When did Microsoft Flight Simulator first come out?

In November 1982, for the IBM PC. It was based on subLOGIC's Flight Simulator, which Bruce Artwick had released for the Apple II in January 1980.

Is Microsoft Flight Simulator older than Windows?

Yes, by three years. Microsoft Flight Simulator came out in November 1982 and Windows 1.0 in November 1985. It's Microsoft's longest-running product line.

Who created Microsoft Flight Simulator?

Bruce Artwick. He wrote the original program, founded subLOGIC in 1977 with Stu Moment to sell it, and his later studio, the Bruce Artwick Organization, built the Microsoft versions until Microsoft bought it in 1995. Today Asobo Studio in France makes the series for Xbox Game Studios.

How many versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator are there?

13 main versions: 1.0 (1982), 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, Flight Simulator for Windows 95, 98, 2000, 2002, 2004, X (2006), Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. On top of those are updates like 5.1 and the 40th Anniversary Edition, a Mac version, the FSX Acceleration expansion and FSX: Steam Edition. Microsoft Flight (2012) was a separate spin-off.

What is the newest Microsoft Flight Simulator?

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. It came out on November 19, 2024, for Windows and Xbox Series X|S, and on December 8, 2025, for PS5.

What is the Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary Edition?

A free update to Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), released on November 11, 2022. It added helicopters, gliders, seven historic aircraft, an Airbus A310, four classic airports including Meigs Field, and 24 activities from earlier versions. Stores now sell the 2020 game as the 40th Anniversary Edition.

Is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 still sold?

Yes, as Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition, in Standard, Deluxe and Premium Deluxe versions on the Xbox store and Steam. For new buyers, MSFS 2024 is usually the better pick, unless your PC is below its minimum.

Can you still buy Flight Simulator X?

Yes. FSX: Steam Edition, Dovetail Games' 2014 re-release with the Deluxe and Acceleration content, is still on Steam. It's the oldest Microsoft Flight Simulator you can still buy.

Was Microsoft Flight (2012) a Flight Simulator?

No. Microsoft Flight was a free-to-play spin-off set in Hawaii, released in February 2012. It couldn't use Flight Simulator add-ons, and Microsoft stopped developing it in July 2012.

Microsoft Flight Simulator History: Every Version (1982

Microsoft Flight Simulator first came out in November 1982, for the IBM PC, three years before Windows. That makes it Microsoft's longest-running product line. It grew out of Bruce Artwick's 1976 university thesis, and through 13 main versions, from Flight Simulator 1.0 to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, the latest, which came out on November 19, 2024 and reached the PS5 in December 2025. The 40th Anniversary Edition is not a separate game: it was a free 2022 update to Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), and it's the name that version is sold under today.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 on the IBM PC: a blocky green runway under a purple sky, above a panel of round gauges — The same series, 42 years apart. The first version drew the world in a handful of flat colors; MSFS 2024 streams the whole planet in photographic detail. Screenshots: Microsoft, via Wikipedia (1982) and the official Steam store page (2024).

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: a small plane flying through Yosemite Valley past granite cliffs, pine forest and a river — The same series, 42 years apart. The first version drew the world in a handful of flat colors; MSFS 2024 streams the whole planet in photographic detail. Screenshots: Microsoft, via Wikipedia (1982) and the official Steam store page (2024).

At a glance
First version	Microsoft Flight Simulator (1.0), November 1982, IBM PC
Before that	subLOGIC's Flight Simulator (FS1), January 1980, Apple II
Created by	Bruce Artwick (subLOGIC, then the Bruce Artwick Organization)
Main versions	13, from 1.0 (1982) to MSFS 2024
Latest	Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: PC and Xbox (Nov 2024), PS5 (Dec 2025)
Made today by	Asobo Studio, in France, for Xbox Game Studios

Flight Simulator (FS1) box — **Bold:** the main versions, with their boxes. **Light:** updates, new platforms, an expansion, a re-release and one spin-off. Dates are the first release, usually in North America. Box art: subLOGIC and Microsoft, via Wikipedia. Store art (2020, 2024): Microsoft, from Steam.

Microsoft Flight Simulator box — **Bold:** the main versions, with their boxes. **Light:** updates, new platforms, an expansion, a re-release and one spin-off. Dates are the first release, usually in North America. Box art: subLOGIC and Microsoft, via Wikipedia. Store art (2020, 2024): Microsoft, from Steam.

