The Steam version of Microsoft Flight Simulator is plagued with download issues, non-availability of content, and a host of other problems

It's been forever since Microsoft released a new Flight Simulator game. Hence, there was a lot of hype around the game's latest iteration. Early reviews even lauded Microsoft Flight Simulator for its impeccable attention to detail. However, the game's launch is turning out to be quite a mess if some disgruntled Steam and Reddit users are to be believed.

One of the primary complaints about Microsoft Flight Simulator's Steam version is that the game files aren't downloadable via Steam's servers. Steam only downloads a barebones launcher, which then proceeds to download the remaining content directly from Microsoft. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, the game is over 90GB in size. One needs to keep the launcher active for the download to complete. That can be troublesome if you want a refund, as Steam only refunds games with a playtime of under two hours. Just downloading the game will exhaust those two hours for most people.

Furthermore, download speeds will be less than ideal, given the number of people wanting to download Microsoft Flight Simulator. Several users have also complained about not being able to download the game at all. Then there's the issue of Steam missing an executable file, but that appears to have been fixed. These issues are usually avoided by letting users pre-load the game a day before launch. This seems to be a slightly scummy way to circumvent Steam's refund policy. One can only hope that Steam makes an exception for affected users.

Additionally, several people who have purchased the Deluxe and Premium Deluxe versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator have complained that they are unable to access the additional content they paid for, which includes several aircraft models and airports. The developers appear to be aware of the issue and will hopefully issue a fix soon.

Some of the other issues include the game flat out not working, incompatibility with PS4 and Xbox controllers, janky performance on some graphics cards, and more. Others say that the in-game AI is no good and that the tutorials do very little tutoring. That's very likely a matter of perspective, but still a concern for people new to the franchise.

Once you get it running, Microsoft Flight Simulator is a technical masterpiece, though. It is a shame that Microsoft messed up the game's launch so severely, and we sincerely hope that it addresses the above issues via an update.