Microsoft Flight Simulator Will Include 'All Airports on Earth'

2020's Microsoft Flight Simulator will include "all airports on Earth," ranging from countryside airstrips to international airports, according to developer Asobo Studio. A total number of airports was not disclosed, though according to the CIA, as of 2013, there were over 40,000 airports in the world. As detailed on YouTube, the studio manually edited 37,000 of those airports to ensure accuracy — from the size and surface material of the runway to the precise location of the planes' parking spots. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=microsoft-flight-simulator-airports&captions=true"] Not all airports have been given the same amount of attention; the 80 "most-played and busiest" airports are more detailed, according to Asobo. These airports feature official names for taxiways and more "accurate surface definition." An even higher tier, dubbed the "most iconic airports" in the development video, have been "dressed up to reach a new level of realism in flight simulation." These airports feature "unique building and props matching reality" and terraformed landscapes that "nest [the airports] in their real environment." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/microsoft-flight-simulator-airports"] IGN's Alex Simmons went hands-on with Microsoft Flight Simulator at XO19 and called it a "serene, calming experience [that] feels more like an exercise in mindfulness than a game." For more on the promising flight sim, read up on how Microsoft Flight Simulator will deal with secretive areas, such as military bases and government research sites. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN.