Microsoft’s latest flight simulator, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, has suffered a disastrous launch, with players experiencing ridiculously long loading screens that have lasted for hours in some cases. The game, published by Microsoft Game Studios and developed by Asobo Studio, has received overwhelmingly negative reviews on Steam, with many players reporting missing content and other issues.
In a video message to the community, Jorg Neumann, Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and Sebastian Wloch, Asobo CEO and co-founder, explained that the launch was unforeseen. “We underestimated how high the excitement was,” Neumann admitted. The team had simulated 200,000 concurrent players during pre-release load tests but failed to prevent server problems.
The issue stems from a cache system that has become saturated due to increased player traffic. Asobo attempted to fix the problem by throttling player numbers and increasing queue speeds, but it eventually collapsed again. “We’ve tried to restart services, throttle player numbers, and even increase queue speed,” Wloch explained. “But it’s creating extremely long initial loading times and missing content.”
The team is working hard to resolve the issue, with Neumann apologizing to the community for the problems caused on launch day. “While it’s a great launch day, we know a lot of people are frustrated,” he concluded. Asobo aims to fix the server issues as soon as possible, promising that players shouldn’t experience the queue screen once the problem is resolved.
Source: https://www.ign.com/articles/as-microsoft-flight-simulator-2024-steam-reviews-collapse-to-overwhelmingly-negative-dev-admits-it-completely-underestimated-excitement-for-the-game