Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years.
TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust.
WTF?! Offloading most game assets to the cloud is one of Asobo Studio's most interesting decisions regarding the upcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. However, early testing has revealed the dramatic effect that cloud streaming has on internet bandwidth usage. Some users might debate whether the method is preferable to downloading everything at once.
Videos from the technical alpha for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 have revealed occasionally extreme internet bandwidth usage. Developer Asobo Studio previously confirmed that the game's cloud-based system would require more bandwidth than its 2020 predecessor, but test results far exceeded the upcoming game's official system requirements.
One video shows bandwidth usage bouncing between roughly 20Mbps and 180Mbps, while the spec sheet recommends that players have internet connections capable of at least 100Mbps. The game could theoretically stream up to 81GB per hour unless additional optimization occurs before launch on November 19.
Click to enlarge
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 streams assets according to each player's location in the game's 1:1 scale procedurally generated recreation of Earth to avoid the last game's extreme storage requirements. The 2020 edition sometimes requires up to 200GB of storage space, and purchasing all available DLC could add up to 2TB.
Making matters worse, the game only downloads updates after booting. Without the automatic backgrounds that most modern games use, users must often download patches totaling dozens of gigabytes as they begin playing. In stark contrast, the upcoming game's initial download is only 30GB and the storage requirement is just 50GB.
Although cloud streaming will shorten startup times, bandwidth usage approaching 200Mbps could negatively affect gameplay for those living in areas with slow internet options or data caps. Furthermore, playing the game over Xbox Cloud Gaming requires only 20Mbps, and Microsoft might unlock the ability to stream every game from a user's library before Flight Simulator 2024's launch. While Flight Simulator doesn't support Nvidia's GeForce NOW, that streaming service's highest subscription tier requires only 40Mbps.
Click to enlarge
Changing the graphics settings will likely affect bandwidth usage, but it remains unclear by how much, judging from the technical alpha video. The demo showcases two drastically different locations with all graphics set to ultra except for Level of Detail (LOD), which determines the distance at which objects are loaded.
Flying over the densely populated New York City with LOD set to 400 would presumably consume far more bandwidth than the comparatively barren Grand Canyon with LOD at 200. However, both areas at both LOD levels exhibit roughly the same variance.
Perhaps other graphics settings, like texture resolution, might have a bigger effect. The final game might also include an optional bandwidth cap, and Asobo still has time for further optimization.