Before Microsoft: subLOGIC (1976–1982)

In 1976, Bruce Artwick, an engineering graduate student and pilot at the University of Illinois, wrote his master's thesis on showing an aircraft's flight on a computer screen, and a series of magazine articles about flight in 3D graphics. When the magazine's editor told him readers wanted to buy the program, he founded subLOGIC in 1977 with his old roommate Stu Moment, also a pilot, to sell it.

Their first big product, Flight Simulator (often called FS1), came out for the Apple II in January 1980, followed by the TRS-80. It cost $25, drew black-and-white wireframe lines at "150 lines per second", and flew a slightly modernized WWI Sopwith Camel over a 6 × 6 grid of scenery. It even had a dogfight game, "British Ace". By June 1982 it had sold 30,000 copies, a hit for the time.

subLOGIC’s Flight Simulator on the Apple II: a white wireframe landscape above purple instrument dials and green text readouts — subLOGIC’s original on the Apple II: a wireframe world drawn line by line, with the instruments as text and simple dials. Screenshot: subLOGIC, via Wikipedia.

The DOS years: 1.0 to 5.1 (1982–1995)

In 1981, Microsoft's Alan M. Boyd asked Artwick for a "definitive game": something that would show how much better the new 16-bit IBM PC was than older 8-bit computers. subLOGIC licensed Microsoft a PC version, and in November 1982 Microsoft Flight Simulator went on sale, on a disk that booted the PC by itself.

You flew a Cessna 182 Skylane around Chicago, Los Angeles, New York or Seattle, in color, with a "Europe 1917" mode where you flew a Sopwith Camel against enemy planes. PC Magazine called it "extraordinarily realistic … a classic program, unique in the market", and predicted it would "sell its share of IBM PCs". It did more than that: new PC clone makers used Flight Simulator and Lotus 1-2-3 as an unofficial test of whether their machines were truly IBM-compatible. It sold about 800,000 copies in five years.

The versions that followed each added something we now take for granted:

2.0 (1984) added joystick and mouse control, and scenery for the whole United States.
3.0 (1988) brought sharper EGA graphics, a Learjet, and views from outside the plane. Artwick had left subLOGIC by then, and his new studio, the Bruce Artwick Organization, built the Microsoft versions from here on.
4.0 (1989) added random weather, a glider and traffic moving around airports. Add-on kits let fans design their own aircraft and scenery, the start of the add-on world that still drives the hobby. That year one games magazine called it "unquestionably the most popular computer game in the world".
5.0 (1993) replaced flat colors with textures and gave each aircraft its own cockpit. Computer Gaming World said it was "closer to simulating real flight than ever before".
5.1 (1995) was the first on CD-ROM, with satellite-photo scenery and 3D clouds and fog. It was also the last for DOS.

Flight Simulator 3.0: a flat green landscape with a river and a few block buildings, over a full instrument panel — EGA graphics in 3.0 and 4.0: more colors, outside views and other traffic, but still flat, untextured shapes. Screenshots: Microsoft, via Wikipedia.

Flight Simulator 4.0: a small plane on a gray runway with towers in the distance, seen from outside, over the instrument panel — EGA graphics in 3.0 and 4.0: more colors, outside views and other traffic, but still flat, untextured shapes. Screenshots: Microsoft, via Wikipedia.

In November 1995, Microsoft bought the Bruce Artwick Organization and moved its team to Redmond.

Windows and 3D graphics cards (1996–2007)

Flight Simulator for Windows 95 (late 1996) was mostly 5.1 ported to Windows, but much faster. Then the series took off:

