As always, I truly appreciate you taking the time to read.
When Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 launched nearly five years ago, I eagerly purchased it and spent countless hours flying various GA aircraft that came with the sim. While I had a strong interest in the FBW A320 project, I struggled with MSFS’s camera system, which made the experience less enjoyable. As a result, I stuck with P3D v5 and ChasePlane to fully enjoy tubeliner flying.
That changed when the Fenix A320 and PMDG 737 arrived on MSFS 2020, prompting me to finally make the switch. Yet, I still missed ChasePlane and its intuitive camera system, complete with cinematic capabilities.
I had almost given up hope of ever seeing ChasePlane in MSFS 2020, let alone MSFS 2024. If you had asked me then, I wouldn’t have bet a single dollar on it happening. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised a few months ago when the talented developers at//42 announced they were bringing ChasePlane to MSFS—first in 2020, with plans for MSFS 2024 down the road.
As I mentioned in my last blog post, My Long Break – An Explanation, I’ve been away from the flight simulation hobby for a while. So, I completely missed the news about ChasePlane’s release in MSFS 2020. When I finally had a chance to sit down and update my sim, I wasted no time purchasing and installing ChasePlane.
To my delight, ChasePlane feels just as familiar as it did in P3D. While there are a few limitations, none of them affect my experience in any meaningful way. After completing several flights, I can confidently say that ChasePlane is a game-changer. Its intuitive interface and ease of use far surpass the default Asobo camera system.
As before, ChasePlane pairs beautifully with my Razer Orbweaver keypad. I’ve assigned buttons to different views, allowing me to switch perspectives with pinpoint accuracy.
If you’ve ever used ChasePlane in FSX or P3D and struggled with the frustratingly clunky default camera system, do yourself a favor and grab your copy today from the //42 website. As for MSFS 2024, I’ll continue holding out until ChasePlane is officially available for that platform.
Another reader question which I wanted to share with y’all. So here goes….
Hello Jerry, I have a question regarding the new MSFS 2024 Career Mode. Do you believe this new career mode will replace all the other 3rd party versions such as A Pilot’s Life, Air Hauler etc.? Also, I’m curious why Microsoft decided to add the career mode into the new sim since there are other 3rd party options available. Thank you for all you do for the flight sim community. Bob
Thank you Bob for your question. I suppose we’ve been somewhat lacking in having a built-in career mode system within the simulator for some time and both Microsoft and Asobo seem to have been listening to the voices of the community and as a result have made the decision to add this as one of the core features of the new sim. I also believe one of the key reasons for Microsoft to develop this new career mode is for the console community which makes up a large portion of the overall Microsoft Flight Simulator userbase.
For console players using MSFS 2020, they don’t have access to all of the 3rd party options available to us PC gamers. I believe the only career mode add-on that console players have access to is The Skypark. Other options such as A Pilot’s Life, Air Hauler and Neofly are all PC platform only. So I’m sure the new option in MSFS 2024 will be a welcome addition for console gamers.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any news from the 3rd party developers who currently have options available for MSFS 2020 on their plans for the new sim. My guess is they will all eventually support the new sim as each have a large user base who will want to continue using their applications perhaps in addition to the built in option.
I hope this helps to answer your question regarding the new career mode option in MSFS 2024. I suppose we’ll all learn more once the new sim launches in just a few weeks time.
I’m sure the most recent question I received from one of my loyal readers of this blog is one that we all have contemplated since we first learned about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. To be 1000% honest, this had been a question kicking around in my own head for a period of time. Let’s dive into Joel’s question and I’ll provide some guidance.
