Microsoft Flight Simulator has been a staple in the PC market for decades. Starting life in 1982, not only is it one of the longest running franchises in the genre at 39 years old, but it's also one of the most influential simulation video games ever. Its in-depth and realistic controls, alongside the mesmerizing visuals, has helped to keep it in good stead with the gaming community. Speaking of the visuals, it's now been confirmed that upscaling technology will be coming to the series.
In a recent Q&A session posted to YouTube, a few members of the team at Asobo have said that Microsoft Flight Simulator will be getting an update which will implement AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution, as well as Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling. Specifically, it refers to FSR 1.0 and DLSS 2.0, with them both hopefully on the way for Update 10 in July. There's also talk of there being an upgrade to FSR 2.0 at some point, but it seems that no release date has been set.
AMD is scheduled to release FSR 2.0 sometime this quarter, which will, as the name implies, be an improved version of its current AI tech. For those who aren't aware, in a nutshell, upscaling enables artificial intelligence to redraw the visuals onscreen to make them sharper without compromising hardware. As an example, it can upscale a game that's running in 1080p to 1440p, and the quality is comparable to if the game were running at that higher resolution natively. The general idea is to improve graphical fidelity without asking more from the user's system.
There was no word about whether Microsoft Flight Simulator will be getting Intel's own XeSS upscaling. Team blue is currently muscling its way into the GPU market, which includes creating its own rival to FSR and DLSS. Whether XeSS, or Xe Super Sampling, will come to the simulator title remains to be seen. It's likely that Asobo will consider it as a third upscaling option, but that's speculation at this stage.
Currently, Microsoft Flight Simulator is available on Xbox Game Pass, alongside the likes of Gears 5, 7 Days to Die, and Mortal Kombat 11. With it being one of the biggest simulation franchises out there, the latest iteration coming to Game Pass means more people will be able to see what all the fuss has been about all these decades. The fact that it's getting upscaling technology means that the game will look even better than it already does, which is a good thing given how graphically demanding the game typically is.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is available now for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: PC Gamer