Flight Simulator 98 (September 1997) was the first to use 3D graphics cards, through DirectX. It added the series' first helicopter, a Bell JetRanger, and grew from about 300 airports to over 3,000. It shipped a million copies in two months.
By June 1999 the series had sold 21 million copies, a Guinness World Record for the best-selling flight simulator series.
Flight Simulator 2000 (October 1999) had over 20,000 airports, GPS, real terrain heights, rain and snow, and live real-world weather, plus the Concorde and the then-new Boeing 777. It was also famously hard to run: the minimum was a 166 MHz Pentium, but players found they needed 400 to 500 MHz for smooth flying.
Flight Simulator 2002 (October 2001) added air traffic control you could talk to and computer-flown planes sharing the sky.
Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight (July 2003) marked 100 years since the Wright brothers, with the Wright Flyer, Ford Tri-Motor and DC-3, true 3D clouds and weather from real weather stations. It was the last version to start you at Meigs Field, Chicago's lakefront airport, which the city had closed earlier that year.
Flight Simulator X (October 2006), or FSX, built by Microsoft's Aces Game Studio, was the first on DVD and the first with online activation. Two pilots could share one cockpit online, and you could finally fly over the poles. FSX ran best on a fast processor, more than on a fast graphics card. The Acceleration expansion (2007) added an F/A-18 Hornet, a P-51D Mustang and air races.

Flight Simulator 2002: a high-wing plane flying over a dense 3D city beside a lake — Textures, 3D cockpits, real weather and live traffic: by FSX, the series looked like a modern game, and needed a strong PC to match. Screenshots: Microsoft, via Wikipedia (2002, 2004) and the official Steam store page (FSX).

Flight Simulator 2004: the cockpit of a Boeing 707 at night, full of round gauges, with a GPS screen above — Textures, 3D cockpits, real weather and live traffic: by FSX, the series looked like a modern game, and needed a strong PC to match. Screenshots: Microsoft, via Wikipedia (2002, 2004) and the official Steam store page (FSX).

The gap: 14 years without a new Flight Simulator

In January 2009, Microsoft closed Aces Game Studio, and with it the team behind Flight Simulator. What came next was a long pause:

Lockheed Martin licensed FSX's code for training and launched it as Prepar3D in 2010. Most FSX add-ons worked in it.
Microsoft Flight (February 2012) was a free-to-play spin-off, set in Hawaii, where you bought extra aircraft and scenery. It wasn't compatible with Flight Simulator add-ons, and Microsoft stopped work on it after five months. It's not counted as part of the series.
Dovetail Games re-released FSX on Steam as FSX: Steam Edition in December 2014. It's still on sale today.

Meanwhile, the simmers kept flying FSX, and spent a decade adding to it.

Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020): the whole planet

At E3 in June 2019, Microsoft announced a new Microsoft Flight Simulator, built by Asobo Studio in France. It came out for Windows on August 18, 2020, and it changed what a flight sim could be: the whole planet, built from Bing Maps aerial photos and 3D-scanned cities, with about 37,000 airports, 1.5 billion buildings and 2 trillion trees, live weather, and the world streamed from Microsoft's servers as you fly.

Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020): a twin-engine plane flying past the Christ the Redeemer statue above Rio de Janeiro — Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) builds the world from Bing Maps photos and 3D-scanned cities, so famous places look like themselves. Screenshots: Microsoft, from the official Steam store page.

Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020): a red biplane flying past the Statue of Liberty with the Manhattan skyline behind — Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) builds the world from Bing Maps photos and 3D-scanned cities, so famous places look like themselves. Screenshots: Microsoft, from the official Steam store page.

It reached the Xbox Series X|S on July 27, 2021, the first time the series had been on a games console. Over a million people played it in its first weeks, and by September 2024 Microsoft said 15 million had. FSX, by comparison, took 16 years to reach 5 million.

The 40th Anniversary Edition (2022)

Microsoft announced the 40th Anniversary Edition at its Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase on June 12, 2022, and released it on November 11, 2022, close to 40 years after the first version. It was a free update for everyone who owned Microsoft Flight Simulator or played it through Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft called the series its "longest-running franchise".

The 40th Anniversary Edition’s key art: the A310 airliner, a glider, a helicopter and the DHC-2 Beaver on floats. Image: Microsoft, from the Flight Simulator release notes (November 2022).

What the 40th Anniversary Edition added

Helicopters and gliders, for the first time since FSX: the Bell 407 and Guimbal Cabri G2, with 14 heliports, and the DG Aviation LS8-18 and DG-1001E neo, with 15 glider airports.
Seven historic aircraft: the 1903 Wright Flyer, 1915 Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny", 1927 Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" (made with the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum), 1935 Douglas DC-3, 1937 Grumman G-21 Goose, 1947 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver and 1947 Hughes H-4 Hercules, the "Spruce Goose".
A detailed Airbus A310-300 airliner, built with the add-on studio iniBuilds.
Four classic airports: Meigs Field in Chicago, the series' traditional home airport, back for the first time since 2004; Hong Kong's old Kai Tak; Princess Juliana in Sint Maarten, where planes land low over the beach; and First Flight Airport at Kitty Hawk.
24 classic activities from earlier Flight Simulator versions.

