Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024's launch has been marred by long load times, server issues and now it has overwhelmingly negative reviews

Microsoft smoothly launch a videogame challenge 2024

I've been looking forward to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 since it was announced, but I might wait a while longer before trying to play it. It launched yesterday and currently sits at "overwhelmingly negative" Steam reviews due to long loading times caused by server issues.

In response to the issues, developers Asobo posted a video message discussing the launch issues.

"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," says Jorg Neumann, head of Flight Simulator.

Asobo CEO Sebastian Wloch then explained that the issue was due to the number of players trying to access the game.

"In Flight Sim 2024, there are a few new systems in the sim," Wloch says. "People have noticed in the career mode there's all sorts of missions, and when players at the very beginning when they start, they're asking a server for some data, and that server is going to cache it in a database. It's a pretty big database and there is a cache, and that cache is currently getting saturated.

"It's a cache that has been thoroughly tested during the whole Tech Alpha. We've done load tests simulating 200,000 users, and tonight it's just completely overwhelmed."

Wloch explained that they've had some temporary success with attempted fixes so far, but that soon the "cache collapsed again". They're continuing to investigate in search of a permanent fix.

In an update posted to Steam about the launch issues, the developers said that the problems are now "solved" and players should steadily be able to join the game. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience," says the post.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 expands on the foundation built by the 2020 release, adding more detail to its simulation of the earth, and adding various kinds of aviation careers which add structure to your time in the skies. Edwin spoke to Neumann prior to the game's launch about its machine learning tech and data streaming.

We'll have a review of Flight Simualtor 2024 soon.