Las Vegas took center stage this weekend as the global hub for flight simulation, hosting the dynamic 2024 edition of FlightSimExpo. The event was an enthusiast’s paradise, offering them the opportunity to connect with the creators they admire and follow closely.
The Microsoft Flight Simulator team was in full force, including, of course, Jorg Neumann and Sebastian Wloch, whose presentation on Friday got the community excited about what’s to come with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 later this year.
This environment was perfect for exploring the team’s insights into the future of the platform. I had the opportunity to talk to Jorg and Seb for about 30 minutes, and MSFS 2024 was obviously a major topic of conversation. Both Jorg and Seb provided a lot of great insights, so go ahead and check it all out below!
Vasco: Jorg, yesterday you said something in the presentation that really struck me when you said: “Thank you for entrusting us with this hobby.” Do you feel this weight on your shoulders?
Jorg Neumann (head of Microsoft Flight Simulator): It used to be a pain when we came back because Microsoft had stopped making Flight Sim for fifteen years, which was a bit of a shock. When we came back, people didn’t know us or Asobo. There was no connection with flight simulation. I think over the last four years of Flight Sim 2020, we have earned people’s trust. It is good to remind ourselves that we are very grateful and feel the confidence.
Vasco: You painted a very positive picture of the success of MSFS, and it is clearly very successful within the community. How successful is Microsoft Flight Simulator, from your point of view? Is it a good business for Microsoft?
Jorg: An interesting fact: when we start a project, we try to figure out what success looks like. We have a target forecast, which includes a minimum forecast, maximum forecast, and something called a breakout. We just got past the outbreak. That’s how successful it is: it really exceeded our expectations.
Vasco: There’s a reason I ask this. Recently there have been some changes in the gaming division at Microsoft, including studio closures and some Xbox exclusives launching on PlayStation. How does this affect Microsoft Flight Simulator?
Jorg: I don’t feel it at all. I’m super focused on Flight Sim and making the Flight Sim community happy. That’s all we can do, and I think we’re doing it right. Like you said, people are responding positively and business is good, so I’m very excited.
Vasco: When MSFS 2020 came out, it was clear that you wanted to reach a larger number of people than ever before. PC, Xbox, cloud gaming… I can even fly on my iPhone! Are there plans to take this even further in 2024?
Jorg: Well, on xCloud we are still missing mouse and keyboard support, which the platform does not currently support. Asobo cannot do this alone. This is a platform feature and the platform feature is delayed. We have touch controls, but no mouse and keyboard yet, which is obviously important. If you sit down, I don’t know if you’ve ever played xCloud on your laptop, but I have. I have an old laptop that doesn’t actually run Flight Sim, but it does, and it’s pretty good. However, I have a trackpad and I can’t use a mouse and keyboard. It’s weird. We’re working on it and within about ten months we should see it on both platforms, in 2020 and 2024.
Vasco: Could we possibly see MSFS on PlayStation?
Jorg: That decision is way above my pay grade!
Vasco: A big focus for MSFS 2024 is community engagement, “Built for the community, with the community,” as you said. It’s quite an openness to the work that many developers do, but on the other hand you also implement features – the new flight planner for example – that are important to other developers, such as Navigraph. How do you balance that?
Jorg: I think Navigraph is great, but not many people want to spend $15 a month. We have many users who have no idea what Navigraph is or even what graphs are. For us as a platform, I think it is important to introduce people to these features for free. Navigraph always goes further than us: they are specialists. We didn’t have anything suitable, graphs weren’t even in the sim, so let’s add that so people can really get used to it.
As we get millions of people involved in the hobby, for me it’s all about the “when.” A lot of people have been doing this for decades, but we start somewhere, usually with a GA plane, and then you graduate. I think we need to make that as frictionless as possible.
Vasco: Does having so many third parties involved make development easier because there are more teams and more people, or harder because of the size/things that need to be coordinated that aren’t internal?
Sebastian Wloch (CEO of Asobo): I think it’s pretty much the same. It may make it more difficult, but we have developed more processes and tools to integrate faster. I don’t see it as a problem at all, more of an advantage. The sector has become more mature and better organized, so I see it as an advantage, something that allows us to make faster progress.
Vasco: Jorg, we keep hearing from some people in the community that you are more focused on gamers than hardcore simmers. Is this true, and why do you think this perception still exists among some in the community?
