Flight Simulator coming to Steam on August 18 with TrackIR, VR support

Microsoft has just revealed that Flight Simulator will be coming to Steam after all, releasing on August 18. Flight Simulator will be dropping on Windows 10 and Xbox Game Pass on the same day, with Steam pre-orders for the Standard, Deluxe, and Premium Deluxe now up for grabs.

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Not only that, but the developer has surprised PC gamers with support for TrackIR and VR support. The company is happy to announce it will have day one support for TrackIR while VR support will begin later this year when HP launches its Reverb G2 headset.

Microsoft details both TrackIR and the HP Reverb G2 on their website, adding:

TrackIR

"TrackIR is the premier head tracking solution delivering full six degree of freedom (6DOF) camera control for an ultra-immersive simulator experience. TrackIR allows simmers to enjoy a low latency mouse free look around with Microsoft Flight Simulator in full 4K/HDR, while still allowing easy interaction with a suite of hardware peripherals".

HP Reverb G2

"Created by HP in collaboration with Microsoft and Valve, the upcoming Reverb G2 headset has a bright, high resolution display, excellent tracking, and immersive audio to take maximum advantage of Microsoft Flight Simulator's incredible visuals and fully 3D soundscape. The HP Reverb G2 will be available later this fall and the VR update will be a free update for all Microsoft Flight Simulator players".

"In addition to Track IR and VR, we also continue to work with partners like Honeycomb Aeronautical, Logitech G, Thrustmaster, Virtual Fly and many other manufacturers to further improve your Microsoft Flight Simulator experience. We are excited to support Honeycomb's upcoming Bravo Throttle Quadrant and Thrustmaster's new TCA Sidestick and Quadrant Airbus edition peripherals. We are also committed to supporting existing peripherals and home cockpits via an updated SimConnect".

"Xbox Game Studios and Asobo Studio are committed to the community, and the ongoing support of Microsoft Flight Simulator with experience enhancing features like those we've announced today. But we have even more planned post-launch! In the future, we will update our development roadmap with continued simulator updates such as themed DLC bundles, free world updates and more. We will be sharing more news in the coming months".

There will be 3 different versions of Flight Simulator released, these will include:

• Microsoft Flight Simulator Standard Edition: $60 (20 planes, 30 airports)
• Microsoft Flight Simulator Deluxe Edition: $90 (25 planes, 35 airports)
• Microsoft Flight Simulator Premium Edition: $120 (30 planes, 40 airports)

Here's what to expect from Microsoft Flight Simulator:

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• Vivid and Detailed Landscapes - Immerse yourself in the vast and beautiful world that is our planet with more than 1.5 billion buildings, 2 trillion trees, mountains, roads, rivers and more.
• A Living World - Earth is vibrant and ever-changing and so is the world of Microsoft Flight Simulator which includes live traffic, real-time weather and animals.
• Highly Detailed Aircraft - Hone your pilot skills in a variety of aircraft from light planes to commercial jets with comprehensive flight models. Every aircraft includes highly detailed and accurate cockpits with realistic instrumentation.
• New Checklist System - From pro to beginner, scale your level from full manual to full assist with interactive and highlighted instrument guidance and checklist.
• Dynamic Weather - The new weather engine enables users to switch on the live weather mode to experience real-time weather including accurate wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, rain and more.
• New Day & Night Engine - Experience flight at any time of day or year allowing for night VFR, visual flight rules, navigation.
• Aerodynamic Modeling - A state-of-the-art physics engine with over 1,000 control surfaces per plane allows for a truly realistic experience.

More reading on Microsoft Flight Simulator

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• What you need to run it: You will need at least 150GB of storage space to install Flight Simulator, with a 5Mbps internet connection as a bare minimum to take off. The "ideal spec" advised by Microsoft requires a 50Mbps internet connection and a much higher-end CPU and GPU to run it. Check the PC requirements for Flight Simulator here.
• Adaptive Streaming: This is some of the cloud-based magic Microsoft is using on Flight Simulator, which the company is doing special with the game. You can read more about that here.
• Flight Simulator uses Bing Maps: Microsoft is tapping its in-house Bing Maps to provide Flight Simulator with real-world locations that don't just look out-of-this-world, but they are our world. More on that here.
• Real-time weather, including lightning cracking inside of clouds: Yeah, I'm not kidding around -- Microsoft is injecting a gigantic 600km draw distance into Flight Simulator, so under the right weather conditions -- and granted you have the PC hardware to handle it, you're going to see storms hundreds of miles away. Not just that, but there will be lightning cracking inside of the clouds... yeah, I know.

More, more reading on Flight Simulator

• Flight Simulator requires 150GB, physical version comes with 10 discs
• Microsoft announces Flight Simulator will take flight on August 18
• Microsoft Flight Simulator's first closed beta takes flight on July 30
• Thrustmaster teams with Airbus on new hardware for Flight Simulator
• Here's the new batch of screenshots of Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Microsoft Flight Simulator latest screenshots: upgrade your PC, now!
• Microsoft Flight Simulator looks breathtaking in these new screenshots
• Microsoft Flight Simulator specs: 150GB HDD, 'ideal spec' = RTX 2080
• Microsoft Flight Simulator is phenomenal & these screenshots prove it
• Microsoft's Flight Simulator is shockingly gorgeous in these HD images
• New Microsoft Flight Simulator video confirms multiple dynamic seasons
• Microsoft's Flight Simulator uses Bing Maps for satellite data
• New Flight Simulator footage: best-looking game EVER?!/
• Microsoft Flight Simulator technical alpha takes flight soon
• Only in Japan: Tokyo hotel builds FLIGHT SIMULATOR into room

Feature Discovery Series on Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft has an awesome 'Feature Discovery Series' that goes into detail about Flight Simulator, from aerodynamics and the soundscape of the game, right through to the cockpits and the multiplayer. Check them out below: