Home / Games / Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition
Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition
From gliders and helicopters to wide-body jets, fly highly detailed and accurate aircraft in the Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary Edition. The world is at your fingertips.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
55 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Ever since I got my Covid-19 vaccine I have been possessed by a strange urge to play this game constantly. Every time I try to uninstall it I find myself losing control of my limbs. No matter, though. I love Microsoft…”
“i had to sell my left kidney for the internet bill top download this big game b ut it was worth it being able to fly an f 18 around in circles before crashing cause i cant fly :D”
“i believe that this game is great graphics are great but i dont know if its cause im still new to the game but theres barely any planes and the ones you can buy are kinda expensive in my opinion and i feel you need the…”
19 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“i believe that this game is great graphics are great but i dont know if its cause im still new to the game but theres barely any planes and the ones you can buy are kinda expensive in my opinion and i feel you need the…”
“Performs well for a "simulator" but its more pretty looking than useful, annoying to use, comes with all the Microsoft bloat and slop. Consider Xplane 11/12 for an actual simulator, or DCS if you like military.”
“I love the graphics the planes and the textures! And the game is really fun highly recommend it!”
10 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“i had to sell my left kidney for the internet bill top download this big game b ut it was worth it being able to fly an f 18 around in circles before crashing cause i cant fly :D”
“It's cheaper than the newer one and still a great experience. It's a great title for brushing against the complexity of aviation, or for having an interesting alternative to traditional satellite imagery map apps. Newer…”
“This game is fun. as you can tell from how many hours i got on it. it may not be your cup of tea. but its well worth a look with Xbox game pass, before buying it.”
8 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Microsoft did magic with this game. The whole planet waits here in 1:1.... Masterpiece. 10/10”
“-The game is great and realistic -fix the downloader it slow and laggy and wastes gameplaytime -has many aircraft -easy to add aircraft and liveries”
“Amazing detail and sense of realism, explore anywhere in the world.”
5 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“It is a wonderful simulator. I personally like it better then the newer version of the game because this is more beginner friendly.”
“its really fun for all skill levels and has wide controller support”
“Challenging, yet accessible and very realistic.”
24 of the 104 reviews raise this · 16 of them still recommend the game.
“This sucks. I decided to buy this game to fly a plane in VR! sounds fun. no not at all, i buy the game, install it thinking wow its only 2 gigabites, then i load it up and have to sign into microsoft, then xbox, not…”
“i couldnt even play the game ive been stuck on downloading page for 3 hours and sometimes it resets my progress”
“Bruh I didn't believe it when i saw bad reviews on the performance. I have a very strong PC and ethernet and don't usually fail running any game at max settings no matter how demanding it may be. However, after…”
19 of the 104 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“This sucks. I decided to buy this game to fly a plane in VR! sounds fun. no not at all, i buy the game, install it thinking wow its only 2 gigabites, then i load it up and have to sign into microsoft, then xbox, not…”
“i couldnt even play the game ive been stuck on downloading page for 3 hours and sometimes it resets my progress”
“Bruh I didn't believe it when i saw bad reviews on the performance. I have a very strong PC and ethernet and don't usually fail running any game at max settings no matter how demanding it may be. However, after…”
11 of the 104 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“This sucks. I decided to buy this game to fly a plane in VR! sounds fun. no not at all, i buy the game, install it thinking wow its only 2 gigabites, then i load it up and have to sign into microsoft, then xbox, not…”
“Only just purchased this game and it's made me download the whole thing within it's own launcher, atp why even bother sticking it on steam. Also just realised steam is counting the the time spent to install this thing…”
“Game crashes on start, also gives me lot of problems sign in Microsoft Account. Game didn't work without any log errors”