Dear Jerry, I’m a fairly long-time flight sim enthusiast like yourself. I first played Microsoft Flight Simulator just after the release of FS2004 (FS9) and moved to FSX for a period of time, then migrated to the various iterations of P3D including P3Dv5. I purchased MSFS 2020 on day one and much like you have mentioned, really didn’t get serious with it until the release of both the Fenix A320 and the PMDG 737. My instance of MSFS 2020 runs really well and again much like you, I only fly tubeliners simulating a few real world airlines. While I am excited about what I’ve heard about MSFS 2024, I’ve really been searching deep into my soul to determine if this is truly something I need to upgrade to based on my flying style. While the missions do look sort of cool and the career mode does as well, I probably won’t spend a great deal of time with these features and believe I would mostly carry own with flying much like I do now in 2020. I value your opinions and input, can you shed any light to help me decide on what to do? As our flying styles are very similar I would really be interested in learning what your plans are? Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions and I look forward to hearing back from you. Finally, best of luck with the upcoming move to Texas. Joel
Well Joel, you bring up some very interesting points and yes, it very much sounds like our flying styles and overall interest in flight simulation is the same. It’s always difficult for me to genuinely recommend anyone to reach into their wallet and spend their hard-earned money. That being said, I actually do believe, despite the fact that I also won’t spend a lot of time with the missions and career mode options, that there is significant reasons to upgrade from MSFS 2020 to MSFS 2024.
I know there’s a lot of discussions taking place in various forums and communities regarding why Microsoft and Asobo made the decision to create a brand new sim just four years after 2020 was launched. I’ve talked about these in the past and won’t spend any additional time on this other than to say that Microsoft felt they had reach the full potential of 2020 and much of the things the community was interested in would require a brand new platform. So that is what we have with MSFS 2024.
From my own style of flying which I would classify as 80% tubeliner and 20% GA flying, the advancements we’re learning about in the new sim WILL be beneficial to us. As it’s been announced we should experience far better flight dynamics with MSFS 2024 and the weather engine has also been completely re-worked. I suppose I’m also excited (and nervous) about the “Thin Client” concept of how visual content will be delivered in the sim. As previously stated, 80% of what I do in the sim is airline simulation. I tend to mostly fly in North America. So I suppose not having the rest of the world installed on my PC when I’m not flying there is a good thing. When I do venture cross the pond, that data will be streamed into my PC. But like I said, I’m also nervous about this concept as well. Several times Microsoft has experienced server issues which have had a significant impact on our ability to use MSFS 2020, so these issues certainly need to addressed. But if any company has the resources to make this happen, it’s Microsoft. So I’ll remain optimistic on this concept for now.
There is also something to be said with regards to supporting the further development of our hobby. This is not to say that we have an obligation to sent Microsoft money just to keep our hobby alive, but I certainly remember the dark days after Microsoft announced ending Flight Simulator and not really knowing what the future held. MSFS 2020 has reinvigorated our hobby at never before seen levels and the future of flight simulation is very bright in my opinion.
But like I already stated, I really don’t like to tell anyone what to spend their money on. So with that said, I’m planning on upgrading and plan to purchase the premium deluxe version of MSFS 2024. I believe, as I’ve believed since I first saw MSFS 2020 four years ago, that Microsoft Flight Simulator is the future and is the absolute best home based simulator that you can buy.
By now I’m sure you’ve all heard that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is now officially available for pre-order. The actual release date, pending no issues is set for 19 November which is less than two months away. Like you, I’ve been diving into all the various purchase options to try and determine which option suits me best.
When MSFS 2020 released, I decided to purchase the Premium Deluxe version. I made this decision primarily due to the hand-crafted airports option and thinking these would fulfill my requirements. While some did, sadly many didn’t and I ended up purchasing third party versions. This was especially true for airports I tend to visit frequently including KDEN, KORD, KSFO, KJFK, KSEA, EGLL etc. Of course, I’m thankful I made that purchase decision as it did allow me to leverage the 787 Dreamliner mods which allowed me to conduct some awesome long-haul flights while waiting for the PMDG 777-300ER.
In reviewing the various fact sheets and videos which have surfaced regarding the purchase options for MSFS 2024, I’m still weighing my options to determine which direction I want to go. What I have ruled out is the Aviator’s Edition. While the Aviator’s Edition includes 30 additional aircraft, these are Microsoft published aircraft i.e. “Local Legends” and I never used those with 2020. In my opinion these aircraft are not worth the extra $70. At least not to me!
