Any worries about long-term viability of platform?

[wim123 761]

12 minutes ago, G-RFRY said:

Microsoft have been honest enough to admit the main aim is to grow the GAME PASS subscription 10 million and growing, one way to do this is the same as TV, I remember when one package bought you everything not anymore,

and i suspect some time in the future you will see a all singing and dancing version of MSFS on game pass.

to be true. i love the gamepass on xbox, its great value.

[boshar 6]

A lot of FS2020 depends on online. Azure servers providing terrain, weather and traffic for you to enjoy. Keeping this infrastructure running costs them money. The subscription model they have now for PC and X-Box is priced to gain them marketshare it doesn’t generate enough profit to pay for the 3rd party software they ‘give away’ nor does it help them with server running costs. 

Bottom line FS is part of a business. If this ‘game’ is not popular enough on their game pass service they will cancel it like Netflix does with series that fail to generate enough viewers. The past has shown us that Microsoft isn’t shy to make these business decisions. If it doesn’t make them enough money they will cut support.

[bonchie 2,305]

23 hours ago, B777ER said:

It's Microsoft. Like Google, if it starts losing money and it's going to affect dividends - done. Not saying it will happen but in the next few years if it does, MS will have no problem pulling the plug. Same for P3D for that matter and Lockheed. Its business, money and shareholders at the end of the day.

They are a long way off from losing money. MSFS has already sold millions of copies. Even if things dwindled eventually from a ROI standpoint, it would  take 3-4 years to get to the point where they won't want to keep monetizing DLC, etc. after doing all this work. By then, the base sim should be completely matured and ready for a long life in the hands of 3rd parties.

And that's worse case.

[reignman40 450]

On 8/28/2020 at 5:55 AM, micstatic said:

I have some concern about this. Microsoft pulling out kills the simulator since it practically requires streaming. In the old days they could pull out and nothing changes other than no more updates. 

This is the fear with alot of games these days and in the future. One example is Guitar Hero Live, it didn't generate enough interest/revenue and after about 3 years and the license was yanked. It had hundreds of songs from all eras you could play along to with the music videos in the background and now you are left with just the 40-50 songs on the disc. Mafia 2 was yanked from steam after the music license for the in game radio ran out. Online and streaming are scary to me...

[boshar 6]

14 minutes ago, bonchie said:

They are a long way off from losing money. MSFS has already sold millions of copies.

They are not even close on getting their investment back and this sim will always have a running cost for them as it is dependent on a large online infrastructure. For the moment they are okay with this, they are still building a diverse library for the Gamepass buisiness.  
 

But be under no illusions. If the X-Series consoles fails to keep / grow market share and gamepass shows no signs of becoming profitable they will drop MSFS as fast as they can.

 

[bonchie 2,305]

22 minutes ago, boshar said:

They are not even close on getting their investment back and this sim will always have a running cost for them as it is dependent on a large online infrastructure. For the moment they are okay with this, they are still building a diverse library for the Gamepass buisiness.  
 

But be under no illusions. If the X-Series consoles fails to keep / grow market share and gamepass shows no signs of becoming profitable they will drop MSFS as fast as they can.

 

You have no idea what you are talking about. They've sold millions of copies + new gamepass accounts and have almost certainly turned a profit at this point. This was not a $200B budgeted title like GTA or something. It was a team of only about 200 people.

If you want to stick your head in the sand and predict doom, go ahead. I'm not gonna go in circles with speculation about the depths of their business model which you aren't even privy to. At the end of the day, any game can be canceled. P3D could get canceled tomorrow. That doesn't mean there's any evidence that is likely.

Edited August 29, 2020 by bonchie

[B777ER 2,485]

1 hour ago, bonchie said:

You have no idea what you are talking about. They've sold millions of copies + new gamepass accounts and have almost certainly turned a profit at this point.

And you do? You have data to back up your statement's? 

[boshar 6]

1 hour ago, bonchie said:

You have no idea what you are talking about.

Gamepass is Microsofts bid to become a Netflix of games. At the moment they don’t care they are losing money on it. They will only keep doing this if the gained market is large enough and can be made profitable. If its profitable enough there is nothing to worry about.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-game-pass-is-not-a-big-moneymaker-right-now-b/1100-6480241/

Would be interested in any independent sales info you have. That would be next to impossible as most of the sales are digital and directly from Microsoft. Aerosoft running out of Premium Deluxe DVDs tells us next to nothing. It would surprise me if a niche simulator product goes on to top the sales charts. Let alone one that for now needs a beefy PC. Also consider that FS can be tried/played by taking a month of PC gamepass for $ 1. Lots of people playing and streaming now says nothing about profits made. 

For the record. I play FS2020 while still on a free 3 month trail that was included with my graphics card.  I will probably keep the subscription and pay a few moths more to experience FS some more. It will be some time before they make $ 60 from me playing FS2020. 

[Alpine Scenery 1,609]

The actual analysts predicted a million copies per year over the next 3 years, so 2 to 3 million was the official prediction AFIK. I do not believe they already sold millions of copies, I think they likely sold a few hundred thousand thus far, 200k to 400k would be my guess (worldwide atm), but I have no idea. You'd think they'd have surpassed at least 100k already though.

 

Edited August 29, 2020 by SceneryFX

[bean_sprout 1,201]

23 hours ago, Keto Ketchup said:

big developers abandoning software has become more vogue

On 40 year franchises?

bs

[rtodepart 761]

I dont get the point of starting a thread like this when this is only about 2 weeks since it was out ???? I know there’s probably Alott of people that come here wishing this never makes it but honestly again why would you worry Now ?????

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Have we not learned the lessons of the Cylon attack on the twelve colonies? Lest ye forget, the only two warships that survived were the ones disconnected from the network....

[Alpine Scenery 1,609]

9 hours ago, rtodepart said:

I dont get the point of starting a thread like this when this is only about 2 weeks since it was out ???? I know there’s probably Alott of people that come here wishing this never makes it but honestly again why would you worry Now ?????

They cancelled his favorite Sci Fi cartoon on Nickelodeon so he had nothing better to do

Spoiler

Spoiler

🙉🙉🙉<Glitch Techs>🙉🙉🙉

 

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by SceneryFX