Make Cloud Streaming Optional -MSFS 2024

Ok everyone, ITS TIME TO VOTE. after waiting 10 hours to get into the sim I was overwhelmingly disappointed with the sim, and a lot of it circles around data failing to stream to my PC properly. Planes often load in with missing textures, it can take upwards of 30min to load into an airport, textures often missing on some of the aircraft, and my library shows all of my files as “streamed” rather than installed.

I have 2 gigabit internet so my ISP is not the issue.

However, this sim has potential. For starters, the flight model is incredible, the cpu performance has been massively improved, with airports full of traffic and the skies feel very alive. The Developers have listened in the past when we vote and they have been very receptive. Rather than request a refund I will be requesting the option to make cloud streaming optional as most of us would rather have larger downloads straight to our hard drives.

303 Likes

I hope that’s just a startup issue and will be improved asap

15 Likes

Me too. I know a lot of people are trusted, myself included. However I am not ready to request a refund yet. The devs have done a lot for the flight simming community and I want to give them the opportunity to resolve the issue and hear us out as a community.

19 Likes

I don’t think that’s a startup issue, it’s much more a construction flaw to stream every asset.

27 Likes

I agree with you. I’d much rather have a larger download size like with MSFS 2020.

44 Likes

Yep storage is cheap these days… A quality 4tb NVME drive can be had for $299 now so space isnt an issue and 10tb HDDs are cheap

20 Likes

Yes please!
I mean, i have bandwith enough to stream (if the servers were capable enough…), but like i mentioned in the other topic, while loading the game to an airport my internet reached 700Mbps… 700!! Not everyone has this kind of internet at home, so yeah. Let us download the game and only stream as opt-in.

24 Likes

Agreed, I have the storage for all the world updates and aircraft and I don’t want to suffer from streaming. Also not having the aircraft local means I cannot modify the camera.cfg for custom camera setup. Not really desirable.

20 Likes

This is stored in a different place. I think this would be possible also with aircraft in the cloud.

3 Likes

Same here, the loading of the sim was not a problem, then I wanted to see how those Aircraft now look. Uups, Bandwith too low it said. I have 944 Mbps, that should be sufficent. Not one Problem with MS2020, but here?

11 Likes

That is natural this Game will never run with aircraft in cloud. Any of aircraft work fine texture missing, sound missing ehh…

7 Likes

Exactly. I believe these aircraft are too complex to be in the cloud. At the minimum giving us the option to download assets would alleviate the strain on their servers for those who want to utilize cloud based streaming.

9 Likes

Exactly. I have 2000mbs internet and still received a low bandwidth message

9 Likes

The entire game is designed around the philosophy of streaming. That is the entire architecture. There’s a snowballs chance in hell of this being implemented. Better off just waiting a few days for the servers to stabilize.

14 Likes

I believe this decision was made to make the game playable on console.

11 Likes

You are very right. But it doesn’t hurt to try.

3 Likes

I prefer my idea.

Streaming is essentially core to getting the data you need, at the time you need it, to the client. Removing it completely will never work.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/i-wish-there-was-a-better-download-experience-with-a-proper-offline-working-version/665114

Offline experience is what we need, a working title without the streaming, and with things to do while we wait for streaming to fix. Let me configure my avatar, my controls, fly around a single airport, but still keep streaming.

If you prefer this, maybe vote on that idea instead.

10 Likes

I voted for yours. I don’t believe the entire thing should be offline as the world is too vast. But more assets should be available for download similar to MSFS 2020. The option should be available for of users that have the space.

13 Likes

I couldn’t agree more with this post. The current streaming implementation is outright HORRIBLE, a complete DISASTER, which really undermines what could be a fairly good simulator. The reliance on streaming for core assets—like aircraft, textures, and scenery—feels like a failed experiment. Instead of enhancing the experience, it has turned into a source of constant frustration and annoyance.

On launch day, the streaming infrastructure collapsed entirely. I encountered endless issues: missing aircraft textures, absurdly long loading times (sometimes 30+ minutes just to get into an airport), and broken textures that fail to load properly. Even after the initial chaos, the problems haven’t improved—aircraft don’t load in correctly, textures are still missing, and performance is hindered by a system that just doesn’t work as intended.

To make matters worse, I’ve spent close to 80 euros on this simulator, and I expect to actually own the product I’ve paid for. As a paying customer, I want to have direct access to the content I purchased, without being forced to rely on an unstable streaming infrastructure. The option to download all core assets—aircraft, textures, photogrammetry, and regions—directly to my hard drive should be standard. I should be able to choose to store everything locally if I want to, even if it takes up more storage space.

This streaming-first approach is fundamentally flawed. It breaks immersion, causes chaos, and ruins the entire experience. I would much rather dedicate hard drive space to ensure stability and performance than deal with the constant annoyance of missing or delayed assets. Cloud streaming should only ever be OPTIONAL, not forced on users who clearly see it as a failed system.

This simulator has incredible potential, but as it stands, the streaming infrastructure is holding it back in a big way. For the amount of money players are spending, we deserve a simulator that works reliably and gives us control over how we access its content. Let’s make sure the developers hear us—this needs to change for the sake of everyone who loves this sim.

Asobo, take a look at your reviews on steam, what does it say? “Overwhelmingly negative”. Please, take into account how the community feels right now.

Devs, your idea of streaming the entire simulator is possible the WORST, most HORRIBLE decision you have EVER made. And yes, I am emphazising this using capslock, because this is important and NEEDS to be changed NOW. THE STREAMING DOES NOT WORK. PERIOD.

35 Likes

I Agree it may be practically impossible to not data stream the map due to its size, but maybe allow the client to cache certain parts of the map for offline mode, and or when there are internet drop outs or you get temporarily disconnected. And maybe a region selector where you can just download the US or a state.

10 Likes