I suppose the direction I’m leaning at this very moment (and I don’t plan to pre-order in the near future) is to once again go with the Premium Deluxe Edition. Priced at $129.99 it offers the largest selection of hand-crafted airports (160) and the same amount of new and upgraded aircraft (45/50). I don’t necessarily hold out any faith that any of the hand-crafted airports will meet my expectations, everything I’ve purchased for 2020 should work in 2024 and perhaps some such as KDFW will have been fixed as I talked about here a week or so ago. Unfortunately, at the time I’m writing this article Microsoft hasn’t published any details regarding the hand-crafted airports for 2024.
But bottom line, I’m OK with the $129.99 price for the Premium Deluxe Edition and who knows, perhaps Microsoft/Asobo have updated these hand-crafted airports to modern specs and those that I haven’t already purchased will meet my needs.
Final Thoughts
As I’ve been providing frequent updates about my upcoming move from Colorado to Texas, most likely around the time of the release of MSFS 2024 I will be knee deep in trying to get boxes unpacked, getting my man-cave setup and then we have Thanksgiving the very next week. What I’m actually trying to say is I doubt very seriously if my gaming machine will be setup and ready to install and use MSFS 2024 until sometime in early December. So the hype of the initial release of MSFS 2024 will not be something I’ll have the time to enjoy as the priority of getting settled into the new house must be #1.
Hello and welcome back to my blog site. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably already watched the brand new release trailer which Microsoft released over the weekend regarding their brand new Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. The announced release date is 19 November 2024. I’ve watched this trailer now about a half dozen times and very much like what I see. Of course, I liked what I saw from the very first teaser from last year.
Backing up the Truck
Before I dive into a few things that I’m thinking about after watching the new trailer several times, let me just point you all to a blog article I wrote earlier this year on the subject of MSFS 2024. This article covers the why behind Microsoft’s decision to release a brand new sim only four years after MSFS2020. Of course I also talk about a few other things and if you missed it, now would be a good time to go read it.
Thoughts and Concerns
Over the past few days I’ve watched many videos from other flight sim content creators breaking down the new trailer video. From what I’ve seen across many videos, the concerns of these content creators can be broken down into these following categories. #1 Flight Model, #2 Old add-on compatibility and #3 new projects slated for MSFS 2020. Let me break these down and provide my thoughts for each.
Flight Model
I’m not a real world pilot of any sort. Over the past 4 years I’ve heard many complain about the poor flight modeling in MSFS. Many state that this is the primary reason they do not use MSFS 2020. Microsoft have stated that there will be an advanced flight model in MSFS 2024. As for how advanced it will be compared to MSFS 2020, well….we’ll just have to wait and see. But I believe Microsoft and Asobo have listened to us and will deliver a better flight model in the new sim.
Old/Existing MSFS2020 Add-on Compatibility
Microsoft have stated multiple times that old/existing add-ons for MSFS2020 should work in the new sim. Of course, what we don’t know is whether this is day one compatibility or whether it will take the 3rd party developers some time to work on. I think with scenery, it should only consist of minor tweaks to make it compatible. However, for 3rd party aircraft….this could take some additional time especially if the flight model changes between MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024. It is worthy to note that 3rd party developers are just as much in the dark as we are when it comes to MSFS 2024. At the present time, Microsoft have not released any details which could be used to help speed up the process of getting 3rd party add-ons into MSFS 2024.
New Projects
As the sun is starting to quickly set on MSFS 2020, there are concerns by many that un-released 3rd party add-ons (specifically aircraft) which were slated to be released in MSFS 2020 will be bumped to MSFS 2024. Many are pointing towards the news that Aerosoft’s long awaited Airbus A330 which was supposed to come out for MSFS 2020 is now being delayed and will only release for MSFS 2024.
