Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Is Getting Terrible Steam Ratings After Rough Launch

Another year, another flight sim from Microsoft. However, compared to 2020’s entry, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is getting destroyed in Steam reviews due to a disastrous launch.

As Polygon noted, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has been having trouble since its launch on Tuesday. Among the most prevalent issues are long loading times and missing content. Due to these problems, the game currently has an “overwhelmingly negative” Steam rating.

Trying to fan the flames of discontent, Microsoft Flight Simulator head Jorg Neumann blamed the massive amount of players for the mess. “We knew the excitement was high for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, but frankly, we completely underestimated how high, and it really has overwhelmed our infrastructure.” Developer Asobo’s CEO, Sebastian Wloch, added that while his team tested the servers with a whopping 200,000 player simulation, the number of actual humans trying to play the title eclipsed that number. Even trying to limit the amount of gamers accessing the sim at one time proved ineffective.

What exactly are players experiencing? Hours spent waiting on loading screens, crashes, and missing models and textures are just a taste of the difficulties facing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. One user on Steam named VonBarb even quipped the simulation was too true to reality, stating, “… it now feels like Boeing was actually involved in building the servers.” Speaking as someone wary of flying on Boeing planes, this must be quite a disastrous launch.

For their part, both Microsoft and Asobo are planning on fixes, though they did not give a timeline for them. Regardless, the companies should have seen this coming. Microsoft Flight Simulator was a big deal in 2020, especially due to the pandemic. It was a way of experiencing the joy of flight at a time when we could not leave our homes. Though people’s lives have steadily returned to normal since then, the simulation is still a welcome break from reality. Hopefully, the team can get things back up and running soon.