"Flight Unlimited" was placed in direct competition with several major flight simulator franchises. Before the game's release, Shelby Bateman of "Next Generation Magazine" wrote, "1995 is going to be a real dogfight in the flight-sim and aerial-combat categories, and LookingGlass is betting its bankroll ... that it can capture significant market share from the likes of Microsoft "Flight Simulator" and the debut of Spectrum HoloByte's "Falcon 4.0", among others." Describing the situation, Johnny L. Wilson of "Computer Gaming World" wrote, "The games that sell big are the ones that allow you to blow stuff up, so, if anything, that could be a problem for "Flight Unlimited"." Doug Church explained that, because the game did not feature combat and bore little resemblance to "Microsoft Flight Simulator", the team spent "many late nights" on marketing strategies. However, he noted that the game had a wide appeal among those who tested it during development, which he called "a really good sign". Talking to Bernie Yee of "PC Gamer US", Paul Neurath said that he thought the game would sell well. Yee noted that Neurath "fully it to prove more popular than "Microsoft Flight Simulator"".