Microsoft Flight Simulator VR is live

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft Flight Simulator on PC got a free update on Tuesday that enables VR support, so now you can pretty much trick your brain into thinking you're piloting a flight to Tokyo.

Our own Sam Loveridge wrote back in July about how Microsoft Flight Simulator is an ace remedy for cabin fever. "Getting on a plane feels like a million miles away, and yet here I am soaring over Sydney Opera House," Sam muses. But imagine stepping into the cockpit in VR, a full 360-view of the world below presented in photorealistic quality. There's no way my PC could handle Flight Simulator in VR, so for now I can only dream of how incredibly immersive it must be.

Microsoft says Flight Simulator VR supports "all OpenXR-compliant headsets," which means your Windows Mixed Reality headset, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Oculus Quest (with a link cable) should work just fine.

The new Microsoft Flight Simulator update adds more than VR support, though admittedly that's the headlining feature. Sim Update 2 also includes two new training missions designed to help you take off and land with the Airbus A320neo, Live Weather has been enhanced with Meteo blue data to account for snow and ice, and there's now an Airbus A320neo Landing Challenge Spotlight Event. There's also a slew of fixes and quality-of-life improvements, which you can see in the full patch notes.

Well, what are you waiting for? The skies beckon. Update your Microsoft Flight Simulator client to the latest version and don't forget to write us a post card.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is planning on adding a bunch of UK locations in a January update.

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Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.