Why we still haven’t begun our Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 review

Two days aft it archetypal launched and it’s inactive intolerable to play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, arsenic it suffers server and different method problems.

It’s casual to beryllium cynical erstwhile publishers withhold reappraisal copies until a game’s time of release. The contiguous presumption is that they cognize they’ve got a dud connected their hands and are trying to fell it until the past imaginable moment.

Often that’s precisely wherefore it happens but sometimes determination are mitigating circumstances, particularly if it’s an online-only crippled oregon a developer has been rushing to get it acceptable to deed an inflexible merchandise date.

In the lawsuit of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 its non-availability earlier motorboat was explained, by Microsoft, arsenic being owed to the online services not being acceptable and a planned time 1 spot update for Xbox and PC. As excuses go, that 1 didn’t dependable excessively worrying. The occupation is those online services are inactive not moving and arsenic we constitute this the crippled has already been retired for 2 days.

The world of Flight Simulator 2004’s concern has turned retired to beryllium thing wearyingly familiar, particularly arsenic it comes lone a fewer days aft the 4th day of Cyberpunk 2077’s nightmare launch.

On trying to commencement Flight Simulator 2004, which contempt being single-player requires an always-on Internet transportation to play it, we were greeted with a static Login Queue surface explaining, ‘Too galore users are trying to link astatine the aforesaid time’. Apparently having a ample fig of players trying to play a triple-A rubric connected motorboat time was a concern cipher had considered successful advance.

The queue aboriginal changed to a server error, and the pursuing time gave mode to downloading respective gigabytes of assets, which seemed affirmative until the download froze astatine 97%. Restarting the crippled the aforesaid happening happened.

Later successful the time we were capable to implicit that process, lone to person the crippled frost successful the set-up menus. Rebooting our Xbox Series X, we got to the aforesaid surface successful set-up earlier it froze again. And again. And again.

A fig of PC players person managed to load the game, and they’re already complaining of a litany of glitches, breached textures, and show issues. The information that it’s been review-bombed down to 1/10 connected Steam is possibly understandable fixed the standard of disappointment.

Reader Saints Stickman summed it up nicely successful Wednesday’s Inbox: ‘So, Microsoft privation america each to judge that unreality gaming is the future. Yet they merchandise Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 contiguous and each you get is simply a connection saying, ‘too galore users are trying to link astatine the aforesaid time’.

‘That’s the bundle installed locally connected an Xbox Series X conscionable trying to link to the servers. If the infrastructure cannot grip that, past however are they ever going to grip streaming the crippled down too! The lone unreality they are successful is Cloud Cuckoo Land!’

It besides raises the long-standing interest of whether you really ain a crippled erstwhile you bargain it digitally, particularly when, done nary responsibility of your own, you past can’t play it. The emergence of integer purchases shows nary motion of stopping and yet Flight Simulator 2024 makes a precise wide statement against it.

Reader Cassius2K alludes to precisely that successful the aforesaid Inbox: ‘In a satellite wherever radical bargain integer and ne'er really ain it, the apical mentation is £199.99. That’s a batch of money.’

It surely is, and it’s a reminder that rules astir integer ownership whitethorn request to beryllium tightened up to forestall companies we bargain from being capable to retreat rights to a game, movie oregon portion of euphony whenever they consciousness similar it oregon hap to beryllium experiencing method difficulties.

It would beryllium antithetic if determination were a built-in compensation process – if your bid doesn’t tally connected clip you get a partial refund – but contempt prices for games that agelong good implicit £100, gamers person nary recourse but venting their choler connected Steam. If you can’t play the crippled you bought, pugnacious luck. Nothing astir that seems fair.

We look guardant to reviewing Flight Simulator 2024 and volition bash truthful arsenic soon arsenic it’s successful a playable state. Unfortunately, we person nary thought erstwhile that volition be.

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