Flight Simulator's 2020 growth: 2M players in 4 months

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by Sinziana Mihalache 

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Key notes

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator became the fastest growing entry among Xbox games.
  • The most recent game version reached 2 million users up to date.
  • Been experiencing issues with the game? Scroll our Gaming Hub for the right troubleshooting guides.
  • Now is the perfect time of the year to buy the right joystick for your Flight Simulator game.
flight simulator reached 2m pilots

Microsoft’s most recent Flight Simulator version has managed to reach an important benchmark of 2 million players up to date; this also marks an all-time record as the fastest growing entry title in the Xbox games portfolio.

Despite the rough start, with many functionality bugs, the developers managed a good interaction with their community.

This quickly led to stability and final patches meant to bring the game to a steady evolution.

Along with announcing the news, Xbox also gave thanks to all those who have contributed to the achievement:

This was possible thanks to the incredible community of fans, real-world pilots, flight enthusiasts, and virtual travelers who have embraced the new simulation since its arrival on August 18 and made it the biggest game launch in Xbox Game Pass for PC history. 

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What lies ahead for Flight Simulator?

Big plans, surely, for the biggest winner in the Xbox Game Pass history; but first, let’s see some encouraging numbers:

  • Best Sim / Strategy 2020 Award
  • 2 million pilots
  • 50 million total flights
  • Round-the-world tour completed 400 thousand times
  • JFK Airport (New York City) named the favorite destination
  • Airbus A320NEO – most popular aircraft

Plans for 2021

flight simulator plans 2021

First and foremost, on December 22nd, 2020, the developers are planning a VR update launch. So all those looking forward to taking it to the skies during the winter holidays from the comfort of their homes will have the chance to do so even more realistically than before.

Then, Xbox announced that Flight Simulator will be launched on Xbox Series X|S in the summer of 2021. Add to this 3 major game updates, plus 4-5 world updates, and you’ve got a busy upcoming year for Flight Simulator.

What do you think the developer should improve in the simulator? Tell us in the comments.

Sinziana Mihalache

Sinziana Mihalache Shield

Sînziana loves getting people to better understand products, processes, and experiences beyond a simple user guide, either in writing or making use of images. She joined the team after a long-term collaboration with one of the world's top cybersecurity companies - Bitdefender. Outside work, Sînziana enjoys climbing mountains, backpacking around the world, and writing about almost anything on her blog.