Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 landed on PlayStation 5 consoles in December 2025, ending decades of exclusivity to PC and Xbox platforms. Digital Foundry dove deep into testing both PS5 and PS5 Pro versions to see how Asobo Studio’s globe-spanning simulation translates to Sony hardware. The verdict? It’s an impressive technical achievement that maintains visual parity with Xbox Series X, but don’t expect locked 60fps performance even on the Pro model, and Sony’s console is missing a critical feature that Xbox owners take for granted.
The PS5 version runs at native 1440p reconstructed to 4K using temporal anti-aliasing, matching the Xbox Series X resolution. PS5 Pro pushes that to 1800p native before upscaling, delivering slightly sharper image quality but not the transformative visual upgrade some might expect from Sony’s premium console. Both PlayStation versions cap at 30fps on standard displays, though owners of 120Hz VRR monitors can unlock frame rates that hover between 30-40fps in most scenarios.
The Streaming System Works But Has Limits
Flight Simulator 2024’s default installation weighs just 28GB on PS5, a remarkably small footprint for a game that lets you fly anywhere on Earth. The secret is cloud streaming. Most world details including buildings, airports, and terrain geometry stream in real-time as you fly, with adjustable bandwidth settings to manage how much data gets pulled from Microsoft’s Azure servers. This system works brilliantly when your internet connection cooperates, but even on solid fiber connections, bandwidth limitations cause noticeable pop-in.
The bigger problem is what’s missing. Xbox Series X and S allow players to download world data, city packs, and airport details directly to local storage. Want to fly over New York with minimal streaming artifacts? Download the city data pack and store it on your SSD. This complete installation balloons to roughly 480GB, but it dramatically reduces pop-in and ensures consistent visual quality regardless of internet conditions. PlayStation 5 versions lack this feature entirely at launch. You’re stuck with streaming whether you want it or not.
Digital Foundry’s testing showed that having world data installed locally on Series X helps reduce terrain pop-in frequency to a slight but noticeable degree. Trees and buildings switch levels of detail more consistently on Xbox when data is stored locally rather than streamed. Both systems experience pop-in, but Xbox players have options while PlayStation owners don’t. For a simulation that prides itself on authenticity and immersion, relying entirely on potentially inconsistent internet streaming feels like a significant oversight.
PS5 Pro Gets Resolution But Not Much Else
Sony’s marketing for the Pro version promised enhanced performance, improved optimization, and even ray tracing features. What players actually get is more modest. The main upgrade is that 1800p native resolution bump over base PS5’s 1440p and Series X’s 1440p. The additional pixels do improve image clarity slightly, but there’s still shimmer on distant buildings identical to other consoles. The temporal anti-aliasing behavior is the same across all platforms.
Draw distances see improvement on PS5 Pro compared to base PS5, with terrain across cities tending to render ahead of time rather than popping in suddenly. However, this advantage depends heavily on your internet connection since world data is streaming regardless of which console you’re using. There’s no graphics toggle or performance mode option; you get one visual preset and that’s it.
Screen-space reflections run at identical settings on both PS5 and Pro, causing the same disocclusion artifacts when your aircraft obscures terrain, resulting in blank spaces in water reflections. It’s unfortunate and remains the most notable visual blemish. Even maxed-out PC versions suffer from this problem, and proper ray-traced reflections would solve it, but that feature isn’t available on any console version.
Shadows also run at the same rasterized settings across both PlayStation consoles. You’ll see identical aliased shadow lines across the plane’s dashboard whether you’re on base PS5 or Pro. PC versions running fully maxed settings with ray-traced shadows show what’s possible, delivering cleaner and more temporally stable global shadows as planes change orientation. It’s a missed opportunity considering ray tracing was explicitly mentioned in Sony’s promotional materials, but cockpit shadows remain traditional rasterization on PlayStation.
The 60fps Dream Dies Hard
Both PS5 consoles lock to 30fps on standard 60Hz displays, matching Xbox Series X’s approach. This cap reflects the brutal CPU demands of streaming and rendering Flight Simulator’s dense landscapes. Even hitting 30fps consistently proves challenging in certain scenarios. Building-dense capital cities, especially at low altitudes near street level, push frame rates into the low 20s for extended stretches on both base PS5 and Pro.
Barcelona on base PS5 and Rio de Janeiro on PS5 Pro both demonstrate visible drops with subtle screen tearing appearing at the top of the frame. Most locations run smoothly at 30fps without issue, but there’s clearly not much performance headroom. PS5 Pro’s extra GPU power gets channeled entirely into rendering that higher 1800p resolution rather than improving frame rates.
Connecting a 120Hz VRR monitor unlocks the frame rate cap, allowing you to see where performance actually lands. Under these conditions, you might briefly touch 60fps while looking straight up at the sky, but realistic gameplay scenarios put all consoles between 30-40fps. Cities hover closer to 30-35fps on PS5, while less demanding environments like the Himalayas jump to around 40fps. PS5 Pro and Series X trade narrow victories depending on location, often within 1fps of each other.
