Microsoft Flight Simulator halves installation size

Microsoft has halved the installation size of Flight Simulator.

Before today, installing the game would take up around an eye-watering 150GB+ of your space. Now, however, a new update squeezes that down to a more palatable – if not quite svelte – 83GB.

While Microsoft stopped short of clarifying how, exactly, it compressed the size, it did say that it had "performed some optimization for the initial full download of the title". 

According to our friends at PC Gamer, the initial Steam download now sits at 700MB, and once the launcher's running, it'll then download a further 81GB. 

Microsoft Flight Simulator was recently added to The World Video Game Hall of Fame along with Animal Crossing, Starcraft, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? The museum made the final selection based on "the advice of journalists, scholars, and other individuals familiar with the history of video games and their role in society".

The Flight Simulator modding community has always worked quickly, but just in case there was any doubt, someone swiftly added the trapped cargo ship, the Ever Given, to Microsoft Flight Simulator before the ship was freed. 

This is just the latest in a long list of post-launch updates for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Back when the game launched in September 2020, the dev team swiftly added in Japanese locations, before releasing VR support for players in December. Microsoft Flight Simulator will finally be making the jump to consoles later this year when it comes to Xbox Series X in summer (Q3) 2021.

If you're experiencing any issues whatsoever with the incredibly detailed sim, head over to our Microsoft Flight Simulator issues guide for solutions to common and complex problems.