To be perfectly honest, the example of the Aerosoft A330 is the only project I’ve heard about that is being delayed to MSFS 2024. Bluebird Simulations still plans to release their Boeing 757 for MSFS 2020 with a free update to MSFS 2024. The PMDG Boeing 777 is on short-final and should release sometime this summer for MSFS 2020. Considering for me personally….I’m not planning on buying the Aerosoft so their decision doesn’t impact me at all.
Final Thoughts
As I’ve stated before, MSFS 2024 most likely will be a day one purchase for me. However, I have low expectations that my favorite 3rd party aircraft (specifically the PMDG 737 and Fenix A320) will be ready to install in the new sim on day one. No one knows at this point in time the level of effort needed for the 3rd party developers to make existing add-ons ready for MSFS 2024, nor do we know with any level of accuracy how much these updates/upgrades will cost us. For me personally, I’m willing to pay a small update price for existing add-ons for MSFS 2024. But I’m not willing at this point in time to re-purchase at full price. My investment in MSFS 2020 at the present time is in the thousands of dollars. But it’s waaaaayyyy too early to get the cart ahead of the horse at this point in time. So I invite you to join me in just sitting back and taking a wait and see attitude with this. Because that’s really all we can do at this time.
One more thought
One more thought came to my mind as I was wrapping this all up. It truly is in Microsoft’s best interest to have developed MSFS 2024 in such a way that requires minimal 3rd party development work to make add-ons compatible in the new sim. The reason I say this, is many will wait before purchasing MSFS 2024 until some time has passed to see how 3rd party developers react to the new sim and what level of effort is required AND what, if any upgrade cost might need to be passed along to consumers. If the level of effort is high enough for developers to have to charge full-price for add-on upgrades then I think most will just stay on MSFS 2020.
What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on what I’ve discussed here today. Leave a comment and let me know.
I hope everyone is having a great start to the summer season. While it’s still a few weeks before summer officially arrives, the weather is warming up across the country and in most places school is out.
PMDG Boeing 777
In recent days PMDG have broken their silence and informed everyone via their forums that they are busy undertaking a few web enhancements to their e-commerce platform to better handle the upcoming release of the much anticipated Boeing 777. Specifically the Boeing 777-300ER. This is great news, but still leaves us wondering just how much longer it will be before we can all get our hands on this awesome aircraft. We’ve been reminded that PMDG will provide a two week notice before the 777 will be available and at the time of this writing, this 2 week notice has not been made public. So until then, we wait and wait and wait some more.
We are about 3 weeks away from the 2024 FSExpo, so many are speculating that the availability might coincide with this event. But who really knows.
MSFS 2024 Release Rumors
In addition to the PMDG 777, the flight sim community is working overtime to try to second guess when Microsoft will release the new version of the sim which we know as MSFS 2024. The big Microsoft XBox Summer Showcase on 9 June. This is where Microsoft unveils many of their new projects expected to release throughout 2024 and early 2025. We have had confirmation that a new trailer will be for MSFS 2024 during the event. There have also been rumors of leaked information that a date for release will be mentioned in this new trailer video and the rumors are this date will be sometime in November, just in time for the holidays.
I know many were thinking, hoping, dreaming etc. that MSFS 2024 might release in August as that was the month MSFS2020 released. But I’m actually OK with a later release. While I have plans to purchase and move to the new platform, I’m also not in any big hurry. I believe it will take some time (perhaps a few weeks or even a few months) for MSFS 2020 add-ons to be ready for MSFS 2024. So other than using MSFS 2024 for GA flying, my expectation is that it will be some time before we can do any serious airliner operations.
Well…that’s about all I have for now. Naturally I’ll be keeping my eyes and ears open to any news coming from the XBox Summer Showcase and of course anything from PMDG. So we must just all stay tuned.
I mentioned a little while ago when I wrote about the recent delay to system update 15 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 that I would take the time to write about the new version of MSFS2024 which is due to release sometime this year. While we don’t have a release date at this time, if history repeats itself (as it often does) we could expect a end of summer timeframe release. But considering (at least in my opinion) MSFS2020 is absolutely fantastic and should get even better once SU15 drops the wait for me is a non-issue.
