Microsoft Flight Simulator breaks Xbox Game Pass for PC records, over 1 million players so far

Microsoft Flight Simulator became one of the highest-rated Xbox Game Studios titles in years when it launched on PC on August 18, and we’ve just learned that the game also had the biggest launch in Xbox Game Pass for PC history. Just like all new Xbox Game Studios titles, Microsoft Flight Simulator launched on Xbox Game Pass on day one, and Microsoft announced today that more than one million unique players have now played the game in just over two weeks.

“It’s been wonderful to see the reactions to Microsoft Flight Simulator from the community, who have flown more than 26 million flights and logged more than 1 billion miles flown to date – the equivalent of flying around the world over 40 thousand times,” said Jorg Neumann, Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator. “Launch marks the beginning of a journey for us and this is just the start. There is plenty more to come on our flight itinerary including world updates, sim updates, and future themed DLC,” he added.

This new Flight Simulator game was announced a year ago at E3 2019, along with Xbox Game Pass for PC. The PC version of Microsoft’s game subscription service is still in beta at a promotional price of $4.99/month, but the catalog already includes over 100 quality PC games including Halo: MCC, Final Fantasy XV, No Man’s Sky, or the freshly-released Crusader Kings III. Seeing Microsoft Flight Simulator, a pretty demanding game becoming the biggest game launch in Xbox Game Pass for PC history probably tells something about gamers’ appetite for this very old franchise, which received an impressive next-gen refresh thanks to developer Asobo Studios.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft Flight Simulator didn’t benefit from a massive marketing campaign either, and that makes this 1 million players numbers even more impressive. The game was completely missing from Microsoft’s big Xbox Game Showcase in July, and we still don’t know when it will be available on Xbox consoles. As these PC numbers show, the game has the potential to become a great attraction for Xbox Game Pass, and the game could probably become a big hit on Xbox consoles as well. This is definitely a game that could really showcase the power of the Xbox Series X, something that the now-delayed Halo: Infinite pretty much failed to do so far.

If you haven’t done it yet, we invite you to read our hands-on with Microsoft Flight Simulator here. The game also received a new patch this week that should solve installation issues for both Microsoft Store and Steam versions. Again, the game is also free to play with Xbox Game Pass for PC, and new subscribers can try the service for just $1/month.