PlayStation Gets DualSense Integration
Where PlayStation versions do offer something Xbox can’t match is DualSense controller integration. Haptic feedback and adaptive triggers add tactile elements to the flying experience, letting you feel engine vibrations and control resistance through the controller. Air traffic control communications play through the controller speaker, a neat immersive touch that keeps radio chatter feeling localized. Gyro controls provide an additional input option for those who prefer motion-based adjustments.
Reddit users discussing the Digital Foundry analysis noted that these DualSense features make the PlayStation version feel distinct despite technical parity elsewhere. For players who prioritize immersive controller feedback over absolute maximum performance, these additions matter. However, they don’t fundamentally change the flying experience compared to Xbox’s implementation.
Why This Matters for PlayStation Users
Microsoft Flight Simulator represents a landmark achievement in gaming technology and simulation accuracy. The fact that it runs competently on PlayStation hardware at all is impressive given the sheer scope of rendering an entire planet’s worth of detail. Asobo Studio clearly put significant effort into ensuring the PlayStation port maintains visual parity with Xbox and PC versions rather than delivering a compromised experience.
However, the missing local storage option for world data and the inability to hit 60fps even on PS5 Pro raise questions about whether PlayStation got the complete package. Xbox players can mitigate streaming inconsistencies by dedicating SSD space to world data. PlayStation players can’t, leaving them entirely dependent on internet connection quality for optimal visuals. Given that Flight Simulator 2024 already struggles with pop-in even when streaming works perfectly, lacking the option to download content locally feels like an unfinished implementation.
The performance situation is more understandable. Flight Simulator pushes hardware harder than almost any other game, and 30fps has become the accepted standard for this level of simulation complexity. Expecting 60fps on console hardware, even PS5 Pro, was always optimistic. The unlocked VRR mode at least gives owners of compatible displays a glimpse at slightly smoother performance when possible, even if true 60fps remains out of reach.
Frequently Asked Questions
What resolution does Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 run at on PS5?
Base PS5 runs at native 1440p reconstructed to 4K using temporal anti-aliasing, matching Xbox Series X. PS5 Pro bumps this to native 1800p before upscaling. Both versions use the same TAA implementation, with Pro offering slightly improved image clarity thanks to the additional pixels but not a transformative difference.
Can PS5 versions reach 60fps?
No. Both PS5 and PS5 Pro cap at 30fps on standard displays. Owners of 120Hz VRR monitors can unlock the frame rate, but performance typically hovers between 30-40fps in most scenarios. Dense cities drop into the low 30s while less demanding areas might reach 40fps. True locked 60fps is not possible on any console version.
Why can’t PlayStation download world data locally like Xbox?
The feature is simply missing from the PlayStation launch version. Xbox Series X and S allow downloading world data, city packs, and airport details to local storage, reducing streaming artifacts at the cost of roughly 480GB of SSD space. Sony’s version lacks this option entirely, forcing all players to rely on cloud streaming regardless of internet connection quality.
Does PS5 Pro have ray tracing?
No. Despite Sony’s promotional materials mentioning ray tracing, the PlayStation versions use traditional rasterized rendering for shadows and screen-space reflections. PC versions running fully maxed settings can enable ray-traced shadows in cockpits, but this feature isn’t available on any console including PS5 Pro.
How does PS5 compare to Xbox Series X?
Performance is nearly identical, with both running at 1440p/30fps and trading narrow frame rate victories depending on location. Xbox has the advantage of optional local storage for world data, reducing pop-in when downloaded. PlayStation gets DualSense haptics, adaptive triggers, and gyro controls that Xbox lacks. Visually they’re essentially equivalent.
Is the game playable offline?
Flight Simulator requires an internet connection to stream world data. While you can technically fly without internet, the world will be mostly flat and lack detail since buildings, terrain complexity, and airports stream from Microsoft’s servers. The game is designed around online connectivity rather than offline play.
When will PlayStation get the local download feature?
Asobo Studio hasn’t announced when or if this feature will come to PlayStation. It’s currently exclusive to Xbox versions. Players hoping for local storage options may need to wait for post-launch updates, though nothing has been confirmed officially.
Conclusion
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PlayStation 5 represents a solid port that maintains visual parity with Xbox Series X while adding DualSense-specific features that Xbox can’t match. Asobo Studio successfully brought their demanding simulation to Sony hardware without major compromises to the core experience. However, the missing local storage option for world data and the inability to reach 60fps even on PS5 Pro mean PlayStation isn’t getting the definitive version. For players who already own Xbox Series X or gaming PCs, there’s little reason to switch to PlayStation for Flight Simulator. But for Sony-exclusive owners who’ve waited years to experience this remarkable simulation, the port delivers an impressive technical showcase that proves cross-platform releases can maintain quality even when leaving Microsoft’s ecosystem. The streaming-only limitation remains frustrating, especially for those with inconsistent internet or data caps, but assuming you have reliable connectivity, Flight Simulator 2024 on PlayStation offers the same globe-spanning experience that made it a phenomenon on other platforms. Just don’t expect visual or performance miracles from the PS5 Pro that the hardware simply can’t deliver given this game’s extreme demands.