A New Sim Really?
Like many, when I first learned that Microsoft/Asobo were working on a brand new sim I was surprised. Of course if you’ve been around the flight sim world as long as I have, you’ve seen many iterations of the sim. After all, Microsoft released six different versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator between the years of 1996 and 2006. Each of these new versions contained new features and functionality from their predecessors and in many ways they each took advantage of the quickly developing PC technology of the day. I firmly believe this is also why we’re seeing a brand new version of Microsoft Flight Simulator some four years after the successful release of MSFS2020. Let’s face it, while MSFS2020 released to us on PC in August of 2020, the planning and actual development began many years before.
Most Popular Sim?
As I’ve said before in other blog posts, when MSFS 2020 released, the flight sim community expanded immensely almost overnight. This is especially true when MSFS2020 became available on the XBox platform almost a year later. While the flight sim community might still be relatively small and niche compared to other game genres, we have proven to Microsoft and Asobo that we’re here, we’re active and we want the very best flight simulation that can be developed for the home flight simulation enthusiast.
We may never really know if at the time MSFS2020 was released, whether Microsoft had the plans at that time for MSFS2024. While they may have speculated it would be a popular release, I think the direction the flight sim community wanted Microsoft to take the franchise has proven to be worth their efforts in continuing the franchise for many decades.
All The Benefits
There are many, many benefits to us as consumers of flight simulation add-ons (including both software and hardware) for Microsoft to continue updating the sim for hopefully decades to come. While the software add-on market has always been relatively strong, the hardware market is also making a huge comeback. The hardware market had sort of become a bit stale in the last few years before the release of MSFS2020. Today we have many different hardware developers creating everything from yokes, joysticks, pedals, throttles and all the various components to truly become free of needing to use the mouse and keyboard. I firmly believe this increase of the number of software and hardware developers is testament to the success of Microsoft Flight Simulator.
MSFS2024
I’m sure everyone has already viewed the teaser videos Microsoft released around the time of the announcement last year. Much of the new mission content are things I’m really not interested in. True, while I will probably spend time doing some of them…it’s just not something I’m overly excited about. For me, what I enjoy about any flight sim is the open world opportunity to fly what I want to fly, wherever I choose to fly it. But what might we expect to be included in MSFS2024 that we don’t have available today?
New Aircraft
I would expect much of what we consider the default aircraft included in MSFS2020 today will be made available in MSFS2024. But there are a few new aircraft which should make their way into MSFS2020 such as the Beluga Airbus and Airbus A300M. But again, these are probably aircraft that I will rarely fly in the sim. But wait…there’s more to MSFS2024.
Weather Data Capabilities
Asobo have commented in a few of the developer streams of late that MSFS2024 weather data is going to get some changes from what we know about weather in MSFS2020. Could we finally be able to import historical weather into the sim? Again, time will tell and this is one of the reasons I’m holding out on purchasing ActiveSky FS which I discussed a few weeks ago.
Freeware Marketplace
Now this I’m potentially excited about. The amount of good, quality freeware add-ons that we have witnessed come onto the scene with MSFS2020 is exceptional. While I own a great deal of payware airport sceneries for MSFS2020, I’m using several freeware airport sceneries in some locations as either there is no payware available or the freeware looks and performs better than the payware. But Microsoft have noticed the demand of freeware content and may one day offer it to be available in the Microsoft Marketplace. Like I said, I’m really excited about this as while I keep track of all the scenery I have installed in my sim (which you can see here), having this ability to install from Marketplace and hopefully be notified of any updates is a game changer for me. This of course will also be HUGE for those on the XBox platform. But we’ll see if this comes to fruition.
Release Date
As I’ve previously stated in this article, at this time we do not know when MSFS2024 will be released. While history can always be a good indicator of things like this, we really just don’t know. We may learn more after the FSExpo taking place in June (21-23 June), but I’m going to take a huge guess and say that MSFS2024 will release sometime between August and the end of the year.
