Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 – Dates and Prices revealed

For those of you flight-simulator lovers who have been waiting for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, there’s good news – the release date of 18th of August has been set.

Of course – Microsoft isn’t making things easy for you. Not by a long shot…

Three Editions

There’s going to be THREE editions of Microfot flight simulator 2020

• The Microsoft Flight Simulator Standard Edition ($59.99 USD/£59.99) includes 20 planes with unique flight models and 30 hand-crafted airports. The Standard Edition will be available on day one with Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta).
• The Deluxe Edition ($89.99 USD/£79.99) includes everything from Microsoft Flight Simulator’s standard edition plus five planes with unique flight models and five additional handcrafted international airports.
• The Premium Deluxe Edition ($119.99 USD/£109.99) includes everything from Microsoft Flight Simulator Standard Edition plus 10 planes with unique flight models and 10 additional handcrafted international airports.

So what are the differences? It boils down to Aircraft and Airports.

Aircraft in Flight Simulator 2020

Let’s look at Aircraft. If you want to fly a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, you’re going to have to pay for the Premium package (along with a lot number of other aircraft)

As standard, you will get:

• Airbus A320neo
• Aviat Pitts Special S2S
• Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental
• CubCrafters XCub
• Daher TBM 930
• Diamond DA62
• Diamond DA40 NG
• EXTRA 330LT
• Flight Design CTLS
• ICON A5
• JMB VL-3
• Robin CAP 10
• Robin DR400-100 Cadet
• Beechcraft Bonanza G36
• Beechcraft King Air 350i
• Cessna 152
• Cessna 172 Skyhawk (G1000)
• Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan EX
• Cessna Citation CJ4
• Zlin Savage Cub

Deluxe Edition adds the following types

• Diamond DA40-TDI
• Diamond DV20
• Beechcraft Baron G58
• Cessna 152 Aerobat
• Cessna 172 Skyhawk

And the Premium Edition adds on top:

• Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
• Cirrus SR22
• Pipistrel Virus SW 121
• Cessna Citation Longitude
• Zlin Shock Ultra

And Airports too

Want to fly London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare? Prepare to pay for the premium edition…

In the Standard Edition of Flight Simulator 2020, there’s many popular airports and airstrips including:

• Aspen/Pitkin County Airport
• Bugalaga Airstrip (CAMA)
• Chagual Airport
• Courchevel Altiport
• Donegal Airport (Ireland)
• Entebbe International Airport (Uganda)
• Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira International Airport (Portugal)
• Gibraltar International Airport
• Innsbruck Airport
• Los Angeles International Airport
• Tenzing-Hillary Airport
• Nanwalek Airport
• New York – John F. Kennedy International Airport
• Orlando International Airport
• Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
• Paro International Airport
• Queenstown Airport
• Mariscal Sucre International Airport
• Rio de Janeiro-Antonio Carlos Jobim/Gaelao International Airport
• Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport
• Gustaf III Airport
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
• Sedona Airport
• Sirena Aerodrome
• Stewart Airport
• Sydney Airport
• Telluride Regional Airport
• Toyko Haneda Airport
• Toncontin International Airport
• Toronto City Airport – Billy Bishop

In the Deluxe Edition, you also get

• Amsterdam Airport Schipol
• Cairo International Airport
• Cape Town International Airport
• Chicago O’Hare International Airport
• Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas

And there’s the premium edition, which will get you

• Denver International Airport
• Dubai International Airport
• Frankfurt Airport
• London Heathrow Airport
• San Francisco International Airport

Eurogamer reached out to Microsoft – as there are 3700 airports in Flight Simulator 2020. It turns out these are “hand-crafted experiences“. What the actual differences are have yet to be revealed.

It depends if you want to pay for these experiences…

Don’t forget to ensure that your computer can power it too.

You’re going to need a reasonably competent PC – and your laptop with an integrated graphics unit may not be enough.

The minimum specification for Flight Simulator 2020 is

• Operating system: Windows 10 version 1909
• Processor: Intel i5-4460 or Ryzen 3 1200
• Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 770, Radeon RX 570
• Memory 8 GB RAM, 2 GB VRAM
• Storage 150 GB
• DirectX 11

If you’re looking for performance, be prepared to dig and upgrade you rig as needed – Modern Intel 9th/10th Generation processes or AMD 3000 Ryzen chips will help with the processing grunt, whist an Nvidia GTX 10xx series or RTX 20xx series family GPU will help. Radeon RX580 or 1600 series graphics may be a good idea too.

Those of you with laptops and pre-assembled computers – be extra careful. A lot of laptops (and some desktops) have integrated graphics (Intel IRIS graphics or AMD Radeon APU’s). As such, budget an upgrade if you can (and if possible).

As these are outside the specifications, you may find that the game won’t run.

Will I do a build guide?

Maybe. I’m no Linus Tech Tips – but I do know my way around a computer and how to build one. Or I can point you in the direction of pre-builds too. I’ll be doing

Suffice to say, those who want to take to the air with the new edition of Flight Simulator don’t have to wait too long.

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