MSFS may have earned a new meaning: Microsoft Fishing Simulator. If Microsoft themselves had released this, the confusion would probably be even greater. But they didn’t. It’s actually GoFish, a new release from the team at Parallel 42. You open their announcement expecting another utility or tool from a studio known for exactly that, and instead you’re faced with an add-on that tells you to park the airplane, step out in Avatar mode and start fishing.
According to //42, GoFish began as a morale reset during the push to get ChasePlane and Flow ready for MSFS 2024. What started as a side experiment became a fully functioning activity built around the ability to walk around the world. The premise sounds simple, but the underlying system shows a degree of technical investment that sits in sharp contrast to what you’re probably expecting reading these words.
GoFish uses real-world occurrence data from OBIS and GBIF to determine what species appear in different regions. The team says more than 200 species are included, each with rules for habitat, season, time of day and water type. The sim’s latitude and longitude feed, together with a freshwater–saltwater–brackish classification, drives an “Available Fish at This Location” panel that updates depending on where you stand.
Everything is handled through an in-sim EFB panel. You select bait and line, adjust drag and casting distance, monitor line tension and browse a catch log that keeps separate histories for each difficulty mode. An optional auto-reel assist is available for anyone who wants the process simplified.
The result is a reminder that MSFS 2024 can support systems far outside the traditional aviation loop, and makes us wonder about how third-party developers may continue testing the edges of the platform. At the same time, it raises the familiar question of where the line sits between expanding the simulator and drifting away from its central purpose.
GoFish launches first for Club 42 members and requires the SU4 beta. A wider release will follow once SU4 becomes the public version of MSFS 2024. The listed price is 20 USD.