Future of MSFS2020
I’ve spoken to many fellow flight simmers and currently it’s about a 70/30 split on whether they’ll move to MSFS2024 once released. This being approx. 70% saying yes to MFSF2024 and approx. 30% have said they’ll stay on MSFS2020 for now. But what is the future of MSFS2020? Well we do know that sometime in 2025, Microsoft/Asobo will release SU16. With SU16 Microsoft/Asobo might bring some of the features that will be available in MSFS2024 into MSFS2020. How much or how little just isn’t known at this time.
800lb Gorilla
I can’t close out this article without addressing the 800lb Gorilla in the room and that of course has to do with all the purchased add-ons from MSFS2020. What will be available? When will they be available and what will it all cost?
Unfortunately we really don’t have an absolute set of answers to those above mentioned questions. What we do know is the vast majority of 3rd party developers have publicly stated while they are just as much in the dark as the rest of us concerning when MSFS2024 will release and the amount of changes required to make their add-ons available into the new sim, they all have plans to make them available for MSFS2024 just as quickly as possible. In addition, most have stated that any already purchased MSFS2020 add-on will not require a full repurchase once available for MSFS2024. However, depending on the level of effort to bring them into MSFS2024 is simply unknown at this time and therefore I suppose there could be a minimal charge necessary to offset any of this development work.
Once again, if history repeats itself….most 3rd party developers will not have access to MSFS2024 until we all have access to it. So the clock starts on any work required on these 3rd party add-ons the very same day we all can make our purchase of MSFS2024, download and install it. While some in our community will be absolute idiots and begin posting in 3rd party developers forums, Discords etc. about when XYZ will be available…I urge everyone to be patient and just wait. It will happen and it will happen just as soon as possible.
In Summary
For me, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will be a day one purchase for me. I will take the same, exact approach I did with MSFS2020. I will install it and I will experience it most likely in a default Cessna 172. I will continue to use MSFS2020 as my primary sim, utilizing the PMDG 737, (hopefully the 777-300ER), the Fenix A320 (and hopefully their A319/A321 as well) and patiently wait. At such time these aircraft are available in the new sim, I will add them and progressively utilize MSFS2024 more and more, Then at some point down the road MSFS2020 will be uninstalled and simply forgotten about just like P3Dv5 was.
Oh, One More Thing
Join me in crossing your fingers, toes etc. and perhaps even going so far as asking St. Joseph of Cupertino (Patron Saint of all things aviation) to intercede on our behalf, that from day one, MSFS2024 will open up their camera API functionality so that third party developer //42 can finally bring Chaseplane to MSFS. While over the past couple of years I’ve managed to get somewhat used to the MSFS default camera system, for those of us that used Chaseplane back in P3D this would be a true game changer if it could be developed for the new sim.
If you’ve made it this far, Thank you! My apologies for the lengthy blog post, but there was a lot that needed to be shared. I will continue to share what information I can find on MSFS2024 as soon as more is known. Of course, I’ll blog about all my experiences in the new sim once it’s on my PC. What an amazing time this is for those of us involved in the hobby of flight simulation!
Like many of you, I was enjoying a nice, relaxing and peaceful Sunday afternoon. I was flying from TAPA (V.C. Bird International Airport) to KMIA (Miami International Airport) in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and thoroughly enjoying all the awesome visuals and sheer smoothness of my brand new gaming machine I recently built and very much like how we all learned that Microsoft was developing a new simulator way back in 2019, the news broke that Microsoft/Asobo were planning to release yet ANOTHER brand new simulator next year titled Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
Since retiring back in 2020, I will admit that some days I question just what day of the week it is and even find myself thinking to myself that “I can’t believe it’s already June”. But after watching the 2 minute and 14 second teaser video, I was wondering if I had some how stepped into some alternate universe and found that it was actually April 1st? Or has June 11th somehow now become the new “Fool” day? You can view the teaser video below.
