Microsoft Flight Simulator Update Cuts Game's Download Size in Half

If you enjoy Microsoft Flight Simulator but don’t care as much for the space it takes up on your [...]

By Tanner Dedmon

If you enjoy Microsoft Flight Simulator but don't care as much for the space it takes up on your devices, the latest update for the game brings with it some good news. Through some "optimization" work that sounds more like magic, the download size for the base game has been decreased to be less than half of what it once was. You'll still have a large download after installing the base game and anything else on top of that, but it's a massive difference regardless.

According to the notes for the latest update, Patch 1.16.2.0, the base game itself before adding anything onto it was over 170GB. Through the optimization mentioned in the patch notes, the game's base size has now been reduced to just 83GB.

Taking up 83GB on a console or PC is still no small size for a game, but it's far better than having over 170GB reserved for just one game. We see that more commonly now with games like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Warzone where they take up quite a bit of room and leave less space for other games, so anything that helps you avoid having to purchase an external storage device and instead to keep more games on your primary systems helps.

The relevant notes related to the game's files and the download sizes can be seen below with the full notes from the latest update seen here to show what's changed regarding the game's navigation systems, its aircrafts, and more.

Microsoft Flight Simulator Release Notes for 1.16.2.0

  • Some packages in your community folder may not have been updated and, as a result, may have an unexpected impact on the title's performance and behavior.
  • Please move your community package(s) to another folder before relaunching the title if you suffer from stability issues or long loading times.
  • We performed some optimization for the initial full download of the title so the base game is only 83GB instead of +170GB.

Microsoft Flight Simulator's latest update is now available for everyone to download.

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