Learn which title was the first PC flight simulator game, why subLOGIC's 1979 release gets the credit, and why Microsoft dates from 1982.
The first PC flight simulator depends on what “PC” means. subLOGIC Flight Simulator, created by Bruce Artwick and released for the Apple II in 1979, was the first widely recognised commercial personal-computer flight simulator. For the IBM PC specifically, the answer is Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0, released in November 1982.
Which flight simulator came first?
subLOGIC’s 1979 release—also known as FS1 Flight Simulator—came first. The Apple II was a personal computer, although it was not an IBM-compatible PC.
| Release | Platform | Historical significance |
|---|---|---|
| subLOGIC FS1 Flight Simulator, 1979 | Apple II | First widely recognised commercial flight simulator for a personal computer |
| Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0, November 1982 | IBM PC | First Microsoft-branded Flight Simulator and the usual answer when “PC” means IBM PC |
That distinction explains why both 1979 and 1982 appear in accounts of the first PC flight simulator game.
Why is Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 sometimes called the first?
Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 is called the first when the question is specifically about the IBM PC or Microsoft’s series. Microsoft licensed the underlying simulator technology from subLOGIC and published the IBM PC version under its own name.
It was not the beginning of Artwick’s simulator itself. Our timeline of the Microsoft Flight Simulator series explains the difference between the 1979 subLOGIC origin and the November 1982 Microsoft release.
Was subLOGIC Flight Simulator the same game?
The subLOGIC and Microsoft releases shared a direct technical lineage, but they were not simply identical packages with different labels. They targeted different computer platforms, and the IBM PC edition became the starting point for the Microsoft-branded series.
The original software was extremely simple beside a modern simulator, using sparse graphics to represent a cockpit view, terrain and flight in real time. Its significance was putting an interactive flight model on a home computer rather than matching the scope of later simulators. Our history of flight simulation technology places it within the wider development of computer-based simulation.
Were there flight simulators before 1979?
Yes, but they were not commercial personal-computer games in the modern sense. Mechanical training devices, military and research simulators, mainframe programs and arcade-style flying games all pre-dated FS1.
The defensible short answer is therefore: subLOGIC FS1 Flight Simulator from 1979 was the first widely recognised personal-computer flight simulator; Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 from 1982 was the first for the IBM PC.