Navigraph’s 2026 FlightSim Community Survey Shows MSFS 2024 Taking the Lead

The numbers are in, and the latest Navigraph FlightSim Community Survey paints a pretty clear picture of where the hobby is headed in 2026. This year’s survey drew a record 42,332 responses, with 15,600 included in the final published dataset after incomplete entries and insincere responses were filtered out. That makes it one of the biggest snapshots of the flight sim community yet, even if Navigraph and others note that the results likely lean toward more dedicated PC-based simmers.

The headline item is hard to miss: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is now the most-used primary sim platform among respondents. According to the published results summarized by multiple outlets, MSFS 2024 claimed 49.5% of primary platform usage, ahead of MSFS 2020 at 27.8%. Combined, that gives the Microsoft Flight Simulator family a commanding 77.3% share of respondents’ primary sim choice.

For X-Plane fans, the story is steadier than flashy. X-Plane 12 came in as the third most-used primary platform, landing at roughly 11.7% in one report, while broader platform share summaries also show the sim holding a stable presence in the community rather than making a dramatic leap or slide. In other words, X-Plane is still very much in the conversation, even if the Microsoft ecosystem is currently flying in formation far out front.

Another big takeaway is that MSFS 2024 appears to have completed the overtake of MSFS 2020. Last year, the newer platform was still climbing. Now, the survey suggests a large portion of users who switched platforms moved from MSFS 2020 into 2024, helping cement the newer simulator as the current front-runner. Sentiment around MSFS 2024 also appears to have improved significantly, with reporting on the survey noting that most respondents now lean toward recommending it.

The survey also offers a reminder about who tends to answer these polls. A reported 90.0% of respondents said they primarily use Windows PC, while 2.1% reported Xbox and 0.5% PS5 as their main platform. That does not mean consoles are irrelevant to flight simulation, but it does mean these results should be viewed as a strong snapshot of the dedicated sim crowd rather than a perfect mirror of the entire global market. It’s less “full census” and more “hangar talk with a very large headset-wearing crowd.”

Add-ons remain a huge part of the ecosystem, and the 2026 survey reinforces that point. Reporting based on the results shows major interest clustered around well-known developers, with Fenix, PMDG, and iniBuilds among the biggest names on the Microsoft Flight Simulator side, while ToLiss, Zibo, and FlightFactor continue to stand tall in the X-Plane world. That split says plenty about how simmers continue to invest in platform-specific depth, especially when it comes to airliner ops.

So what does it all mean? In plain English: MSFS 2024 now has the momentum, MSFS 2020 still has a loyal base, and X-Plane 12 remains the dependable third pillar of the hobby. The survey shows a community that keeps growing, keeps spending on add-ons, and keeps chasing realism one checklist at a time. The cockpit may be virtual, but the platform battle is very real.

For developers, content creators, and sim pilots alike, the 2026 Navigraph survey is another useful weather report for the state of the hobby. And right now, the skies belong to MSFS 2024. But in flight simulation, as every pilot knows, conditions can change fast.