| Flight Simulator 2024 (MSFS) PS5 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Xbox Review |
MSFS (2024) PS5 Review Overview
What is MSFS (2024) PS5?
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, developed by Asobo Studio and published by Xbox Game Studios, is a highly realistic flight simulation experience.The game puts players in the cockpit as professional pilots. With a range of gameplay modes, including Career Mode, Free Flight, and specialized Challenges.
MSFS (2024) PS5 features:
⚫︎ Full-Scale Flight Simulation Across the Globe
⚫︎ Career Mode Missions
⚫︎ Free Flight for Unrestricted Exploration
⚫︎ World Photographer for Aerial Photography Challenges
⚫︎ Dynamic Weather
⚫︎ Ranked Weekly Challenges
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about MSFS's gameplay and story.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
 Xbox |
 Playstation |
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| Price | $69.99 | ||||
MSFS (2024) PS5 Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Stunning Global Scenery Realistic Flight Physics Plane Specific Handling |
Year Old Technical Bugs Plane Controls During Career is Still Unpolished License Progression Is Grindy Lackluster Audio Design |
MSFS (2024) PS5 Story - 6/10
MSFS 2024 isn’t about narrative brilliance, and it shows. The "story" is minimal, mostly limited to the mentor introduction and mission context, which is serviceable but repetitive. AI chatter and procedural mission dialogue don’t add depth, leaving the game feeling thin on engagement or development. For a simulator, this works, but it’s worth noting the story contributes little to motivation beyond unlocking licenses.
MSFS (2024) PS5 Gameplay - 7/10
The gameplay remains the core strength, offering a realistic and intricate flight simulation experience. Career mode, free flight, and specialized missions all provide variety, but persistent control quirks, unpolished plane handling, and progression blockers weigh it down. Weather and plane-specific dynamics are excellent, yet the grind for licenses reduce overall enjoyment.
MSFS (2024) PS5 Visuals - 7/10
Visually, MSFS 2024 continues to impress. The world is vast and detailed, with dynamic lighting and accurate geographic representation making flight exploration rewarding. Performance on PS5 is generally smooth, though minor glitches persist. The scenery, cityscapes, and natural environments provide breathtaking moments, especially during challenging weather or tight maneuvering.
MSFS (2024) PS5 Audio - 6/10
Audio is functional but not outstanding. Engine sounds, environmental effects, and passenger chatter are realistic, but the monotone AI voices and repetitive mission cues can become tiring. Music is minimal, usually not present on missions, so the overall soundscape rarely elevates the experience beyond basic immersion.
MSFS (2024) PS5 Value for Money - 7/10
The game offers extensive content, from free-flight exploration to varied mission types, justifying $69.99 for dedicated sim enthusiasts. Replayability is high, but frustrating bugs, career-mode roadblocks, and a steep learning curve might deter casual players. Post-launch support is expected to improve longevity, but the current experience feels incomplete on PS5 compared to patched Xbox releases.
MSFS (2024) PS5 Overall Score - 66/100
MSFS 2024 on PS5 is a game of highs and lows. When it runs smoothly, it’s a stunning simulation with detailed flight mechanics and impressive visuals. However, technical issues and buggy career progression hold it back. Casual players will need patience, but for dedicated flight sim fans, it remains a compelling experience.
MSFS (2024) PS5 Review: Tower, We’re Still Experiencing Turbulence
Coming Back to the Cockpit
I’m no sim-rig guru with a cockpit setup that looks like it could taxi down a real runway, but I’ve always had a genuine fascination for sim games purely because of the science behind them. It’s the same itch that keeps me glued to F1 titles year after year—even when the updates are barely more than a fresh coat of paint. There’s just something about machinery, physics, and precision that pulls me in every time.
So last year, I dove into Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on Xbox and let it consume an embarrassing number of evenings. Now, more than a year later, the PS5 version finally touches down. But does Xbox’s aerial marvel translate smoothly to Sony’s hardware, or does something get lost somewhere over the Atlantic? I took it for a spin so you won’t have to.
Life in the Skies
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PS5 isn’t trying to convince you it’s something it’s not—it’s a full-fat aviation simulator first, a playground second, and a career builder somewhere in between. At its core, it’s still the same "here’s an entire planet, go fly" experience we sank hours into on Xbox, but now revisiting it feels like stepping back into a familiar airport lounge… only to remember how massive the departure board actually is.
The heart of MSFS 2024 revolves around its simulation systems—weather, aerodynamics, avionics, and all the little moving parts that dictate whether you glide gracefully or lawn-dart into the nearest runway. But layered onto that foundation is a surprisingly robust career mode, where you unlock specialized missions by earning the right licenses. Aerial advertising, cargo transport, mountain rescue, flightseeing tours, wildfire support, each one pushes you into a different branch of aviation.
