Microsoft Flight Simulator will celebrate the holidays with snow and real-world ice

Microsoft Flight Simulator has assembled a fleet of more than 2 million players, and it has some new holiday plans to celebrate the achievement.

Microsoft confirmed that this edition of Flight Simulator is the fastest-growing in the series' entire 38-year history (when you think of truly old-school Microsoft gaming, you should think of a Boeing 737 instead of Master Chief). That community of players has taken flight more than 50 million times collectively - that's an average of 25 flights per player - and traversed more than 3.5 billion virtual miles.

The previously announced virtual reality update coming on December 22 will now also add special Microsoft Flight Simulator livery to the entire fleet of launch planes. On top of that, the Rufus and Sam liveries from the Microsoft holiday commercial starring a bunch of dogs will be added for the Pitts Special. The update will also introduce real-time snow to Flight Simulator's weather simulation, as well as real-world ice coverage.

While it's currently a PC exclusive, Microsoft Flight Simulator is coming to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S in summer 2021. Asobo Studio's plans for next year also include three large updates to the Flight Simulator simulation itself, as well as 4 or 5 more world updates to expand the places and sights you can already find around the world (one of which will be the UK update currently slated for January).

You still have time to pick up some last-minute presents with our guide to the best gifts for gamers.