The 1903 Wright Flyer in flight at sunset beside the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk — Some of the aircraft the free 40th Anniversary update added to Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020). Screenshots: Microsoft, from the official Steam store page.

The Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" flying boat taking off from the water, its eight engines running — Some of the aircraft the free 40th Anniversary update added to Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020). Screenshots: Microsoft, from the official Steam store page.

Some of these were old friends. The Grumman Goose had flown in FSX's Deluxe edition:

The Grumman Goose amphibian in Flight Simulator X, yellow and white, flying low over gray water — The same plane, 16 years apart: the Grumman Goose flew in FSX’s Deluxe edition, and came back as one of the 40th Anniversary Edition’s seven historic aircraft. Screenshots: Microsoft, from the official Steam store page.

The Grumman G-21 Goose in the 40th Anniversary Edition, red and white, flying over a turquoise lagoon and islands — The same plane, 16 years apart: the Grumman Goose flew in FSX’s Deluxe edition, and came back as one of the 40th Anniversary Edition’s seven historic aircraft. Screenshots: Microsoft, from the official Steam store page.

And Meigs Field was a homecoming. For years, Flight Simulator started you on its runway, by Chicago's lakefront. The city closed the real airport suddenly in March 2003, and FS2004 was the last version to start there, until the 40th Anniversary Edition brought it back:

Flight Simulator 2 at Meigs Field: a striped gray runway pointing at a single tower on the horizon, above the gauges — Meigs Field in Flight Simulator 2 and Flight Simulator for Windows 95, and the real airport six years before it closed. Screenshots: Microsoft, via Wikipedia. Photo: David Wilson, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Flight Simulator for Windows 95: a Learjet on the runway at Meigs Field with Chicago’s skyscrapers behind it — Meigs Field in Flight Simulator 2 and Flight Simulator for Windows 95, and the real airport six years before it closed. Screenshots: Microsoft, via Wikipedia. Photo: David Wilson, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

On the day the 40th was announced, Microsoft also released a free Halo Infinite Pelican to fly, made with Halo's studio, 343 Industries.

The Halo Infinite Pelican dropship flying over a desert at sunset in Microsoft Flight Simulator — The free Halo Infinite Pelican, made with 343 Industries. Screenshots: Microsoft, from the official Steam store page.

Is the 40th Anniversary Edition a separate game?

No. It's Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) with the update included. The Xbox store and Steam now sell that game as "Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition", in Standard, Deluxe and Premium Deluxe versions. The higher editions add more aircraft and handcrafted airports. If you owned the 2020 game, you already have it.

40th Anniversary Edition or MSFS 2024: which should you buy?

	MSFS 2020 (40th Anniversary Edition)	MSFS 2024
Released	August 2020 (PC), July 2021 (Xbox)	November 2024 (PC, Xbox), December 2025 (PS5)
Platforms	Windows, Xbox Series X\|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming	Windows, Xbox Series X\|S, PS5
Minimum PC	8 GB RAM, GTX 770 or RX 570, 150 GB	16 GB RAM, GTX 970 or RX 5700, 50 GB, 10 Mbps internet
Recommended PC	16 GB RAM, GTX 970 or RX 590	32 GB RAM, RTX 2080 or RX 5700 XT, 50 Mbps
Career mode and jobs	No	Yes: firefighting, rescue, cargo, airline and more
Helicopters and gliders	Yes, since the 40th Anniversary update	Yes
Add-ons bought for 2020	Yes	Virtually all Marketplace add-ons work, Microsoft says

Our take: buy MSFS 2024 if your PC or console can run it. It's the version Microsoft is building on, it's the only one on PS5, and it needs a third of the disk space. Pick the 40th Anniversary Edition only if your PC is below MSFS 2024's minimum, for example with 8 GB of RAM. It runs on older hardware and it's still a great sim. Not sure about your PC? Check what MSFS 2024 needs and the best PCs for it.

