Take to the skies this Tuesday on SteamVR headsets.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is having one hell of a month. Since launching on PC this past August, players have so far logged an astonishing 3.5 billion miles over 50 million flights; not a bad number considering the game has been live less than 6 months. This past week the game also took home the award for “Best Sim / Strategy 2020” at The Game Awards 2020.
Next week marks the launch of Sim Update 2, which—among several gameplay improvements and quality-of-life-updates—will introduce official VR support, allowing players to immerse themselves even further in the hyper realistic flight simulator via a SteamVR compatible PC VR headset, including the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality headset. Back in July during the companies initial reveal of VR compatibility, Microsoft stated that support would arrive first on the recently-released HP Reverb G2 Windows Mixed Reality headset. Last month the company shifted its plans, revealing full support for all major PC VR headsets at launch.
Last week the company surprised fans even further, revealing several additional updates arriving alongside VR support this Tuesday. In an official update, Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann revealed several new weather conditions on their way to Flight Sim 2020, including real-time snow as well as ice coverage spanning the entire planet.
“As a thank you to all of you – die-hard simmers and newcomers to flight simulation alike – we are pleased to announce that we are preparing a few surprises alongside the VR update launching on December 22,” stated Neumann in the post. “Everyone will receive a unique Microsoft Flight Simulator-themed livery for the entire launch plane fleet and simmers will be able to fly with the same cute dog-themed liveries that Rufus and Sam flew in their Pitts Special. Finally, given the time of year, the update will add real-time snow and true-to-life ice coverage to the entire planet.”
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is available now via Steam and Xbox Games Pass for $59.99. VR compatibility arrives Tuesday, December 22nd as part of Sim Update 2. The game is set to arrive on Xbox Series X|S Summer 2021.
“As we’ve said time and time again, our launch in 2020 was only the beginning of our journey with Microsoft Flight Simulator,” adds Neumann. “We are excited to carry this momentum into 2021 – we will launch on Xbox Series X|S in the summer, we are planning 3 large updates to the simulation, and we will update the world 4-5 times with additional World Updates (as well as a few other surprises we have planned).”
Image Credit: Microsoft, Asobo Studio
