Amid abysmal launch, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 reaches ‘overwhelmingly negative’ Steam rating

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launched Tuesday on Windows PC and Xbox Series X, but it hasn’t been a smooth ride. Actually, it’s been anything but: Long loading times and missing content have earned developer Asobo Games’ latest launch an overwhelmingly negative rating on Steam. Some players are stuck on loading screens for hours, according to reports, and when they get in, certain planes are missing. Microsoft and Asobo addressed the problematic launch in a blog post and a video message to players, saying its servers were completely overwhelmed by the amount of players logging in at once.

“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,” Microsoft Flight Simulator head Jorg Neumann said in a video. Asobo CEO Sebastian Wloch added that the team tested its servers and simulated 200,000 people trying to play, but the systems were still “completely overwhelmed” on launch day. To mitigate the problems, Asobo has attempted to restart its services and throttle how many people can enter Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 at one time, only to improve the process briefly before things “collapsed again.”

This all lines up with the problems people are reporting in Steam reviews: Long loading screens, huge queues, missing models in both the character creator and elsewhere, crashes, and missing textures. “I can only marvel at the depth of the simulation, as it now feels like Boeing was actually involved in building the servers,” one person quipped, referencing Boeing’s recent problems with its aircrafts.

Microsoft and Asobo are investigating the issues, which extend to missing planes in the game, too. Wloch explained that if the critical systems are responding for some people, then some of the “optional” ones are not, like several planes. “That’s not normal, that’s due to the server not responding and the cache being completely overflowed,” he said.

Here’s the full statement from Microsoft’s website:

We have worked hard with our partners, including Asobo and others, to bring you an amazing sim experience. The excitement for the sim today has been overwhelming, but we encountered an issue with one of our services handling the new systems in the game like career mode and various missions. The server responsible for handling data requests got overloaded, causing delays and errors.

As a result, players are experiencing long loading times and missing content like aircraft. We have solved the issues and are now bringing players in at a steady pace. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. We will keep you updated on our social channels, forums, and website. Thank you very much for all your feedback and support.

Microsoft and Asobo haven’t yet provided a timeline for the fix, but said they’ll update players on social media, its website, and on forums.