Microsoft\u2019s beautiful and punishing Flight Simulator<\/em> 2020 reboot will spur a staggering $2.6 billion in PC hardware sales, Jon Peddie Research (JPR) estimates.<\/p>\n Flight Simulator<\/em> formally launched August 17. Previews of Flight Simulator (including PCWorld\u2019s) largely agree it\u2019s one of the most sophisticated flight sims, if not games, to release on the PC.<\/p>\n Jon Peddie Research believes this will cause PC players to buy new CPUs, GPUs, and monitors. Don\u2019t forget the accessories! JPR also expects strong sales in flight sticks, throttles, rudder pedals, and even simulation seats, frames, and VR gear.<\/p>\n \u201cFlight simulators are incredibly demanding on processing capability and reward high resolution, large displays, and VR use. When new flight simulators are released, the hardware to run them at max settings and performance does not even exist yet,\u201d said analyst Ted Pollack. \u201cThis creates a situation of constant hardware demand over the life of the title as fans chase the best experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are Microsoft\u2019s minimum, recommended, and ideal system requirements for\u00a0Flight Simulator<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n If the $2.6 billion figure seems unbelievable, it\u2019s based on the 2.27 million copies of Flight Simulator<\/em> JPR expects Microsoft to sell. If each of those users subsequently spent an average of $1,100 on additional hardware to run Flight Simulator<\/em>, that would get you to the JPR estimate.<\/p>\n Considering that many flight sim fans play only flight simulators, they are more willing than mainstream users to spend on their hobby. The game\u2019s footprint is 150GB, and it\u2019s recommended that you run an SSD rather than a hard drive for game load performance. Microsoft\u2019s recommended specs include a GeForce RTX 2080 or AMD Radeon VII GPU, along with a Ryzen 7 2700X or Core i7-9800X CPU. Price out those components or configured systems, and you can get to $1,100 easily.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely many won\u2019t just buy new hardware to upgrade, either\u2014they\u2019ll buy entire PCs. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of interest from clients gearing up for Flight Sim 2020, and its release has shown this title is absolutely deserving of a full new PC,\u201d Kelt Reeves, owner of Falcon Northwest, told PCWorld. Falcon Northwest<\/a> got its start in 1992 making gaming PCs, many of them\u00a0aimed at flight simulator players. In fact, its office is located across from an airport in Oregon.<\/p>\n Reeves, who is still a gamer, said Flight Simulator<\/em>\u00a0is essentially the \u201cCan it play Crysis<\/em>?\u201d game of today. That means more hardware will be sacrificed at the altar of Flight Sim. \u201cIt just eats all the CPU and GPU processing you can throw at it,\u201d Reeves explained. \u201cIt\u2019s the most taxing game we\u2019ve seen on its generation of hardware since Crysis.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"flight](\"https:\/\/images.idgesg.net\/images\/article\/2020\/08\/flight-simulator-minimum-specs-100854598-orig.jpg\")
<\/a> Microsoft<\/a> <\/small>