The flight simulation game Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has been released today on Sony's PlayStation 5 console, as announced back in September. On the surface, it's only the umpteenth game published by Xbox Game Studios on the platform after the likes of Sea of Thieves, Forza Horizon 5, Age of Empires, Gears of War: Reloaded, and more, with the (once) brand-defining IP Halo also on the way next year.
However, in an XDA Developers interview with Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise head Jorg Neumann, we learned that it might have been this game that started it all. Neumann had first discussed the possibility internally around two and a half years ago and initially received a no for an answer, but eventually Microsoft came around, kicking off, in Neumann's own words, the avalanche of Xbox games on PlayStation 5.
It was my idea, actually. With Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, we came out on PC first in August 2020. One year later, we shipped it on Xbox, and we found millions and millions of new fans on Xbox that had never seen the flight sim because they're just not PC gamers. A lot of them thought it was great, and a lot of them stayed. In 2020, it was already 120 GB when we launched as a download. When we were in 2023, I looked at the install numbers, and it was 300 GB. Then we had our content roadmap, and there was so much new stuff that we were doing that we would be over a terabyte. I said, "We need to do something," so we decided to make Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and had the concept of a thin client. Our client is now 8 GB, and instead of putting everyone on your hard drive and making that download huge, we put everything in the cloud.
That made it possible to go to other platforms, so I proposed, probably two and a half years ago, to go to PlayStation. It was probably a little bit before its time because I was told no. Then, somebody from Sony who grew up with flight simulation thought it would be a great addition to the Sony portfolio. They reached out proactively to our President, who then came back to me and said, "Hey, remember when we talked about the PlayStation thing a year ago? Sony is also interested." I think that really kicked off a whole avalanche of Xbox titles coming to PlayStation.
Neumann also adds that the studio worked hard to optimize the game for the PlayStation 5 console and the DualSense controller. Indeed, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 supports the following features on PS5:
- Adaptive triggers that respond to different speeds and surface types on the ground and provide sloped resistance in the air
- Gyro controls to control pitch and roll while flying
- Lightbar support to provide visual caution / warning cues
- The ability to customize the touchpad to handle a variety of tasks
- By default, users can control an aircraft’s throttle by swiping across its surface
- The built-in controller speaker plays audio from air traffic control
As for his Xbox-to-PlayStation multiplatform claim, there is certainly a grain of truth there in that it might have been the first time Microsoft seriously sat down and considered the possibility of porting one of its games (in this case, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024) to the rival console. However, given the downward trajectory of Xbox console sales and Microsoft's mandate to the Xbox division to increase profits after the expensive acquisitions of ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard, going multiplatform was really only a matter of time.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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