MSFS 2024 and the PS5 (2024–today)

Microsoft announced Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 in June 2023 and released it on November 19, 2024, for Windows and the Xbox Series X|S. Launch day was rough: so many people logged in that servers struggled and many couldn't load the game. The sim itself adds a career mode, where you earn certificates and take real flying jobs, from aerial firefighting and search and rescue to airline flying, plus airships, hot air balloons and a much more detailed world.

MSFS 2024: an orange heavy-lift firefighting helicopter flying over a forest through wildfire smoke, seen from above — MSFS 2024 adds jobs to fly, from firefighting to airline flights, and lets you walk around the aircraft before you take off. Screenshots: Microsoft, from the official Steam store page.

MSFS 2024: a pilot walking toward an airliner on the apron at sunset before a flight — MSFS 2024 adds jobs to fly, from firefighting to airline flights, and lets you walk around the aircraft before you take off. Screenshots: Microsoft, from the official Steam store page.

On December 8, 2025, it came to the PlayStation 5, the first time the series has been on a Sony console. PS VR2 support followed in April 2026. Forty-three years after the first version, it's still a Microsoft flight simulator, and still one of the longest-running game series of all time.

Want to see how it stacks up today? Our guide to the best flight simulators compares MSFS 2024 with X-Plane 12, DCS World and the rest, and X-Plane 12 vs MSFS goes head to head.

What each version needed to run

Every Flight Simulator has pushed the PCs of its day. The first one needed 64 KB of memory. MSFS 2024 needs at least 16 GB, about a quarter of a million times as much:

Minimum memory (RAM), 1982 to 2024: MSFS 2024 asks for 262,144 times as much as the first version.

Flight Simulator 1.01982 64 KB Intel 8088 (the IBM PC) · CGA color graphics card · One 5¼-inch floppy disk
Flight Simulator 5.11995 4 MB Intel 386 · VGA · 20 MB of disk
Flight Simulator 981997 8 MB Intel 486 at 66 MHz · SVGA, a 3D card optional · 100 MB of disk
Flight Simulator X2006 256 MB 1 GHz processor · 32 MB DirectX 9 card · 14 GB of disk
MSFS (2020)2020 8 GB Intel Core i5-4460 or Ryzen 3 1200 · GeForce GTX 770 or Radeon RX 570 · 150 GB of disk
MSFS 20242024 16 GB Ryzen 5 2600X or Core i7-6800K · GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 5700 · 50 GB of disk, plus a 10 Mbps connection

Each version’s published minimum, from its box or store page. The bars use a log scale: each equal step along a bar doubles the memory. MSFS 2024 needs less disk space than MSFS 2020 because it streams most of the world while you fly. Microsoft recommends 32 GB of RAM for it.

Some things haven't changed. Flight Simulator still leans on the processor more than most games, because it simulates the aircraft, weather and traffic around you while drawing the world. And the controls matter as much as ever: Flight Simulator has supported joysticks since 1984. If you're setting up for MSFS 2024 today:

A PC: the best PCs for MSFS 2024, or three PC builds if you'd rather build your own.
Storage: how much space MSFS 2024 and 2020 need.
Controls: which joysticks, yokes and pedals work on PC, Xbox and PS5, and the best flight sticks.

Can you still play the old versions?

FSX is the oldest version you can still buy: FSX: Steam Edition is on Steam, for Windows.
Flight Simulator 1.0 to 5.1 were DOS programs. If you still have the disks, they run in a DOS emulator such as DOSBox.
Flight Simulator 95 to 2004 aren't sold anymore, and old Windows games like these often need workarounds on Windows 10 and 11.
The easiest way to fly the classics: MSFS 2020's 40th Anniversary Edition includes the Wright Flyer, the "Jenny", the DC-3 and Meigs Field, and 24 activities from earlier versions.

How we put this together

We first wrote about Flight Simulator's history and its 40th anniversary in 2022. This page replaces both posts, rewritten and updated through MSFS 2024 on PS5. Dates and details come from Microsoft's own announcements (Xbox Wire and the Flight Simulator release notes), the original boxes and Microsoft support pages for the system requirements, the Xbox and Steam stores, and published histories of the series. We checked them on October 8, 2026.

History of Microsoft Flight Simulator: Every Version, 1982–2024