Microsoft Flight Sim has doubled its players twice – and there’s a plan to attract even more users

The Xbox first-party games operation might be going through a painful period of ‘spinning up’ new development studios and integrating acquisitions, but while slower-moving in those areas, one key success has been reliably humming away in the background with impressive and enviable growth: Microsoft Flight Simulator.

At an event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Flight Simulator – a milestone that reminds that this is Microsoft’s oldest-running franchise, outdating both Windows and Office by a handful of years, developers of the game hammered home its newfound success with a simple stat: Flight Simulator’s player-base has doubled. Twice.

To be specific, Flight Simulator has enjoyed a couple of launches. First it hit PC, and was met with critical acclaim and strong uptake. Later, it was released on Xbox Series X/S, a move which doubled its player base. Then earlier this year, the game was made xcloud compatible, rendering it playable on Xbox One, older-spec PCs, and even on mobile. This doubled the player base again.

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