''Microsoft Flight'' is an amateur flight simulation from

Microsoft Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...

created as a spin-off of the ''

Microsoft Flight Simulator ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' is a series of amateur flight simulator programs for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and earlier for MS-DOS and Classic Mac OS. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed sig ...

'' series. The game is offered "

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

"; charging players for downloading extra content,

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

or scenery. In July 2012, Microsoft ceased development of the game permanently to re-align its "long-term goals and development plans." The core game, which includes the Icon A5 aircraft and the Big Island of Hawaii scenery area, remained available as a free download for some time after that, but is now no longer available. It could be expanded with additional

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...

(DLC) from the integrated Games For Windows Marketplace on Xbox-Live . Microsoft closed the Xbox.com PC Marketplace on August 22, 2013. Previous items purchased are still usable, and the Flight software may still be downloadable, but no items can be acquired through the marketplace.

Development

The game was officially released on February 29, 2012. Previously limited details were released about ''Flight'', but Microsoft suggested that its realism and accuracy will appeal to flying enthusiasts, while new types of gameplay would appeal to newcomers. The game is integrated with the ''

Games for Windows – Live Games for Windows – Live or GFWL (trademarked as Games for Windows – LIVE) was an online gaming service used by ''Games for Windows''–branded PC titles that enables Windows PCs to connect to Microsoft's Live service. Users, each with a uniq ...

'' platform, which allows players with ''Live'' accounts to join and host

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

sessions using a Gamertag. The introduction of ''Live'' meant that the GameSpy client would no longer be in use. It introduced a new model of DLC, integrated with the

Games For Windows Games for Windows is a discontinued brand owned by Microsoft and introduced in 2006 to coincide with the release of the Windows Vista operating system. The brand itself represents a standardized technical certification program and online service ...

Marketplace. All ''Flight'' add ons can be purchased and installed in-game from a central marketplace. There was no public SDK offered for ''Flight'', with all DLC being developed by Microsoft Studios. On December 1, 2011 a beta application was set up on the website. An announcement was posted on the official ''Flight'' Facebook page (on December 13, 2011) stating that an official YouTube channel was published containing the current webisodes. It was announced on January 4, 2012, that it would be free-to-play on release in Spring 2012. On February 6, 2012, it announced that ''Microsoft Flight'' would be free to download on February 29, 2012. Also it was announced the first expansion pack would be released on the same day.

Cancellation

On July 25, 2012, Microsoft announced it had cancelled further development of ''Microsoft Flight'', claiming that this was part of "the natural ebb and flow" of application management. Reviewers indicated that sales may have been slow due to competition from other products, such as

X-Plane The X-planes are a series of experimental United States aircraft and rockets, used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts. They have an X designator within the US system of aircraft designations, which denotes the exper ...

and that ''Microsoft Flight'' had fewer aircraft, terrain and third-party add-on options than its predecessor and was less authentic. Microsoft will continue to support the community and offer ''Flight'' as a free download. After announcing the end of development, Microsoft continued to fine-tune the core of the program with a post-release beta test involving Steam users, with title update 1.1.1.30063 released on September 25, 2012. The update contained no new content, just bug fixes. On August 22, 2013, Microsoft announced the closure of the Xbox PC Marketplace, removing ''Microsoft Flight'' and the ability to play it on Steam. On July 3, 2014, Microsoft announced that Flight was scheduled to be grounded on October 14, 2014, at which time the multiplayer servers were shut down. This affected online features, such as multiplayer and aerocaches; the single-player experience remained largely intact.

Upgrades

''Flight'' features new aircraft, scenery and terrain, a revamped weather engine, and new gameplay elements for users of all skill levels. The new weather engine renders more realistic clouds and weather effects, including fog that blends well with the surrounding terrain, which Microsoft's previous flight simulator releases, (''

Microsoft Flight Simulator X ''Microsoft Flight Simulator X'' (abbreviated as ''FSX'') is a 2006 flight simulation video game originally developed by Aces Game Studio and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to '' Microsoft Flight ...

''), were incapable of displaying. As seen in the screenshots, the most noticeable graphical improvements are the newer shader models. Part of the improvement is more realistic lighting and self shadowing on aircraft. The aircraft visual models are much improved over those of the previous flight simulator releases. ''Flight'' also features an improved missions system, (over FSX).

Downloadable content

The core game, which includes the Icon A5 aircraft and the Big Island of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

scenery area, is free to download from the game's website. It can then be expanded with additional

(DLC) from the integrated

Marketplace.

Reception

Shortly following release, ''Microsoft Flight'' was given a 64/100 critic score on review aggregator site

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

References

External links

Official website archives
on

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Archived executables at Internet Archive
{{The Coalition 2012 video games Air traffic control simulators Free-to-play video games Games for Windows certified games General flight simulators Microsoft Flight Simulator Microsoft games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer vehicle operation games Products and services discontinued in 2014 Video games developed in Canada Video games using Havok Windows games Windows-only games The Coalition games Inactive multiplayer online games de:Microsoft Flight Simulator#Microsoft Flight