The Microsoft Flight Simulator games have always been a somewhat niche series. It's famous for teaching players how to fly real planes, but that realism has always meant facing a steep learning curve.
Despite this, the series' latest entry has been doing well for itself, with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 having over 2 million users. But with millions of planes in the sky, will two of them ever cross paths? Does the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator have multiplayer?
The answer is yes. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 has online multiplayer. True to its realistic sim routes, the game doesn't have direct competitive or cooperative rulesets. Players just share the same sky while going on their respective routes. That doesn't mean that Flight Simulator fans can't test new planes against each other, or that they can't try to improvise their own air shows. They just have to provide the start point, endpoint, and scoring systems themselves.
Types of Multiplayer
There are three different settings for Microsoft Flight Simulator's multiplayer, each one dealing with the number of other players one can encounter. They are "Group Only," "All Players," and "Live Players."
Group Only is the easiest to understand. The only players that will spawn are ones directly invited to the session from a friends list. All Players is equally straightforward, with every active player appearing on-screen.
Live Players is similar to All players in that they both allow players to interact with strangers, but the Live Players mode forces all players to share the same air traffic settings. This means everyone will be working with the same time zones and dealing with Microsoft Flight Simulator's weather effects together.
The Benefits of Multiplayer
Microsoft Flight Simulator can be played solo, and there are no tangible benefits to going online, but multiplayer still improves the experience. A major draw for the series is realism, and looking out for other pilots in the sky is part of the real flying process as well. The game's world map is large, and having someone to talk to can help fill the gaps of time between takeoffs and landings. Multiplayer also allows experienced Microsoft Flight Simulator pilots to live coach new players and bring them up to speed.
As the game continues to grow, players should expect more online integration, especially since Microsoft has expressed interest in bringing Microsoft Flight Simulator to cloud gaming. Players who have been sticking with the single-player experience should dip their toes into multiplayer and see how it feels.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is available now for PC and for the Xbox Series X/S.