Jorg: The perception exists because our trailers appeal to a broad audience, and that is deliberate. Should I convince flight simmers that flight simulation is cool? No – it’s their hobby. We must ensure that we meet their wishes. That’s why we keep track of wish lists and feedback closely. To make flight siming more widespread, we need to appeal to more people.
Some people say, “I don’t care about balloons and zeppelins,” but others are afraid of airplanes, so we offer alternatives. We have a lot of ultralights in Flight Sim 2024, and that’s how a lot of people get into flying. We want to appeal to a broad audience and not just one group. I want to make sure the core simmers are happy, but a lot of people who have never tried a flight sim see our trailers and decide to give it a try. That’s good for the hobby.
Vasco: Can you tell us more about this Career Mode and what a typical usage scenario is?
Jorg: We haven’t really talked about it yet. Shortly!
Vasco: And how does that new walkaround mode work?
Seb: Very easy. In MSFS 2020 you can spawn on the runway ready to go or in the cold and dark. Imagine another way: it starts out cold and dark, but outside the plane. When you land somewhere, you can click on the door and you will be outside. You can walk around, take pictures and interact with the aircraft, such as the control surfaces, using a similar marking system that we’ve had for the cockpit checklists. That’s in the checklists, right? You will need to move each control surface to ensure it is not locked. It’s very simple: you click on the door, the door opens and you’re outside.
Vasco: What about the weather? What improvements are generally planned for this? New cloud types, improved density?
Seb: We wrote down many small requests. On a larger scale, we improved the cloud system by adding cirrus clouds and more definition. The main improvement is lightning. The light scattering and atmospheric simulation have been completely redone. The line on the horizon has disappeared, that has been resolved.
As for fog, we simulate the air with particle density, and in polluted cities the air can become very thick. If visibility is limited, it is usually because the clouds are at ground level. We can simulate that with presets, the problem lies more with live weather. We need to sync better with the weather provider to ensure accurate haze simulation, and we are working on it.
Vasco: What about ATC?
Seb: I can’t say anything about it yet, but we will in the future.
Vasco: Yesterday you also announced the 737 MAX. Seb, what can you tell us about that project?
Seb: It is a very large team with a lot of focus. The system depth is very high, using all new technologies. For example, I showed the A330 with the new surfaces, and the 737 MAX uses them. It has very good improved aerodynamics. It is our largest aircraft, a very big project for us.
Vasco: It’s clear that there’s a lot to come. The visual improvements are impressive, there is now ray tracing. How does performance compare to MSFS 2020?
Seb: There are improved details and complexity, but also more optimization. For example, the surface system in the aircraft: in MSFS 2020 there were 500 to 1,000 surfaces in an aircraft. In the new plane this is ten times more, but it is multi-threaded and optimized, so the cost is about the same. Overall, performance should be comparable.
Jorg: Similar or better. We do not change the system requirements.
Vasco: You said there will be new optimizations. There are a few popular mods that change settings on the fly to create a smoother experience, such as AutoFPS. Are you planning something similar for better performance in critical phases?
Jorg: I think those mods are trying to improve MSFS 2020. You should see what 2024 has to offer – the new system is very good and different.
Vasco: You mentioned that all the aircraft shown so far will be in the base sim. Are there plans to release just one version of MSFS 2024 or will you continue to offer Premium options with more aircraft and airports and so on?
Jorg: I can’t talk about that too much, but there was that discussion about whether we should do something like that. It’s a business decision.
Vasco: What is your plan for the coming months leading up to the release? What do you want to aim for in terms of the message you want to convey about MSFS 2024 before release?
Jorg: We will be doing a developer Q&A, which will move to 2024. We will be doing the Feature Discovery series again, which was very successful. There is much more to come. Many people ask about the SDK. We strengthen a build and ensure stability and documentation. We’ll be rolling out the SDK in a few months so creators can make adjustments if they want. Backward compatibility is important, so they don’t have to do anything unless they want to take advantage of new systems.
Vasco: Since Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is launching in late 2024, why not call it 2025?
Jorg: People ask that, even internally. We launched Microsoft Flight Simulator in August 2020, and people are calling it 2020. They could have called it 2021, but they didn’t. So here we are; we’re launching in 2024, so we’ll take advantage of that. It is well.