8 of the 104 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“i believe that this game is great graphics are great but i dont know if its cause im still new to the game but theres barely any planes and the ones you can buy are kinda expensive in my opinion and i feel you need the…”
“Well, it's fun and technical and interesting and all that. Just... I don't know what's wrong with capitalism, but I know this game has it. It's already something complicated to imagine buying a "game" (after all, we're…”
“I started playing this game due to AirforceProud95 and tbh he is what go me into the flight sim world and I don't regret one second of it. This game is not only beautiful graphics wise but also plays well like a true to…”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“wasted 20$ and a whole day trying to download just for it to start over from 0% , Steam Client's manager is PERFECT but I hate how they let microsoft force us to download 130GB from microass's ♥♥♥♥♥♥ servers and poorly…”
“Only just purchased this game and it's made me download the whole thing within it's own launcher, atp why even bother sticking it on steam. Also just realised steam is counting the the time spent to install this thing…”
“Well, it's fun and technical and interesting and all that. Just... I don't know what's wrong with capitalism, but I know this game has it. It's already something complicated to imagine buying a "game" (after all, we're…”
Counted across 104 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 78.9% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“~ DIFFICULTY ~ 🔲 My 90 year old grandma could play it 🔲 Easy 🔲 Normal ✅ Hard 🔲 Dark Souls ~ GRAPHICS ~ 🔲 MS Paint 🔲 Bad 🔲 Meh 🔲 Graphics dont matter in this game 🔲 Good ✅ Beautiful ~ MUSIC ~ 🔲 Bad ✅ Not special 🔲 Good 🔲 Eargasm ~ STORY ~ ✅ This game has no story 🔲 Like playing…”
— a player, Steam review · 501 hrs played“Love this game! The mods from FlightSim make it soooooo much better as well. Just buy the standard version and you can get more planes for free instead of paying the rediculous prices from the marketplace.”
— a player, Steam review · 450 hrs played“It's 2026 and cannot login to play. Error 400, will not send a code to my email to let me login, will not let me login with password. My account is signed in on the xbox app on my machine. I can login to my email, but MICROSHITE refuses to let me play the game i paid for...”
— a player, Steam review · 18 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 13:27 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
World Update 21: Australia
Available today, World Update 21: Australia sets a new standard in realism for pilots in the Microsoft Flight Simulator world!Australia is home to some of the world’s most spectacular sights and desti
Spring Sale: 4300+ Items On Sale Now in the Marketplace
Enjoy discounted pricing during our Microsoft Flight Simulator Spring Sale! For 13 Days starting on April 2nd, save up to 85% on more than 4300 items. To purchase these discounted items, visit the Mic
City Update 13: California Now Available
Important note for MSFS (2020) usersYou will need to manually update World Update II and World Update X from your in-sim Content Manager for City Update 13 to work correctly. Called the “Golden State”
Holiday Sale: 3800+ Items On Sale Now in the Marketplace
Enjoy discounted pricing during our Microsoft Flight Simulator Holiday Sale! For 20 Days starting on December 18th, save up to 85% on more than 3800 items. To purchase these discounted items, visit th
Black Friday Sale: 3800+ Items On Sale Now in the Marketplace
Enjoy discounted pricing during our Microsoft Flight Simulator Black Friday Sale! For 13 Days starting on November 20th, save up to 85% on more than 3800 items. To purchase these discounted items, vis
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Simulation |
| Player tags | Simulation · Flight · Realistic · Multiplayer · Open World · VR · Singleplayer · Real-Time · Atmospheric · Physics · Adventure · Colorful (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · VR Supported · In-App Purchases · HDR available · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * , French * , Italian, German * , Spanish - Spain, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil * , Russian, Dutch, Finnish, Japanese, Norwegian, Swedish * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 43 |
| Estimated owners | 2,000,000 – 5,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | https://www.flightsimulator.com |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel i5-4460 | AMD Ryzen 3 1200 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 770 | AMD Radeon RX 570 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 150 GB available space VR Support: SteamVR, Oculus PC, or OpenXR. Keyboard and mouse required