I wouldn't worry too much:-

Microsoft Flight Simulator expected to generate $2.6B in PC hardware sales in 3 years

https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/microsoft-flight-simulator-expected-to-generate-dollar26b-in-pc-hardware-sales-in-3-years/

I dont think we ever have to worry because the BIG THING for MS is in my opinion NOT the simulator but the Virtual Earth they have created.

This can be used for many other applications besides people flying pretend planes around.

As it develops more and more in the coming years with ever more high rez imagery it will become a very valuable tool to industry. More so than Google Earth Pro I feel. 

Just like you can run Google Earth in a browser I see this Virtual Earth also doing the same thing in the years ahead. And just like Google Earth has a built in "flight sim" a heavily stripped down version of this one will too. Letting people fire it up as an app or in their browsers to check a place out.

This does not mean the sim will be ignored of course but constant updating of the virtual planet will cascade down to the sim as well.  

Another user posted this excellent article on here. Check this out:

https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/case-studies/2020/08/24/cleared-for-takeoff-exploring-microsoft-flight-simulator-2020s-research-potential/

2 hours ago, DPSimulation said:

Are you privy to both the inner workings of Asobo and the code for everything being worked on? Genuine question.

Considering all of the other speculation that abounds this forum are you singling out this comment for a particular reason?

People say wait 1-2 years it will be great, someone said PMDG will have a product ready in 6-12 months.

No different actually. Many think this is the end all for flight simming. Could be further from the truth. It's an Xbox game after all!

 

1 hour ago, SierraHotel said:

I wouldn't worry too much:-

Microsoft Flight Simulator expected to generate $2.6B in PC hardware sales in 3 years

https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/microsoft-flight-simulator-expected-to-generate-dollar26b-in-pc-hardware-sales-in-3-years/

To be taken with a grain of salt, pure speculation.

 

5 minutes ago, tpete61 said:

Considering all of the other speculation that abounds this forum are you singling out this comment for a particular reason?

Yes, I was asking a genuine question. If they can both confidently state that an unreleased patch is a joke and it took too long, along with willing to put money that attention has now been diverted elsewhere away from the program after nine days, then they surely know exactly what is going on there.

Or they are talking utter nonsense. I know which one i'd be putting money on.

3 hours ago, maniamcool said:

Judging from the time they needed to produce that joke of a patch... I'm not hopeful 

I'm willing to put money on betting Asobo have already shifted their attention to other projects. 

What "joke of a patch?" Asobo hasn't released a patch yet!

You would loose your bet. They are actually hard at work on MSFS.

34 minutes ago, tpete61 said:

No different actually. Many think this is the end all for flight simming. Could be further from the truth. It's an Xbox game after all!

No, it may eventually become an XBox title someday, if and when the hardware is ever ready!

Someone already found a way to data stream google maps instead of bing, so I'm 100% not worried about losing that feature down the road. It's been out not even two weeks yet, just because it didn't release perfect doesn't mean it won't be polished out eventually. There's plenty of non sim games that started out way worse than MSFS and were amazing once they were fixed. 👍

Why is the OP asking?

The Troll-O-Meter is running.

 

bs

Want to know what MSFS will look like if they drop support?  Turn off "online Functionality" under Options/General Data tab, and you'll see what your out of the box Scenery is.

Beats Default MSX hands down and still provides a much more detailed VFR experience than we are used to.  Sure, custom scenery packs obviously out do what's provided out of the box in MSFS 2020.  

I've also found that any manual cache images you download are still utilized in offline mode  I had the Puget sound area cached in very low res and it showed.  But once I was at 3000 AGL it wasn't that bad.  So if you are REALLY worried about BING turning off the pipeline to 5 Petrabytes, you can still set up manual caches of your favorite areas and download some low or medium quality imagely of your favorite areas to use .

 

 

Edited August 28, 20205 yr by wthomas33065

I confess to being a little worried, because big developers abandoning software has become more vogue in recent years (cough Google cough). Thankfully I'll only be out $60 if they do; I'm not going to build a RL sim cockpit for MFS 2020. 😝

Edited August 28, 20205 yr by Keto Ketchup

Hey, it gives you inspirations how planes will take-off in the future:

YouTube

This game is more long-term than many would expect.

10 hours ago, tpete61 said:

To be taken with a grain of salt, pure speculation.

 

No, it's slightly more than speculation. It's a projection, you know, the same system as used by airlines, aircraft manufacturers, banks etc. Your wishing it so doesn't make it fact. And even if they did remove all support and internet access, MSFS is still a thousand times better than any of the completion in offline mode!

Edited August 29, 20205 yr by SierraHotel

Microsoft do not make hardware for desktop PC`s, and none simmers Gamers make up the most of Gaming PC`S sales.

Microsoft does not give a Sh.. about MSFS, they only care about $$$. Their end game is vacinating the world!

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.