Microsoft Flight Simulator’s latest update cuts its download size in half

SSD users rejoice! Microsoft Flight Simulator’s patch 1.16.2.0 has reduced the game’s install size by more than half, reducing the game’s 170+GB install size to 83GB. While the game remains large, it will no longer be the dominant game within your PC’s game drive.    

In addition to this change, Microsoft has also lowered Microsoft Flight Simulator’s “weather data bandwidth”, which will reduce Microsoft Flight Simulator’s bandwidth usage when using real-time weather data. Microsoft has also added a dedicated Xbox Series X/S page to Microsoft Flight Simulator’s documentation, highlighting how much progress has been made with Microsoft’s Flight Simulator’s Xbox version. 

The full patch notes for update 1.16.2.0 are too extensive to discuss fully within this article, but the highlights are clear. Firstly, Microsoft is continuing to optimise Microsoft Flight Simulator’s PC version, and second, Microsoft’s development of Microsoft Flight Simulator’s Xbox Series X/S versions is progressing well. Optimising this game for Xbox Series consoles should be great news for PC gamers, as further optimisations to Microsoft Flight Simulator should allow the game to run at higher framerates on today’s strongest PCs while also making the game easier to run on low-end gaming systems. 

Before now, many PC gamers have been forced to uninstall Microsoft Flight Simulator thanks to the game’s frequent and large updates and the game’s sheer storage requirements. Microsoft Flight Simulator is now smaller than most modern AAA game releases, which is great news for those with bandwidth caps or limited PC storage.