Microsoft Flight Simulator is available to download, but many players are running into an issue when trying to download the game. If you preloaded the game, then only thing you did was install the game’s launcher, you will still need to take care of a download that is at least 90 GB in size, depending on the version of the game you purchased.
Some players are seeing no progress when they try to do this, as the loading bar refuses to move. The good news is that the solution is pretty simple.
According to the official Microsoft Flight Simulator Twitter account, all you need to do is run the game as an Administrator, and it should resolve the problem for you. It is still a very long download though, so don’t expect to get to play the game too soon, even if you have a very good connection.
Most of the issues seem to stem from the sheer number of people downloading the game, so it seems the download servers are busy and may not be making a proper connection to your launcher. A simple restart and running the game as Admin should resolve the issue. If the issue persists, you should send a tweet to the official account, with a screenshot showing the extend of the problem, and they may be able to help you.
If you have been struggling launcher with crashes while trying to download the game, then it is a good idea to unplug any controller peripherals that you might have while the download is ongoing, even an Xbox controller caused some issues while we were downloading the game.
While you are waiting on your download to finish, you might be curious about the game’s upcoming VR Support or read up on how to activate the autopilot, which might pull you out of a bind in the early hours of the game.
