Since early 2024, Microsoft has been bringing many of its Xbox exclusives to rival platforms, including PlayStation and Nintendo consoles. The Redmond-based firm's new multi-platform initiative originally started out with just four games: Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves. After being exclusive to Xbox for a minimum of one year, these titles were ported to PlayStation 5 and/or Nintendo Switch within the span of a few months. Microsoft justified its decision to bring these games to other consoles by stating that they were either community-based titles or smaller-scale games that would benefit greatly by going multi-platform. The loss of exclusivity for these titles, the company implied, would not harm the value of the Xbox ecosystem in any significant way.

While Microsoft initially insisted that it had no plans to make any major changes to its approach to exclusivity, it has recently brought several flagship Xbox titles, like Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, to PS5, and there are supposedly many more multi-platform ports to come. Reports currently suggest that Microsoft is gearing up to announce some new PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 ports in the coming weeks, with some potential candidates for these titles being Starfield, Avowed, and the rumored Halo: Combat Evolved remake. One particular Xbox-exclusive game, though, would be a perfect fit for the PS5, perhaps more so than others.

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In a big twist, one of Xbox's first-party games has become the best-selling title on Sony's PlayStation 5 so far in 2025.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Would Be Great on PlayStation 5

Rumors Suggest That Flight Sim 2024 Will Be Coming to PS5 Later This Year

A few days ago, the reputable insider NateTheHate alleged that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, the latest installment in the long-running flight simulator franchise, would make its way to PS5 sometime in 2025. Nate said that he didn't have an exact idea of when the game would be ported to other platforms, but he did state that "maybe" Microsoft would bring it to PS5 around the time of its one-year anniversary. Despite his information on this matter, Nate didn't comment on whether the 2020 reboot of Microsoft Flight Simulator would ever be ported to other platforms.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Had a Fairly Rough Launch, But It's Decent Now

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 was originally released on Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC in November 2024. It was the first-ever Microsoft Flight Simulator game to be released on both PCs and consoles at the same time. The game, which was made by A Plague Tale: Innocence developer Asobo Studio, was met with a relatively mixed reception at launch, especially within the diehard Flight Sim community. It was considered a step-down from its predecessor in some respects, most notably in terms of performance and loading times.

Although Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024's reputation still hasn't fully recovered from its shaky debut, the game is currently in much better shape than it was originally. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is still pretty buggy, but it has received a bunch of significant content updates, some of which have added new aircraft, cities, and airports to the game. The latest entry in the Flight Sim franchise is in good-enough shape to warrant a PS5 port and, due to the features of the DualSense, Sony's platform could be the best place to play it on.

A PS5 Port of Flight Sim 2024 Could Take Advantage of the DualSense's Haptic Feedback

The PlayStation 5's DualSense controller comes with a feature known as haptic feedback, which isn't available in either the current-gen Xbox controller or the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller. The haptic feedback allows players to physically feel the effects of their in-game actions through special vibrations that simulate specific situations. Although this feature isn't always used to its full potential in many games, the DualSense controller works great with vehicle simulation titles, especially realistic ones. There is a severe lack of aviation simulators on PS5, but Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 could fill that gap and take its immersion to new heights by implementing DualSense-specific features that let players feel certain sounds in the palm of their hands, such as the turbulence of a plane or the rumble that an aircraft makes as it takes off a runway.

Flight Simulator
Systems
Top Critic Avg: 76 /100 Critics Rec: 68%
Released
November 19, 2024
ESRB
Everyone / Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
Developer(s)
Asobo Studio
Publisher(s)
Xbox Game Studios
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Press Image 1

WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL

Engine
Asobo's
Genre(s)
Flight Simulator