Flight Simulator ‘is expected to stimulate over $2.5bn in PC hardware sales’

Microsoft Flight Simulator is expected to stimulate more than $2.6 billion in PC hardware sales over the next three years.

That’s according to a new note by consultancy firm Jon Peddie Research (JPR), which estimates the figure based on the assumption that Flight Simulator will sell around 2.2 million copies during the same period.

“Much more” will be spent on PC builds, display upgrades, flight sticks and more over the title’s complete sales cycle, it said.

“Flight simulators are incredibly demanding on processing capability and reward high resolution, large displays, and VR use,” commented the firm’s analyst Ted Pollak.

“When new flight simulators are released, the hardware to run them at max settings and performance does not even exist yet. This creates a situation of constant hardware demand over the life of the title as fans chase the best experience.

“A significant number of flight sim fans only play flight sim. We took this into account when calculating whether the money will be spent specifically or partially because of this game.”

The firm’s president Jon Peddie said the main beneficiaries of the Microsoft Flight Sim 2020 release would be Intel and AMD due to the demand the game places on CPUs.

“The framerate can only be drawn when all physical calculations are resolved, and simulations need more physical and environmental resolving by the CPU than normal games,” he said.

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“Simulation gamers know the CPU is not easily upgraded so they pay for the best. Nvidia, AMD, and Intel’s GPU offerings will also benefit as that processing is needed for high resolutions.

“Dell, HP, Lenovo, and other gaming PC builders are also going to see a significant sales boost from this release. As will HP and other VR headset makers with supported products. Of course, all the top PC component and accessory makers will also cash in on the release.”

VGC’s 5/5 Microsoft Flight Simulator review concluded that “ultimately, Flight Simulator is the best game of its type to date.”