Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Developer
- Asobo Studio
- Publisher
- Xbox Game Studios
- Released
- 17 August 2020
- Age rating
- PEGI 3
- UK price
- £59.99
Platforms: PC, Xbox One
Genres: simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator is the next generation of one of the most beloved simulation franchises. From light planes to wide-body jets, fly highly detailed and stunning aircraft in an incredibly realistic world. Create your flight plan and fly anywhere on the planet. Enjoy flying day or night and face realistic, challenging weather conditions.
Best gaming PC for Microsoft Flight Simulator in 2026
Full buyers guide →Below are the four PC tiers we'd actually recommend for Microsoft Flight Simulator today. These are our 2026 hardware picks, not the dated publisher minimums you'll find on Steam.
Budget
£7991080p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 5 7600
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Storage
- 1TB NVMe SSD
Mid-tier
£1,2991440p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super 12GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
High-end
£1,7991440p · 144fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
Enthusiast
£3,4994K · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB
- RAM
- 64 GB
- Storage
- 4TB NVMe SSD
Official system requirements
These are the minimum and recommended specs as published by Xbox Game Studios on Steam. They tend to be conservative — usually "what ran the game at 1080p when it shipped". For what you should actually buy in 2026, see the tier cards above.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
| CPU | Intel i5-4460 | AMD Ryzen 3 1200 | Intel i5-8400 | AMD Ryzen 5 1500X |
| RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| GPU | NVIDIA GTX 770 | AMD Radeon RX 570 | NVIDIA GTX 970 | AMD Radeon RX 590 |
| Storage | 150 GB | 150 GB |
| DirectX | 11 | 11 |
Verified 18 May 2026 against the Steam store page.
Can your PC run Microsoft Flight Simulator?
If your CPU is roughly equivalent to Intel i5-8400 | AMD Ryzen 5 1500X and your GPU is at or above NVIDIA GTX 970 | AMD Radeon RX 590, you'll hit recommended settings at 1080p/60. For 1440p or higher, see the tier picks above.
Best gaming PC for Microsoft Flight Simulator → · Can I run it?