Tons of players are jumping into the incredibly detailed world of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 since it launched on PC earlier this week. The reviews for Microsoft Flight Simulator are incredibly high, despite some fans experiences some technical and graphical issues.
Still, despite those technical hiccups players are seem to really enjoy the experience that Microsoft Flight Simulator brings. Now, a recent report from video game hardware analyst Jon Peddle Research is predicting that the game is set to bring in quite a bit of money in the next few years.
Games industry hardware analyst Jon Peddle Research, or JPR, is predicting that Flight Simulator itself is going to bring in over 2.6 billion dollars’ worth of hardware sales over the next three years. Tod Pollak of JPR clarifiries further saying, “When new flight simulators are released, the hardware to run them at max settings and performance does not even exist yet. This creates a situation of constant hardware demand over the life of the title as fans chase the best experience.” Fans are aware of this, with many players noting the game’s weird, low-poly version of Buckingham Palace and other graphical limitations.
Microsoft Flight Simulator quickly became one of the year’s top-rated games thanks to incredibly high scores from critics and later fans as well. Many of the positive reviews cited the incredibly immersive flight simulation gameplay, as well as the breathtaking graphical fidelity that Flight Simulator produces with the right hardware. It’s true that Flight Simulator can look absolutely stunning with the right hardware specs and settings, but most players out there don’t have the hardware necessary to achieve the most high-end graphical settings.
While Flight Simulator has graphical glitches, weird effects, and low-poly rendering, many players are experiencing these types of issues due to the limitations of the hardware they’re playing on. However, the most dedicated Flight Simulator fans already have expensive hardware that can handle very high settings. Pollak notes this saying, “A significant number of flight sim fans only play flight sim. We took this into account when calculating whether the money will be spent specifically or partially because of this game,” when talking about the massive 2.6 billion dollar hardware sale estimate.
Of course, players and hardcore fans of the flight simulator genre will have to wait for hardware to evolve further to get the most out of the game. PC hardware and graphics cards are constantly evolving, so most players will upgrade as those parts become available. Still, 2.6 billion dollars in PC hardware sales is a staggering amount of money, so players will have to wait and see if that prediction holds true.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is available now for PC, with an Xbox One version in development.
Source: Jon Peddler Research