Outside the career path, you’ve got the general activities like rally-style air races weaving through checkpoints, and landing challenges. Free Flight remains the soul of the game though—pick a plane, pick a place on Earth, and just… go. No objective markers, no pressure. Just you, the sky, and hopefully an engine you remembered to start.
Then there’s World Photographer, a mode I still think is one of the game’s most charming features. Fly to real-world locations, line up shots, and capture scenery as if you’re doing aerial photography for travel magazines.
There's no real story here so don't expect any narrative arcs. You get a mentor during the early stages who introduces you to the basics and frames your progress and missions—while varied—share the same premise anyway. If you’re doing flightseeing tours, for example, it’s always some variation of members of the local aviation club wanting to enjoy the scenery—charming at first, superflous after the tenth time.
The Engine Still Stalls
If you’ve followed MSFS communities on Xbox and PC, you might remember the infamous game-breaking bug in the career mode during the Private Pilot License exam. Toward the end of the test, the whole thing just melts down. Either the prompt to contact tower control refuses to appear, or you park the plane and… nothing. The game simply doesn’t acknowledge your existence anymore. You're stuck in cockpit limbo forever.
Back on Xbox, I never encountered this myself. I knew it existed, I saw other players suffering through it, but my run miraculously went smoothly. So imagine my surprise when my luck finally ran out on PS5.
You might ask why I didn’t mention this in my initial review and only bring it up now. Well, because I did talk about a ton of other bugs in the original review. And a lot of what I’m saying here will sound familiar compared to my Xbox experience. But this particular issue? This one is new to my playthrough, and it stings even more because I genuinely thought that by now, over a year later, MSFS 2024 would’ve polished this license exam nightmare into oblivion.
Instead, here we are. This bug completely blocks career progression. You can’t force the interaction to appear, you can’t skip it, and there’s no hidden workaround. Your only option is to keep retrying the entire sequence and pray the game decides to cooperate. That’s what I had to do: restart, retry, hope, repeat.
And while I’m not naive enough to expect every single issue to be magically fixed for the PS5 launch, I am a bit deflated that this version feels like it’s back in square-one territory. Rough around the edges, wobbly on its wheels, and showing cracks in missions that really should be rock solid by now.
Controls Fight Back
Another thing that really stood out to me—unfortunately not in a good way—is how unpolished the plane controls still feel in career mode. And I don’t mean "a little stiff" or "needs a patch or two." I mean more unpolished than what I experienced on Xbox at launch, which is saying something.
On PS5, even when I’m fully stopped at 0 km/h with the brake button pressed so hard I’m surprised the controller didn’t crack, the plane still… creeps forward. And then there’s the steering. More than once, I’d steer right on the ground and the plane would veer left instead. It’s the kind of thing that makes you look down at your hands like, okay, did I press the wrong thing?
The Paycheck Problem
Now, this next part is something I personally don’t enjoy, but I know some players do appreciate it because it leans into the "real world aviation experience" vibe. And that’s your employer commission.
To progress in career mode, like I mentioned earlier, you need to obtain specific licenses, everything from pilot certificates to specialized qualifications for missions like aerial advertising or transporting cargo. And these licenses aren’t free, they’ll cost you anywhere from 2,000 credits to 15,000 credits. And saving up for them? Let’s just say it feels less like climbing the ranks of an aviation career and more like surviving an unpaid internship.
Your employers take massive cuts from almost every mission you complete, commissions that feel downright brutal. I’ve had a job supposedly paying out a bit over 3,000 credits, only for my actual take-home to be around 400. Four hundred. I’ve seen busier lemonade stands earn better margins.
I get the realism angle, I do. Pilots don’t pocket 100% of their contract payouts in the real world either. But when progression in the game depends on affording these expensive licenses, and your earnings are constantly sliced into paper-thin scraps, the whole system starts feeling less like realism and more like punishment disguised as authenticity.
Gameplay and AI Fatigue
Now, you might be wondering, if many of my complaints mirror what I said during the Xbox release, why is the score lower this time? Well… for one, I gave the story too much credit the first time around. Back then, it felt like a mild weakness—something the game didn’t particularly focus on, but not something that dragged the experience down either. But now, with the game’s expanded use of autogenerated chatter, its shortcomings feel louder than before.
I’m not saying every mission needs bespoke dialogue or handcrafted narrative arcs, but other simulation games have already shown how even small touches of personality or context can make missions feel grounded. Here, the reliance on AI makes everything feel oddly hollow. A little too clean. A little too manufactured. And when your game is built on the magic of real-world wonder, that artificial edge becomes hard to ignore.
