Microsoft Flight Simulator VR update is available now

Laurent Giret

Microsoft Flight Simulator Featured Image (custom)

Microsoft Flight Simulator is getting VR support today, right in time for the holidays. The latest free update for the game will make it compatible with the most popular VR headsets from Oculus, Valve, and HTC, as well as Windows Mixed Reality headsets from Microsoft’s partners.

In a separate FAQ on the Flight Simulator website, the team explained that the game has been specifically optimized for the HP Reverb G2, Reverb G1, and Samsung Odyssey+ Windows Mixed Reality headsets, but all VR headsets that run on the WRM, Oculus, and SteamVR platforms are supported.

“The flight sim community has been a very active and insightful partner in shaping how the team approached VR, and continues to be a critical partner in our continued development as we make further improvements and add new features to the simulation. Adding VR to Microsoft Flight Simulator was a direct result of community feedback, and we look forward to continued involvement in the future of the franchise with us,” wrote Jorg Neumann, Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Microsoft Flight Simulator recently crossed 2 million players on PC since launch, which represents the biggest game launch in Xbox Game Pass for PC history. Adding VR support should give PC gamers another reason to check it out, especially since the game received a lot of praise for its photorealistic visuals.

Now that the PC version of the game is getting VR support, it’s going to be interesting to see if Microsoft will continue to ignore VR on Xbox consoles. Microsoft Flight Simulator is expected to be released on Xbox Series X|S consoles in Summer 2021, and there are probably more players willing to spend up to $500 on a console to play VR games than a thousand dollars or more on a VR-Ready gaming PC.

Considering Microsoft’s continued push to make technology more accessible, the absence of VR experiences on Xbox consoles continues to be quite surprising. Even though Microsoft Flight Simulator probably remains a niche game, we shouldn’t underestimate the appeal of flying around the world in VR during a worldwide pandemic.

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