Gaming has been around for so long now people are forgetting the source of the term.
It isn’t, “Game” as in, points are scored and there is a winner or loser.
It is short for, “Video gaming” which is a form of graphics reliant leisure software people can play from home on their PC or gaming console.
It is a term used to distinguish this type of software from productivity and work software.
And the term was coined back when green lines were considered cutting edge graphics.
So, since the dawn of video gaming, simulations have been considered part of the same category, made by the same game studios, sold in the same game stores, and (until relatively recently) they exclusively used game controllers or a mouse and keyboard (or before the mouse, just a keyboard).
This, “Not a game” debate has become a thing mostly in the last decade as people younger than video games hear, “Game” and think, “Well that doesn’t describe simulation.”
But, “Video gaming” does. Sims are undeniably leisure software dependent on graphics that people can enjoy from home on their PC or console.
It is a pretty silly debate, and it can pass the time, but it is worthless in the grand scheme.
And remember, MSFS was produced by XBOX GAME Studios, made by Asobo Studio (What KIND of studio?), available on Steam (What do THEY sell?), the Microsoft GAME Store, GAME Pass, you can stream it via XBOX Cloud GAMING and play on your GAMEPAD, or you can download it direct to your XBOX GAME Console.
I get the point. Simulation is not (always) a game. But it is undeniably video gaming from home. It has no business or productivity application. Graphics are a vital component and, it is something you do in your spare time for fun or self-improvement.
Other games that lack traditional game play include the well known Minecraft, and the not so well known Midtown Madness series of car games made by Microsoft around the turn of the Millennium to basically make a MSFS for driving around well known towns. Before GTA 3 and Forza Horizon, we could just go online and… drive with other people. Make our own fun. It wasn’t just about racing. It was a communal playground. There was a sandbox and we all drove around in it.
That’s the thing about a sandbox. It is not in and of itself a game, but it is a space (IRL and on computer) made to accommodate (game) play.
Perhaps these days, “Game” is not the best descriptor for simulations. They have come so far. But they have no real world, tangible value. You can’t log real flight hours on MSFS. Sure you can learn about planes, but you can learn about sports in the latest FIFA title and nobody mistakes it for real world experience. Many games teach you things about vehicles or various aspects of history… but they aren’t real, and they have no tangible real life application beyond leisure and entertainment.
Folks who insist this, “Is NOT a game” sure get vocal on this forum when they fly around and notice people playing MSFS like it IS a game. The sandbox accommodates and scales to allow for BOTH types of PLAY, and those who play it as a sim are just playing by and adhering to their own self-imposed rules of gameplay within this open sandbox. A sandbox. Found IRL on a PLAYground.
It really is this simple: In MSFS, are you playing a pilot, or BEING a pilot? Since there is no tangible, real world application to flying in MSFS, we are all PLAYING pilot in sim, even those of us who ARE pilots IRL. Even those of us who are practicing real pilot things. If we could log hours, or if MSFS had FAA approval as a sim, it would cross over into having a real life, tangible, business application, and it would earn itself a different software classification.