In a new interview with AVSim, Microsoft says users may get to experience those visual up close. Indeed, the company says Microsoft Flight Simulator is likely to be available in virtual reality. “Right after the E3 trailer came out there was a lot of people making that exact assumption, that ‘Oh yeah, this better be supporting VR right from the get go.’ It honestly wasn’t our plan. But we are listening, and we heard it, so we will try our darnedest to make it happen. Whether or not we’re going to pull it off for launch, we can’t commit to that at this point in time, but we are aware of the desire […] We will try to prioritize that over other things.” Microsoft has been firm that VR support for Flight Simulator is a “maybe”. What we do know about the game is Microsoft used Azure and Bing Maps to capture high-resolution aerial imagery. 3D scenery was built from the images by using Microsoft’s machine learning technologies.
According to people who have played early versions of the game, the visuals are truly amazing. Indeed, it seems Microsoft Flight Simulator will be far above any other simulator ever created. That certainly seems to be the case from the photo-realistic promotional shots of the game.
Insider Program
Following the announcement of Flight Simulator, Microsoft opened an Insider Program for the game. Those who sign up will act as a team of volunteers to iron out bugs and offer suggestions. In return for their service, players will get early access to builds. “Each build will have a specific set of content/functionality meant to provide a slice of the overall experience. These builds will be time-gated and limited to a specific number of Insiders. Participants in these builds will vary with each release so if you are not selected for one, that does not mean you will be excluded from others,” said Microsoft.