Microsoft Flight Simulator physical edition includes 10 discs worth 90GB of data and will still require an internet connection to download more data as one plays.
The physical version will include “the simulator code itself” along with “the world and aircraft delivered by Microsoft,” according to Aerosoft’s Mathijs Kok.
Furthermore, you’ll need an internet connection when starting the game to ensure you can also draw from the same two petabytes of Bing data available.
Kok continued:
When you install, the sim will updates all files immediately from the servers and you will get the very latest code for the simulator itself and all content is updated. This is very much a simulator that depends on the cloud if you want to use it to its full potential. So the boxed version makes it possible for people on a slower internet connection to get the sim installed without downloading the ‘content’.
Microsoft Flight Simulator heads to Windows PC on August 18. A detailed listing of the airports available in each version can be found below: