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Microsoft Flight Simulator History video takes a trip through the evolution of the series

From the first game in 1982 to the newest Microsoft Flight Simulator in 2020, a new historical retrospective shows off the evolution of the series up to its latest game.

TJ Denzer

August 14, 2020 10:44 AM

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Microsoft Flight Simulator first launched with 1.0 back in 1982. It was a black and white mesh of wireframes and rudimentary design that kicked off nearly 3 decades of innovation in the flight simulation franchise. Fast forward to 2020 and the new and glorious-looking Microsoft Flight Simulator is just over the horizon, packing an entire world of skyways into one game. A new video launched that gives us a better and impressive look at the evolution of the series over the decades with snippets of each game and its improvements bit by bit to where we are now.

Microsoft Game Studios and Asobo Studio launched the Microsoft Flight Simulator: A History video on the game’s YouTube channel on August 14, 2020. The video takes a brief look at pretty much ever Microsoft Flight Simulator game ever made since the franchise debuted with Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 on MS-DOS back in 1982. Each new game shows an incremental jump from one to the next, including improvements to UI, cockpit view, environments, third-person view, and more, to build up to visual spectacle on display in the 2020 game.

It’s impressive to say the least just how vastly things have changed from the first game to the latest in the Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise. Technology has certain made leaps and bounds since 1982, but to see everything that has come and gone in this series brought together in one video is just a glimpse of the breathtaking journey this series has gone through as studios have worked to deliver a full-fledged worldwide flying experience.

With the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator set to launch on August 18 on PC and via Xbox Game Pass, the above video should give some framing of just how much improvement has been made, even between the previous game and the latest. Want to know more? Be sure to check out our hands-on preview of Microsoft Flight Simulator ahead of its launch next week.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.