extent.
The servers will temporarily throttle access to make sure that those who are connected can get the download done faster until server loads stabilize.
Asobo is also regularly adjusting and restarting the caching system as needed to handle requests most efficiently.
Community reports suggest that the situation is moving in the right directiontoday, though it remains far from perfect.
Some players have reported the installation process still takes upwards of an hour, but it does not hang or crash as often.
In-game issues still persist, with certain airports causing issues such as missing radio calls due to stutters, weird character textures, and invisible aircraft.
From Microsoft’s perspective, the reputational damage is a much more critical concern than any first-week hiccups.
Steam reviews might go up, but many players who refunded the game will not be returning.The launch ofMicrosoft Flight Simulator 2024will always be remembered as a preventable disaster.