Unfortunately, the content of the short two minute video sent the flight simulation community into a tailspin. Forums and Discord channels quickly became a buzz of comments, questions and rightfully… concerns regarding what exactly we were watching. Is this an expansion to the existing MSFS 2020? Is this a brand new sim? If this is a brand new sim, then WHY? What happens to all my prior MSFS 2020 purchases? Will this cause 3rd party developers to abandon projects for MSFS 2020? What was Microsoft thinking? Is this just a money grab by Micro$oft? Will this become another Train Simulator like platform? etc. etc. etc.
The somewhat startling thing was this news came out of the middle of nowhere. Third party developers such as Aerosoft, Fenix, PMDG etc. were all finding out about this new simulator at the same time as the community. The entire flight sim community was simply left scratching their heads over what seemed like a pre-mature announcement by Microsoft/Asobo.
Before retirement in July of 2020, I had spent the better part of three decades in IT Management. In my various roles within the realm IT it was always our goal to ensure any sort of announcement didn’t create panic and uncertainty within the userbase. Any sort of surprise announcement would always include a detailed FAQ which for the most part helped to prevent the sort of panic, frustration and thousands of questions something like this could generate. Unfortunately, Microsoft/Asobo failed in this department with this announcement.
As the sun rose and a new day unfolded, Microsoft/Asobo did provide a short FAQ which addresses a few of the large elephants in the room. Yes, MSFS 2024 will be a completely new standalone sequel. Yes, MS/Asobo will continue to support MSFS 2020 based on the current roadmap. Finally, with very few exceptions, virtually all add-ons that work in MSFS 2020 will function in the new MSFS 2024.
My Thoughts
I’ve been a computer based flight simulation enthusiast for over 40 years and have truly enjoyed every version of Microsoft Flight Simulator ever produced and of course Prepar3D during the time between FSX and MSFS 2020, a very big part of me is extremely excited about the MSFS 2024 news. Of course, I’m also concerned with the fact that in its current state, MSFS 2020 still has many bugs and limitations. Of course, Microsoft has stated in the FAQ that MSFS 2020 will continue to be supported post the MSFS 2024 launch. So time will tell.
When I first learned about MSFS 2020 and certainly after the initial launch of the new sim, I have quietly had some concerns regarding how Microsoft/Asobo could sustain not only the base product, but also all the future development, expansion and of course the cost of the infrastructure that is required for MSFS to function. While I’m sure the initial sales of MSFS 2020 certainly went a long way to helping achieve that important ROI (Return on Investment), I did question how things would work in the future. After all, while Microsoft has introduced a few extra add-on DLC’s to the MSFS 2020 platform, I personally have not purchased them. Likewise, I also don’t purchase any of my 3rd party add-ons via the Microsoft Marketplace. Every third party add-on I’ve purchased, I’ve purchased direct from the developer.
With all that said, and again for me personally…I’m not sure why Microsoft/Asobo just didn’t create a DLC add-on that incorporated all the new features mentioned in that trailer to be added into MSFS 2020. But of course, I’m not in charge of MS/Asobo so what I think matters very little.
I’m sure over the coming weeks/months we’ll certainly learn a lot more about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and I’m also confident we’ll also soon begin hearing from 3rd party developers on just what we can expect from them both in products yet to be released into MSFS 2020 and beyond to MSFS 2024.
It’s too early for me to commit to words whether MSFS 2024 would be something I would upgrade to on day one. I think at this point in time I would need to better understand what the differences between the two sims are based on my style of flying. While the new features showcased in the trailer look cool. I’m just an old commercial and GA flying enthusiast.
Final Thoughts
Based on all that we know (and don’t know) today, I do applaud Microsoft/Asobo for all that they have done for the flight simulation community. There’s no doubt in my mind that Microsoft 2020 is the absolute best flight simulation platform available to the home sim enthusiast. I’m confident that MSFS 2024 will raise that bar even higher and in my opinion, no other developer of a sim platform can or will exceed the current MSFS 2020 or the future MSFS 2024 in the next year.
I’ll certainly relay any new information as it becomes available and will of course share any personal thoughts regarding that new info in future blog postings. Thank you for taking the time to read.
