The latest version of the long-running Microsoft Flight Simulator was announced at E3 2019 with an update last month confirming an August launch. When it came to VR support the team behind the project Asobo Studio hadn’t initially considered it but were looking at the possibility due to community feedback. Now it has been confirmed Microsoft Flight Simulator will indeed include VR functionality later this year.
The news was confirmed by Polygon and in a rather unusual move, none of the usual headsets were mentioned. Instead, Asobo Studio and Microsoft have teamed up with HP to make Microsoft Flight Simulator a launch title for the Reverb G2. At the moment there’s no official launch date for the new headset other than ‘Fall 2020’, as a previous September date is said to be an unofficial estimate by HP.
Built-in collaboration with Microsoft and Valve, the HP Reverb G2 will offer 2160 x 2160 per eye resolution, a 114-degree field of view (FoV), inside-out tracking and off-ear speakers to provide spatial audio; all for £525 GBP. VR flight sim fans who own other headsets needn’t worry as the studio has noted that HTC, Oculus and Valve devices will eventually be compatible.
“The very first piece of feedback that came out of [our announcement at E3 was], ‘Oh my God! This is going to be the best VR thing ever. They better have VR!'” Jorg Neumann, head of Microsoft Flight Simulator, told Polygon. “We immediately said, ‘Yep, we’ve got to do this now.’ We put a team on it, and then partnered with HP.”
Regarding the HP Reverb G2 launch, Neumann did go onto to say: “There was a time when it was actually supposed to be in July, but it’s moved from then. Now they have a new date — I want to say it’s September. I’m not even sure. But we just wanted to respect the fact that they own their date, and we’re going to ship with them.”
Microsoft Flight Simulator is scheduled for a PC release on 18th August 2020, available in three versions with pre-orders now live. As further details regarding VR support is announced, VRFocus will let you know.
via Mint VR