Microsoft Flight Simulator will generate $2.6 billion in PC gaming hardware sales over the next three years, according to research firm Jon Peddie Research (JPR). From flight sticks to high-end GPUs, the flight simulation business is soaring thanks to the release of this blockbuster.

The research firm estimates that Microsoft Flight Simulator will sell about 2.27 million units over the next three years. Still, if the number is close to this figure, it would mean that the simulator has had a significant and lasting impact on the hardware market.

And will we see a return to the mainstream of immersive sim setups with flight sticks, throttles, and multiple monitors? I spent many hours as a kid piloting custom spaceships and fighter jets in MSFS with a flight stick, and I'm just waiting for a return to that weird and wonderful world of tailor-made, game-specific PC accessories on an epic scale.

Beyond that, there are PC components that need upgrading for demanding titles.

"Flight simulators are very demanding in terms of processing power, high resolution, large displays, and use of VR," says Ted Pollack, senior analyst at JPR. When new flight simulators are released, the hardware to run them at maximum configuration and performance does not yet exist." This creates a situation where fans are chasing the best experience and constantly demanding hardware for the life of the title. A significant number of flight sim fans only play flight sims. We took this into account when calculating whether money would be spent specifically or partially for this game."

And there is still no gaming hardware that really makes Microsoft Flight Simulator shine.

However, it is presumed that the job of calculating exact hardware sales by user intent is still an imprecise technique, and it is recommended that these numbers be taken as a rough estimate of the impact MSFS will have on the overall market.