A rendering of the Ever Given container ship, which is stuck in the Suez Canal, is shown in a “Microsoft Flight Simulator” video released on TikTok. (TikTok screenshot via @donut_enforcement)
Nothing like a couple of current events prying into your video game.
The saga of a container ship that has been stuck in the Suez Canal for six days has found its way to the “Microsoft Flight Simulator”. A TikTok video shows the view from the cockpit of a passenger plane flying along the busy waterway, and the captain informs passengers that “this is where most of our world merchant and cargo ships get through”.
The captain then spots the stuck ship and prompts passengers to buckle up to fly around. “It seems they have a big problem,” he says.
The video was shared on Twitter by Mat Velloso, technical advisor to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Cargo ship is stuck in Microsoft Flight Simulator pic.twitter.com/SczumWI5mD
– Mat Velloso (@matvelloso) March 28, 2021
Flight Simulator, Microsoft’s longest-running product franchise, returned to heaven last August with its first update in 14 years. The game leverages technological improvements such as the use of global imagery from Bing Maps and the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, as well as artificial intelligence technologies that enable live traffic and real-time weather.
The 220,000-ton ship is causing major problems for the global supply chain as ships with everything from cars and oil to livestock and laptops wait for salvage teams and tugs to rescue the ship and clear the busy route, according to the New York Times .
The Internet has been responding for a few days with the usual range of snark and memes.
What is happening in #SuezCanal today is explained. # Egypt
pic.twitter.com/T06bFDGQ7q
– Zaina Erhaim (@ZainaErhaim) March 24, 2021
Before:
With the ability to fly anywhere in the world, ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator’ players choose this special location
‘Flight Simulator’ is back and it’s real: Microsoft is using the cloud to get the classic franchise going again