Editing Microsoft Flight Simulator (section)

{{short description|Series of flight simulator software}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{about|the flight simulation series as a whole|the first game in the series|Microsoft Flight Simulator (1982 video game)|the 2020 release|Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 video game)|other uses|Flight simulator (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Microsoft Flight}}
<!-- See talk page; merely referencing all other uses is not enough, as readers may not be aware that "MS Flight" is a different product -->
{{Infobox video game series
| title                  = Microsoft Flight Simulator
| image                  = Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_logo_(2020).png
| caption                = The logo introduced at [[E3 2019]] for<br />the 2020 ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 video game)|Microsoft Flight Simulator]]''
| genre                  = [[Flight simulation video game|Flight simulation]]
| developer              = [[Sublogic (company)|Sublogic]]<br />[[Bruce Artwick Organization]]<br />[[Aces Game Studio]]<br />[[Dovetail Games]]<br />[[Asobo Studio]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.asobostudio.com/news/microsoft-flight-simulator |title=Microsoft Flight Simulator &#124; Asobo Studio |access-date=October 1, 2019 |archive-date=September 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930121126/https://www.asobostudio.com/news/microsoft-flight-simulator |url-status=live }}</ref>
| publisher              = [[Microsoft]]<br />[[Xbox Game Studios]]<br />Dovetail Games
| creator                = [[Bruce Artwick]]
| platforms              = [[MS-DOS]], [[Classic Mac OS]], [[PC-98]], [[Windows]], [[Xbox Series X and Series S|Xbox Series X/S]], [[Xbox Cloud Gaming]] 
| first release version  = ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator (1982 video game)|Microsoft Flight Simulator]]''
| first release date     = {{Start date and age|1982|11}}
| latest release version = ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024]]''
| latest release date    = {{Start date and age|2024|11|19}}
}}

'''''Microsoft Flight Simulator''''' is a series of [[Flight simulation video game|flight simulator]] programs for [[MS-DOS]], [[Classic Mac OS]], and [[Microsoft Windows]] [[operating system]]s. It was an early product in the [[Microsoft]] application portfolio and differed significantly from [[List of Microsoft software|Microsoft's other software]], which was largely business-oriented. ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' is Microsoft's longest-running software product line, predating Windows by three years,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary Edition Announced |url=https://www.simulatorhardware.com/news/microsoft-flight-simulator-40th-anniversary-edition-announced/ |access-date=August 17, 2022 |website=Simulator Hardware |date=June 13, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> and is one of the longest-running video game series of all time.<ref name=playful1>{{cite news| last = Stokker| first = Serban| title = Flight Simulator X Lands On Gold| publisher = Playfuls.com| date = September 18, 2006| url = https://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21981| access-date = February 15, 2009| archive-date = October 12, 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101012023120/http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21981| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name=msnews5>{{cite magazine| last = Lai| first = Eric| title = Flight Simulator will Soar Despite Microsoft Layoffs| quote = "Bill Gates licensed Flight Simulator from its original developer, subLogic"| magazine = [[PC World (magazine)|PCWorld]]| date = January 25, 2009| url = http://www.pcworld.com/article/158274/flight_simulator_will_soar_despite_microsoft_layoffs.html| access-date = February 15, 2009| archive-date = February 2, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090202215404/http://www.pcworld.com/article/158274/flight_simulator_will_soar_despite_microsoft_layoffs.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

[[Bruce Artwick]] began the development of ''Flight Simulator'' in 1977. His company, [[Sublogic (company)|Sublogic]], initially distributed it for various personal computers.<ref name=msnews5/> In 1981, Artwick was approached by Microsoft's Alan M. Boyd who was interested in creating a "definitive game" that would graphically demonstrate the difference between older 8-bit computers, such as the Apple II, and the new 16-bit computers, such as the IBM PC, still in development. In 1982, Artwick's company licensed a version of ''Flight Simulator'' for the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] to Microsoft, which marketed it as ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator (1982 video game)|Microsoft Flight Simulator]]''.

In 2009, Microsoft [[#Closure of the Aces Game Studio|closed down]] [[Aces Game Studio]], which was the department responsible for creating and maintaining the ''Flight Simulator'' series. In 2014, [[Dovetail Games]] were granted the rights by Microsoft to port the Gold Edition of Microsoft's ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator X|Flight Simulator X]]'' to [[Steam (service)|Steam]] and publish ''Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition''.

Microsoft announced a new installment at E3 in 2019, simply titled ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 video game)|Microsoft Flight Simulator]]'', to be released initially on PC and ported over to the [[Xbox Series X and Series S|Xbox Series]] consoles at a later date. On July 12, 2020, Microsoft opened up preorders and announced that ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' for PC will be available on August 18, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Warren|first=Tom|date=July 13, 2020|title=Microsoft Flight Simulator will launch on August 18th on PC|url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/13/21322499/microsoft-flight-simulator-pc-launch-august-18th-pricing|access-date=July 14, 2020|website=Theverge.com|language=en}}</ref> The company announced three different versions of the title – standard, deluxe, and premium deluxe, each providing an incremental set of gameplay features, including airports, and airplanes to choose from.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lardinois |first=Frederic |date=July 13, 2020 |title=Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2020 will launch on August 18 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/13/microsofts-flight-simulator-2020-will-launch-on-august-18/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714043619/https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/13/microsofts-flight-simulator-2020-will-launch-on-august-18/ |archive-date=July 14, 2020 |access-date=July 14, 2020 |website=techcrunch.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The Xbox edition was released on July 27, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Anastasio |first=Cecilia |date=June 9, 2019 |title=New Microsoft Flight Simulator Looks Uncannily Like Real Life |url=https://kotaku.com/new-microsoft-flight-simulator-looks-uncannily-like-rea-1835359010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609210318/https://kotaku.com/new-microsoft-flight-simulator-looks-uncannily-like-rea-1835359010 |archive-date=June 9, 2019 |access-date=June 9, 2019 |website=[[Kotaku]]}}</ref>

The newest entry, ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024]]'', was released on November 19, 2024.