Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is Getting a Technical Alpha on PC

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is getting a technical alpha on PC this month ahead of its release on November 19, 2024. The closed technical alpha will happen over the course of a weekend, and registrations are now open via the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Insider Program.

“The focus of this technical alpha is validating new services in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and the scope of available content will be limited,” the Microsoft Flight Simulator team explained yesterday. “From a user perspective, we encourage participants to experience as much as possible of the Career and Challenges modes, as these are new to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.”

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is the successor to the Microsoft Flight Simulator game released on PC in 2020 and Xbox Series X|S a year later. It’s powered by a new engine supporting an enhanced physics system and an even more detailed re-creation of the Earth. The game will also introduce a new Career system allowing players to explore different career paths.

For the first time in the history of the franchise, players will also be able to land anywhere, step out of their aircraft and explore the world by foot. There will be hundreds of species of vegetation to observe that will also be impacted by a new season system, and the world will also include wildflife, humans, and real-world air traffic.

PC gamers interested in participating in the technical beta will need to submit a DxDiag file, and devices that do not meet the game’s minimum requirements may not be selected for the closed alpha. The team plans to announce the exact date for the technical preview closer to its start.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is one of the big games that Microsoft will launch during the holiday season. It will be preceded by Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on October 25, and followed by Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on December 9. While Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is the only one of these three games that’s exclusive to the Xbox/PC ecosystem, all of them will also come to Game Pass for Console and PC on day one.