Microsoft Flight Simulator (opens in new tab) looks like the kind of game you'd want to stick a VR headset on for, even if you're not that infatuated with virtual reality, but VR apparently wasn't part of the plan until the team saw the reaction to the E3 trailer.
Microsoft and Asobo Studio is using a vast amount of data to create a world that's so accurate you can fly over your house (opens in new tab), and the immersive qualities of VR makes it seem like a good fit, but it wasn't something that was being considered until people started making the assumption that it was going to support VR straight away. The good news is that it's probably going to happen, though maybe not in time for launch.
"Right after the E3 trailer came out there was a lot of people making that exact assumption, that ‘Oh yeah, this better be supporting VR right from the get go.’ It honestly wasn’t our plan," Jorg Neumann, head of Microsoft Flight Simulator, told AVSIM (opens in new tab). "But we are listening, and we heard it, so we will try our darnedest to make it happen. Whether or not we’re going to pull it off for launch, we can’t commit to that at this point in time, but we are aware of the desire, and given that we genuinely want to make the sim that simmers want, we will try to prioritise that over other things."
I've still not made the leap to VR, at least not beyond my Gear VR headset, which doesn't even support my current phone—Microsoft Flight Simulator could definitely change that. The level of detail that the team's committed to is ridiculous, so I'd rather not be distracted by my perpetually untidy office.
If you want an early flight, there's still a day left to sign up for the first technical alpha. You'll need to sign up for the Insider programme (opens in new tab) first, and then you can register for the alpha here (opens in new tab). Invites will start going out on October 17, with the alpha starting on October 24.
Cheers, UploadVR (opens in new tab).
