Microsoft Flight lands on February 29th

PC owners will be able to download Microsoft Flight for free in a matter of weeks, with paid-for content available at launch.

The flight simulator game is the first from Microsoft to adopt a free-to-play model, unlike previous boxed Flight Sim instalments.

Consumers can fly around the ‘Big Islands of Hawaii’ area for free, and can unlock access to the remaining islands by purchasing the ‘Hawaiian Adventure Pack’. This includes hundreds of miles of airspace to explore, 20 new missions, five new job types, a range of challenges and the two-seat Vans RV-6A plane.

This content has been produced in-house by Microsoft. There has been no mention of third-party content as of yet.

Those who access Microsoft Flight using their Games for Windows Live account will have the ability to pay for more content, including the Maule M-7-260C plane and the North American P-51 Mustang.

There was an overwhelming demand for access to the Microsoft Flight beta and the number of requests was more than double what we initially planned for,” said Microsoft’s executive producer Joshua Howard.

We received amazing feedback from the beta participants and it’s great to see this level of excitement from fans as we move toward the release of Microsoft Flight.”

You can read MCV’s analysis of the new business model for Microsoft Flight here.