Lockheed Martin-Microsoft Agreement to Bring Better Training to Warfighters ORLANDO, Fla, November 30th, 2009 -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Microsoft Corp. entered into an intellectual property licensing agreement that allows Lockheed Martin to further develop the Microsoft

Lockheed Martin-Microsoft Agreement to Bring Better Training to Warfighters ORLANDO, Fla, November 30th, 2009 -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Microsoft Corp. entered into an intellectual property licensing agreement that allows Lockheed Martin to further develop the Microsoft

.. that any further evolution/development on the current FSX code for the consumer market is now dead and burried...

I don't see how one can draw such conclusion from the info above. Lockheed simply purchased rights/license to modify ESP to their own liking and needs.Nowhere does it says that Microsoft ceded all the rights to ESP to Lockheed.

It does mean that MS licensed the platform for use again, this is a departure from their plan not to continue to sell licences and support.There is a group at MS with plans for further " Flight Games " that at last report was waiting for the green light to proceed with further development though i haven

I can see it now, the next FS will be from Lockheed Martin, and then, it will only have Lockheed Martin aircraft in it. :(

Chuck, what good news

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_r...nt11301009.htmlThe $42.7 billion in sales that Lockheed Martin posted in 2008 would have allowed something of an incentive for MSto consider an offer from them , ESP ( and FSX ) are with the use of simconnect capable of providing a formidable platform for training.The detail possible with 30 CM resolution and absolutely faithful reconstruction of the buildings on that terrain provide a three dimensional recreation of unparalleled fidelity , we share a respect for its capabilities and have done our part to scratch the surface of the possibilities , i am delighted tosee a change in the presumed demise of the ESP platform as it means that MS will have staff devoted to its continued use and with them comes some improved chance that further development of the recreational version of the platform may well come to pass .

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_r...nt11301009.htmlThe $42.7 billion in sales that Lockheed Martin posted in 2008 would have allowed something of an incentive for MSto consider an offer from them , ESP ( and FSX ) are with the use of simconnect capable of providing a formidable platform for training.The detail possible with 30 CM resolution and absolutely faithful reconstruction of the buildings on that terrain provide a three dimensional recreation of unparalleled fidelity , we share a respect for its capabilities and have done our part to scratch the surface of the possibilities , i am delighted tosee a change in the presumed demise of the ESP platform as it means that MS will have staff devoted to its continued use and with them comes some improved chance that further development of the recreational version of the platform may well come to pass .

Excellent news-thanks for sharing it!

i am delighted to see a change in the presumed demise of the ESP platform as it means that MS will have staff devoted to its continued use and with them comes some improved chance that further development of the recreational version of the platform may well come to pass .

Not sure what you saw in the press release to make you think that :-> Lockheed has acquired a source license to the ESP technology, so they will have a staff making continued use/changes to it, but not MS unfortunately - at present it's pretty much just me and my boss left and that only until end of April or so - I'm Lockheed's support person until then. Lockheed is specifically barred from using the codebase in the entertainment market.Tim

Thanks for clarifying that point Tim , it wasn

Beatle: why do you have to ruin things with facts! you should have left the thread run wild for a week or so :)

Not sure what you saw in the press release to make you think that :-> Lockheed has acquired a source license to the ESP technology, so they will have a staff making continued use/changes to it, but not MS unfortunately - at present it's pretty much just me and my boss left and that only until end of April or so - I'm Lockheed's support person until then. Lockheed is specifically barred from using the codebase in the entertainment market.Tim

OK

1. I

You realize how many games are made using the Unreal and Quake engines alone? :) And the MILLIONS of dollars they produce and the thousands of FULLTIME professionals that work on these projects :)

OMG Daniel-san

I don't see how one can draw such conclusion from the info above. Lockheed simply purchased rights/license to modify ESP to their own liking and needs.Nowhere does it says that Microsoft ceded all the rights to ESP to Lockheed.

IMHO, MS probably is gonna allow Lockheed to do whatever they want with the code for a limited, but renewable future.When a company like MS, gives the code of a product like ESP/FSX to a company like Lockheed Martin, then it pretty much marks the end of development for that product from MS's end.Microsoft has already bailed from the development of ESP, why would they even bother to try and continue development on ESP. MS has done what they sought out to do. They have sold thier simulator platform to a company who is now going to take some of the best software engineers in the world and manipulate the original ESP code to produce and market specific simulator platforms for Lockheed Martin cutomers. I'm sure MS will be paid a percentage of each sale and on top of that, once Lockheed gets past the first few hurdles, won't need any support from MS anymore. It's probably a deal made in heaven for MS. Thier ESP platform has finally reached MS's original goal. This alone allows MS to walk away and continue to bring in the $'s for a product they already felt wasn't worth the costs of continued development...JB