Microsoft's "biggest" game has the worst pre-install offering I've seen — gamers won't escape these gigantic day-one downloads

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Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is available for preloading on PC and Xbox before release, but the install size doesn't make sense.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Yosemite
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024's preview of Yosemite. (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, an upcoming game for Xbox and PC that simulates trips around the entire globe, will be released on November 19.
  • Available as a standalone release and as a part of Game Pass subscriptions, the game offers users a chance to pre-install its files before launch.
  • Currently, a pre-installation amounts to no more than 330.09MB on Xbox and 12.9MB on PC, far below the 'approximate' 50GB listed on its store page.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is the company's latest aeronautical sim game, due for release tomorrow, November 19. It expands on the 2020 release with a new career mode, various challenges, and world photography tasks. Otherwise, it's a continuation of the all-encompassing globe simulator, which occupied at least 150GB of storage on Xbox and PC for the base game thanks to the ultra-realistic aircraft and environments.

That's a big chunk of your hard drive seized for one game, as understanding as mega-fans might be since every aspect of the game has been upgraded. Thankfully, for the retail and Game Pass launch of this new edition, Microsoft already offers gamers the chance to "pre-install now (and) play on day one" and alleviate the hours of waiting for downloads on release when its servers are commonly hampered by slow speeds caused by overloading.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 pre-install size on Xbox Series X
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 pre-installs no more than 330.09MB on my Xbox Series X.(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

At least, time-saving incentives were supposed to be the appeal of this pre-loading incentive. However, the pre-install filesize amounts to a measly 330.09MB on my Xbox Series X. Compare that to the 50GB of 'approximate size' reported in the game's details, and I'm barely 0.64% of the way to installing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. On the PC side, the Xbox app reports an even more laughable 12.9MB with a pre-installation: that's 0.02% of the game.

Are these tiny modern pre-installs just bugs?

The Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 game listing shows a 330MB pre-install size on Xbox. (Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

Installing Microsoft Flight Simulator's 2020 release has rarely been a streamlined process for me for the four years since it launched. It often limited download speeds and ignored the potential downstream of my service provider, with the same gripes following me from Xbox to PC via Game Pass Ultimate. I once spent an entire workday downloading the game to find that it had only reached around 75% completion by the time I clocked out.

So, imagine my joy when I saw that Microsoft offered users the chance to endure the lengthy installation process before the day of play, especially when Flight Simulator 2024's bandwidth demand peaks at 81GB per hour. Downloading as much of the game before launch day might alleviate the data stress on those with bandwidth caps, but it was soon dashed when I saw how little of its files I was actually loading up.

Unless Microsoft has found some fantastical way to compress its digitized version of planet Earth into little more than a few hundred megabytes, something is definitely wrong.

It's a disappointing trend that carries across to STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, by far my most anticipated game of 2024, but similarly stricken with an unusable pre-install size of 10.12MB on PC Game Pass (confirmed by devs). At least if I had Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024's farcical 330.09MB, I could download and play a pixelized spiritual offshoot, ZERO Sievert, and pretend that I had early access to something beyond empty archives.

Unless Microsoft has found some fantastical way to compress its digitized version of planet Earth into little more than a few hundred megabytes, something is definitely wrong. Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to playing the game with some of my favorite flight sticks that I already tested with Microsoft Flight Simulator's 2020 release. Stay tuned for my impressions of the 2024 upgrade as soon as I can download it.

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Ben Wilson
Ben Wilson
Senior Editor

Ben is a Senior Editor at Windows Central, covering everything related to technology hardware and software. He regularly goes hands-on with the latest Windows laptops, components inside custom gaming desktops, and any accessory compatible with PC and Xbox. His lifelong obsession with dismantling gadgets to see how they work led him to pursue a career in tech-centric journalism after a decade of experience in electronics retail and tech support.

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • GraniteStateColin
    Any theories as to why this happened? Usually assets are stable and that's why they can pre-download them, just holding the final code bits until launch day to include. So that would imply that either A) they can't properly separate the assets from the code like that, B) the anticipated day-one updates involve changes to the core assets, which seems weird, or C) (variant on A) it would take extra effort to properly prepare the advance download of assets and they're not willing to put in the effort/cost on their end do to that.

    Curious.
    Reply
  • Ben Wilson
    It could be anything, but it does seem like a huge missed opportunity. I've suffered so many headaches while trying to test MSFS 2020 on various gaming laptops/CPU components we get in review, but it became so tedious that I stopped trying to download from its ultra-slow servers.

    I fully expected the pre-install to happen within a dedicated launcher, but there's just.. nothing there. On PC, it's just a 12MB jpg with a "Limitless" codename on its window.

    It could sour people's interest, especially for those on Game Pass who just want to check it out for an hour or so. Even if Microsoft has the game down 50GB and is streaming all the assets.. 300MB is such an insignificant chunk of that.
    Reply
  • bijio
    so I was stunned when I saw this happen tonight. I, like you, was obviously hoping to get even this way more manageable 50gig download well out of the way before launch. or takeoff, if you like.

    but I know what it is. I do know what it is, though I can't really believe it actually IS.

    what I have to assume this is is the GamePass Pre-install to the Microsoft Flight Simulator INSTALLER app. the 2020 release had this same groovy feature, where you don't download from Steam or even GamePass but an actual, factual Microsoft Flight Simulator dedicated installer app. so I guess that's what "Limitless" is.

    it's the sort of gag that'd be great in a parody about modern gaming, only it's real life and life isn't a parody. it's ----ing obnoxious as hell. and the grooviest part, for those not aware, on Steam just using that install app WAS considered playing the game -- I was over eight hours past the Steam Refund Window before I even got into the actual menu. clever!

    or no. horrible. yeah. horrible, not clever. or cleverly horrible. it's a bad, bad joke. sorry to be so cynical. Gaming in 2024 does seem to bring it out of me.

    if you bought MFS 2020 on a computer that couldn't handle it, sorry - shoulda known better. "Recommend System Specs" REALLY means "Barebones 12fps Medium Settings. 1080p. enjoy your flight, asshole. btw, you're 12 hours past refund. sorry!"

    well, here we are. this is our gaming culture in 2024. not all of it, but MUCH of it. be well, everyone. we'll get there. -b
    Reply