Microsoft Flight Simulator Gets Steam Release Date, Post-Launch VR Support

The impending release of the Xbox Series X has largely overshadowed another upcoming Microsoft release: Microsoft Flight Simulator. The much-loved series is finally making a comeback this year, nearly 15 years after the last major entry in the series, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, which launched way back in 2006. Microsoft Flight Simulator X also came to Steam in 2014, but beyond that port, things have been very quiet on the Flight Simulator front.

That's all about to change. Microsoft Flight Simulator is going to launch on Windows 10 and Xbox Game Pass for PC on August 18th, and today, Microsoft confirmed that the game will be launching on Steam on that date as well. Seeing Microsoft bring the game to Steam isn't much of a surprise considering that many of its other recent PC games (like Gears Tactics and Halo: The Master Chief Collection) have come to Steam as well, but it's nevertheless nice to have that confirmation.

In addition to announcing the Steam release date for Microsoft Flight Simulator today, Microsoft also confirmed that TrackIR support will be live in the game on day one. TrackIR allows players to control the camera through head tracking, and there are probably at least a few simulation builds out there that include it.

We'll also see VR support for Microsoft Flight Simulator go live later this year. Microsoft says that the update adding VR support will go live around the same time that HP's Reverb G2 VR headset launches, which is slated to happen sometime later this fall. As always, Microsoft Flight Simulator will also support a number of different peripherals, including the Honeycomb Bravo Throttle Quadrant and Thrustmaster TCA Sidekick (along with the Quadrant Airbus edition).

So, it looks like Microsoft Flight Simulator will be pretty well supported after launch. Microsoft promises that the game's world will "always be improving," so hopefully there's plenty of content to come after release – especially if it's going to take Microsoft another decade and a half to launch a new game in the series.