A Microsoft Flight Simulator VR beta is arriving for you in the coming weeks. That is if you have a Windows VR headset.
Developer Asobo announced the news on a recent Q&A stream. Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann explained that the closed beta will arrive either in late October or early November. Sign-ups to take part are here, though you’ll have to be a Flight Sim Insider and agree to an NDA.
Microsoft Flight Simulator VR Beta On The Way
You’ll also have to own one of Microsoft’s Windows ‘Mixed Reality’ VR headsets to get access; the game will be initially exclusive to that platform as VR support is launching alongside another Windows headset, the upcoming HP Reverb G2. The closed beta does list support for ‘Additional Headsets’ in a second phase, but we don’t know when that might launch.
“The number one request that we heard from you after E3 last year was that you really wanted to see VR,” Neumann said. “And we did just that, we have a team that’s been working on this for over a year now.”
As for system specs, the beta – perhaps surprisingly – requires a GTX 1080 at minimum. That’s not the lowest entry point card, but we did suspect the requirements would be a bit higher than that given the game’s ambitions. You can see the full list below, but take note these could change for the full release.
OS: Windows 10 (November 2019 Update – 1909)
DirectX: DirectX 11
CPU: Intel i5-4460 or Ryzen 3 1200
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1080 or equivalent
VRAM: 8 GB
RAM: 16 GB
HDD: 150 GB
Bandwidth: 5 Mbps
The Reverb G2 will be shipping to pre-order customers in November and new orders arrive in December. It’s not clear if Microsoft Flight Simulator VR support will definitely launch next month too, or if it might arrive when the headset’s more widely available. Either way, we’re really excited to get our hands on it. Are you hoping to take part in the Microsoft Flight Simulator VR beta? Let us know in the comments below!
