The next iteration of Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) was announced over the weekend, slated to arrive sometime on Xbox consoles and PC in 2024. While it’s disheartening an announcement promising VR support wasn’t made during its unveiling, the game is under development by Asobo, the very same that developed the VR-supported version released in 2020.
The company says Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is slated to bring the “most sophisticated, immersive and awe-inspiring flight simulator of all time,” powered by what the studio calls a “significantly evolved Asobo Studio engine.”
The studio is well versed in supporting PC VR headsets, as the team added SteamVR support to the PC version of the game in December 2020, or just four months after it was released on traditional monitors.
In a developer livestream in late May, Asobo revealed that its dedicated VR team has been disbanded to work on other aspects of the game. That may sound like bad news, however it’s possible the studio is currently in ‘all-hands mode’ to develop the new title for its target platforms, which includes day-one availability on Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows 10/11, and Steam.
Microsoft’s head of Flight Simulator Jörg Neumann revealed during that livestream that somewhere between 10% and 15% of players on the 2020 PC version of MFS play in VR—a fairly consequential number of users. To boot, Neumann and executive producer Martial Bossard say they are among those VR players.
The team says although MFS 2024 is going to be a standalone title, that “virtually all add-ons that work in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) today will function in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024,” Asobo says in the game’s FAQ. “Add-ons that were purchased from the in-simulator Marketplace will not need to be re-purchased in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.”
So, while we don’t know whether VR support is coming for sure, promising to bring everything from the old to the new game is encouraging. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping our eyes on the game’s official website for updates and news of forthcoming VR support.