And I’ll fully admit, this might come off a bit biased, but honestly, last year, AI wasn’t as unavoidable as it is now. This year? It’s everywhere. Google’s AI overview, social media apps filled with AI generated content, it seems everywhere I look there’s AI. And that AI fatigue absolutely seeped into my experience. I’d hear the monotone, generically cheerful passengers or clients and instead of feeling immersed, I’d be reminded of how synthetic everything sounded. The more I heard it, the more I didn’t want to keep going.
It’s a strange thing when a game about lifting off into the sky ends up weighed down by something so… artificial.
As for the gameplay, while it’s still the expansive simulation playground I praised last year, I genuinely hoped that after a full year, we wouldn’t be getting the exact same version of those gameplay hiccups. The foundation is solid but the rough edges that were present at launch are still here, untouched. It’s not that the gameplay loop has suddenly become bad, it’s that the lack of evolution, or rather, the decision to not include the fixes that were available for Xbox the past year for the PS5 release feels glaring. A year is a long time to smooth out longstanding issues, especially for a title that prides itself on realism and precision, yet here we are, revisiting familiar frustrations instead of discovering meaningful refinements.
Sky’s The Limit
Now, let’s pivot to the parts that still make Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PS5 shine. When the engines behave, the bugs stay tucked away, and the flight is smooth, the simulation itself is utterly captivating—a professional-grade recreation of aviation that rewards patience, skill, and attention to detail. This is where the game reminds you why it earned its reputation, flying here isn’t just pressing buttons, it’s a careful dance between physics, weather, and machine.
Each aircraft handles distinctly, from nimble single-engine props to heavy commercial airliners. You can feel the subtle differences in responsiveness, the weight shifting under your hands, and how takeoff and landing require different approaches depending on size, power, and aerodynamics. Weather isn’t just visual flair either, it’s a dynamic factor that influences flight behavior. I’ll never forget a cargo transport mission I attempted in a heavy, sluggish plane during a torrential downpour. The rain didn’t just obscure my view—it threw off lift, made my control inputs twitchy, and added a nerve-wracking layer of tension that turned what would have been a routine delivery into a full-on test of skill and patience. Every gust, every wind shear, every tiny adjustment mattered.
And then there’s the scenery. MSFS has always been about more than just mechanics, it’s a globe-spanning sightseeing tour. Cities, mountains, rivers, and oceans unfold in staggering detail as you climb above them, with dynamic lighting and accurate geography turning each flight into a living postcard. I had another memorable moment during the World Photographer challenge in Dublin where I misjudged a turn and nearly clipped a building, my heart leaping as the wingtip scraped perilously close. Just in time, I pulled up, the cityscape brushing past me like a reminder of both the thrill and fragility of flight. Moments like that—where your skills, the plane, and the world converge—make the simulation genuinely thrilling.
Whether it’s battling adverse weather, managing the unique handling of each plane, or weaving through meticulously recreated cities, MSFS 2024’s PS5 release shows what a flight simulator can be when it works as intended. The bugs and career-mode frustrations are still there, yes, but when the skies cooperate, it’s something truly special.
Is MSFS (2024) PS5 Worth It?
Not Right Now
So, would I recommend Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PS5 right now? Honestly… not quite. Last year, with the Xbox release, I advised players to hold off until the game reached a more polished state. Fast forward to today, and while the PS5 version brings the game to a new platform, many of the same technical issues, career-mode bugs, and unrefined controls persist. The updates that improved the Xbox version haven’t fully made their way here, and that makes it difficult to confidently suggest jumping in just yet.
That said, when the simulation runs smoothly, it’s still an awe-inspiring experience. The handling of different planes, the challenges that dynamic weather bring, and the breathtaking global scenery remind you why this franchise is a standard-bearer for realistic flight. Cargo missions in heavy rain, near-misses over Dublin, and free-flight explorations all demonstrate the potential brilliance of MSFS 2024—but those highs are punctuated by frustrating lows that can stall progress and dampen enjoyment.
In short, this isn’t a game to rush into. If you have patience, love flight sims, and can tolerate career-mode hiccups and AI fatigue, there’s a lot to admire. But for the average player—or anyone expecting a seamless, polished PS5 experience—it’s worth waiting for future patches before you take off. Until then, the skies are as beautiful as ever, but the journey there can be bumpy.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
Xbox |
Playstation |
|||
| Price | $69.99 | ||||
MSFS (2024) PS5 FAQ
What Bugs Are Players Still Facing During Missions?
Some recurring issues include flights failing at critical points (e.g. taxi or landing) or physics glitches like planes stuck on the ground or unresponsive controls.
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Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Product Information
 |
|
| Title | MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2024 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | PlayStation 5 December 8, 2025 Xbox, PC November 19, 2024 |
| Developer | Asobo Studio |
| Publisher | Xbox Game Studios |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam), Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 |
| Genre | Simulation |
| Number of Players | 1-2 |
| ESRB Rating | Everyone |
| Official Website | Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Website |
