Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is "not a game"

Although it will offer different types of missions in several categories, it is first and foremost a simulator.

Asobo and Xbox Game Studios announced Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 during the Xbox Games Showcase earlier this month, which is pretty much what it sounds like; a new game in the long running series, which actually made its debut in 1982.

This time we can look forward to not just flying various aircrafts, but also doing missions like "search and rescue, helicopter cargo transport, air ambulance, crop dusting, mountain rescue" and a whole lot more (even aerial firefighting). During FlightSimExpo 2023, which took place in Houston last weekend, Asobo and Microsoft had a lengthy presentation on the game, which you can check out here.

Amongst other things, the director Jörg Neumann explained that it won't be your typical video game missions we'll get to play, is it is a simulator first and foremost, not a game:

"We polled a bunch of things, and the one thing from all [different kinds of player] was that people wanted more stuff to do. We said, 'okay, cool, fair enough, let's go make things like that.' But we are not a game. So we're not making game-y type missions at all. What we're doing is accurate aviation activities. We're working with lots of organisations across the planet that do these things. That do firefighting, that do search and rescue."

We can also look forward to a much better client this time that will install a bare minimum of what you actually need to play the game. This won't just make the game more manageable, but also reduce installation and loading times. We also got information about the full seasons that are planned and extreme weather like tornados.

Below are the latest screenshots from Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which launches for PC and Xbox Series S/X next year.