Hello,I was wondering if someone has any idea on the number of copies sold for FS2004 and FS add-ons ? How many active users of FS2004 are there on the world ?Best regards,

Interesting question, but might be hard to find an answer. Does MS release sales figures for FS9? And, of those that bought it, how many actually use it? I've never seen figures for addons either, but like I said, it would be fun to know...billg

To my knowledge MSFT has never released sales number for version of FS. But (although I can't recall where I've seen it) I believe Microsoft has said in the past that the overall number of FS users is "in the millions". I think that includes all versions and it doesn't disguish how or how often they use it. Still, it's a pretty respectable number for a game title. Plus it makes sense given the cost to develop the product, which (if you search the forums you'll see all sorts of estimates) is considerable.

It is almost always on the monthly top 10 best sellers list of entertainment titles in the US. Tony

Don't MS have a specific building and a number of staff members just for FS? It that is the case, then they need to sell quite a few copies to break even. Also, considering that they supposedly get to work on the next version as soon as the release of the current version is undertaken, they are going to have to get the next version out the door before too long, woundn't you think? "FS2004" is going to look sound pretty old come 2006. So, who would want to buy it now? RH

http://www.avsim.com/pages/0603/fs2002_tribute/tribute.htmlYou could assume the FS2004 sold about the same as FS2002 .....Vern

With all of us users of FS, we agree never to bash Bill and his little company anymore!Without this man, we wouldnt do dangerous approaches, wouldnt have VATSIM and AVSIM, and never wouldnt be checking out scenery of countries we couldnt pay for any visit.Hail to the King.. oh.. oops.. the under-King.. since there is only one King.Johan[A HREF=http://jdserver.no-ip.com]Personal Server[/A]A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION, AND A LITTLE MORE ACTION PLEASE!

about a billion.

Yeah, I guess it's hard to have a realistic estimate of FS active users and copies sold. I don't remember where, but I read that the FS franchise sold around 22 million copies since the first version.What about the add-ons ? copies sold for aircraft, scenery, tools add-ons ?What is considered a standard number of copies sold for an add-on and for a best-seller ?

Actually, the credit goes to Bruce Artwick who created and wrote the original FS (FS1).Gates markets the program (although it was Artwick's company, Sublogic, that originally sold it).

And without Microsoft the product would have disappeared from circulation over a decade ago.In fact, without Microsoft 90%+ of us would not have a computer.

I wonder why they don't release sales figures. There isn't any competition. Or perhaps it's the lack of any competition which means they have no need to release them.

Hello Victor,Neither Microsoft nor any other vendor releases sales figures on any of their products. Probably, as you say, because this would provide information to competitors, actual or potential. This may seem trivial until one starts to consider the potential use of these numbers in the business world.It is interesting that some people outside of the industry have come up with numbers based on estimates of sales reported by a few companies in the dealer network. It is easy enough to discount these sales figures - the CompUsa figures or Circuit City reports do not take into account seasonal variations, returns or defective product, and most important do not take into account sales at other outlets on the internet, through normal stores, by mail-order, or even outside of the U.S.A.And even Microsoft could not tell you the true sales figures for any particular S.K.U. until the end of its product cycle, only how many units they ship, since a large part of the product that Microsoft ships spends much time in warehouses or on shelves while waiting to be purchased. At the end of the product cycle, most of those units return to Microsoft (guaranteed by the distribution contract!) in exchange for newer versions, and are written off from the Microsoft ledger. That is the only time when they can provide a good estimate, and only an estimate, of what has in reality been sold, that is, wound up in some end-user's home and on his computer.And this does not say how much of that product, in this case, Flight Simulator, is used and how much finishes in a drawer because it is too difficult!Best regards.Luis

>Hello,>>I was wondering if someone has any idea on the number of>copies sold for FS2004 and FS add-ons ? Trying to give a figure: Level-D forum has 5627 Licensed Members. Level-D has made just one product (LDS767) so far, and I presume it's one of the top selling titles in aircraft add-ons category. Now, we don't know what percent of customers registered to forums: 30%, 50%, 80%?. So, I'd guess they sold in the range of 7.000-11.000. Maybe other class of add-ons (scenery, etc.) sell even more.Marco

>In fact, without Microsoft 90%+ of us would not have a>computer.That's completely inaccurate. We would still have computers, but we would be using completely different software.