Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Head Acknowledged Initial Launch IssuesHigh User Numbers Overwhelmed MSFS Servers

In the roughly 5-minute Developer Launch Day Update video, Neumann and Wloch explained the game's problems and their planned solutions. Neumann acknowledged the game's high anticipation but admitted underestimating the player count. "It really has overwhelmed our infrastructure," he said.

To further clarify the issues, Neumann yielded to Wloch. "At the very beginning, when players start, they’re basically requesting data from a server, and that server retrieves it from a database," he said. This database has a cache and was tested with 200,000 simulated users, but the large player count is still overwhelming it.

MSFS Login Queue and Missing Aircraft

They quickly identified the cause of the incomplete or lengthy loading times. After reaching capacity, the service fails, necessitating repeated restarts and retries. "That creates extremely long initial loading, which is not supposed to be as long," he explained. Over time, the missing data results in the loading screen pausing at 97%, compelling players to restart the game.

Furthermore, the missing aircraft issue reported by players stems from incomplete or blocked content. While some players successfully joined the game, a few aircraft or content pieces might be absent after clearing the queue screen. "That’s totally abnormal, and that’s due to the service and server not responding, and this cache being completely overwhelmed," Wloch asserted.

MSFS 2024 Struggles with Largely Negative Steam Feedback

Despite these significant day-one launch problems, the team has been diligently working on resolving them. "We have addressed the issues and are now onboarding players at a steady rate," as stated on the game’s Steam page. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. We will keep you updated on our social media channels, forums, and website. Thank you very much for all your feedback and support."