Microsoft Flight Simulator isn't making a totally seamless transition to Xbox.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is finally available on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S in addition to PC, and it looks frankly stunning on Microsoft's powerful current-gen consoles. However, it's not been entirely smooth as some players are experiencing some turbulence getting into Microsoft Flight Simulator for Xbox the first time around, with a handful of bugs and issues detracting from the experience. We've scoured the internet to compile all the known bugs and launch issues for Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox we could find, including some methods to fix them, potentially.
Even with a contingent of problems currently plaguing the game, Microsoft Flight Simulator still holds on tightly to its place on our list of best Xbox games. If you want to know why, be sure to check out our full Microsoft Flight Simulator Xbox review for the full scoop.
What are the top bugs and issues in Microsoft Flight Simulator for Xbox?
Here are some of the biggest problems afflicting Microsoft Flight Simulator for Xbox right now, and how you might be able to fix them.
Game not starting
Some players were reporting that, even after Microsoft Flight Simulator officially launched on Xbox, they were unable to start the game. In the cases we've seen the reason behind this is because, even if you preloaded or preinstalled Microsoft Flight Simulator on your Xbox, there's still a sizeable day one update to install before you're able to play MSFS.
Before you try and play Microsoft Flight Simulator, be sure to check for updates on your Xbox to see if you've downloaded the day one update. If you have the full MSFS downloaded (coming out to about 102 GB), the day one update should be around 27 GB. On the other hand, if you've elected to remove the "offline mode" pack for Microsoft Flight Simulator to bring your total install size to around 42 GB, the update should be about 18 GB. Installing the day one update does not affect the total install size of the game.
Endless loading bar
When you first start up Microsoft Flight Simulator, you're met with the typical loading screen and a frustratingly slow blue loading bar at the bottom of the screen. While it makes sense that the game's first launch would take the longest, MSFS has been taking seemingly forever for a lot of players. The loading bar will progress at a pretty standard pace until near the end of the screen (about 80-99%), and then simply freezes.
While we can't speak for every case, this doesn't appear to be a game-breaking bug like it might at first glance. We also encountered this issue when first starting MSFS, but an extended wait of about ten minutes resolved the problem. Some players reported having to wait for fifteen minutes or more for this initial loading bar to complete. This is understandably frustrating, but probably the best thing to do with this loading bar is simply to wait.
It's worth mentioning that this bug, and the endless update bug found below, may simply be related to the large influx of players connecting to the Microsoft Flight Simulator servers during the Xbox launch, and may resolve themselves automatically as things stabilize and calm down.
Endless search for updates
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a massive game, and it has countless add-ons and additional installations (over 200 right from the start!) that can all be updated independently of the main game. Because of this, Microsoft Flight Simulator will always automatically check for updates whenever you start the game. Some players are reporting that this screen never progresses and that they're unable to make it past.
Just like the endless loading bar, it seems players may need to wait this one out. Hopefully, Xbox Game Studios and Asobo Studios will update MSFS to resolve this aggressively long wait times to play the game, but for now players may have to wait upwards of 30 minutes to get past this screen (or the endless loading bar). Fortunately, both of these issues seem to be relatively random. While we were affected by the endless loading screen, we did not experience the endless updates screen.
Menus freezing
As a simulator, MSFS features a ton of various menus that players need to navigate to set up flights, choose activities, download additional content, manage settings, and interact with the game's numerous systems. We've seen reports that many of these menus are freezing for players, or they're unable to reliably navigate the menus without the cursor jumping around or failing actually to interact with menu elements.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an easy fix for this, even if you're patient. We've seen signs that this problem can be resolved simply by waiting, like many of Microsoft Flight Simulator's other issues, and that the menus aren't necessarily frozen, they're just incredibly slow. Restarts may also fix the problem with menus in MSFS, but this comes with the risk of encountering one of the endless loading bugs mentioned above.
Random Achievements
While not as egregious or as frustrating as other MSFS issues, this is still undoubtedly a bug. When first starting the game, some players are reportedly being granted a random Xbox Achievement. It's hard to tell, but the random Achievement may be related to whether or not you've played the game on PC (and may even have been an Achievement that was completed on PC but never given).
We ran into this issue personally, as I earned the "Challenge Accepted" Achievement (complete any activity) upon first starting Microsoft Flight Simulator for Xbox but before actually playing the game. I previously had played MSFS on PC just long enough to finish the first tutorial and had not been given any Achievements.
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Microsoft Flight Simulator
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The ultimate flying experience
Microsoft Flight Simulator is the premier flight simulator experience, featuring a 1:1 rendition of the globe rendered with beautiful detail. While Microsoft Flight Simulator launched exclusively on powerful gaming PCs, the best flight sim around is now available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass.
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