MSFS Crosses Two Million+ Players

[Scottoest 1,561]

7 minutes ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

Fortnite managed 15.2 million concurrent players during their last big event on December 2nd .

Fortnite is huge, but Minecraft and (oddly) a game called "Roblox" are far and away the biggest games in the world.  Both over 100 milion monthly users.

Fortnite probably makes more money though, because it's monetized more than those games.  But Minecraft has been going wayyy longer.

[ca_metal 2,025]

4 minutes ago, Scottoest said:

Fortnite is huge, but Minecraft and (oddly) a game called "Roblox" are far and away the biggest games in the world.  Both over 100 milion monthly users.

Fortnite probably makes more money though, because it's monetized more than those games.  But Minecraft has been going wayyy longer.

Judging by the numbers of games Epic store is giving for free and the money they paying for developers to have temporary exclusivity on some titles, I bet Fortnite is a real money maker.

Edited December 17, 2020 by ca_metal

[peroni 541]

4 minutes ago, FAZZ3 said:

Can you all grannies stop arguing over the player count numbers and get excited about the incoming real time snow feature?

ROFL, yes this is the real news! 

Personally I don't care too much about the extra liveries, there's already a million of them out there but real-time snow and true-to-life ice coverage for the entire planet are the real gems of this press release

[Janov 2,383]

Well, we will see what happens. I love my "told you so" moments 🙂

The statistics on Steam show how even big and anticipated updates like the U.S. makeover are just short spikes in interest.

MSFS lacks the gameplay depth to hold interest for long - the graphics are spectacular, but graphics alone have never made a game last. We will see if add-on aircraft can bring this depth and the challenge of operating an aircraft in a realistic way - which will in turn kindle long-term interest.

[Scottoest 1,561]

3 minutes ago, ca_metal said:

Judging by the numbers of games Epic store is giving for free and the money they paying for developers to have temporary exclusivity on some titles, I bet Fortnite is a real money maker.

Oh definitely.  They have never-ending battle passes and stuff you can buy from the in-game shop.  Minecraft people could very well still be playing with the $20 they invested a decade ago, plus a mountain of free mods.

There's paid DLC out there, but it's much less central to the experience than Fortnite.

Fortnite is making a mint for Epic.  The interesting thing will be seeing what happens when the world inevitably moves on to the next big game, and that well dries up.

[ca_metal 2,025]

1 minute ago, Janov said:

Well, we will see what happens. I love my "told you so" moments 🙂

The statistics on Steam show how even big and anticipated updates like the U.S. makeover are just short spikes in interest.

MSFS lacks the gameplay depth to hold interest for long - the graphics are spectacular, but graphics alone have never made a game last. We will see if add-on aircraft can bring this depth and the challenge of operating an aircraft in a realistic way - which will in turn kindle long-term interest.

Microsoft seems to be happy with their numbers. Why would you bother with them?

If you are talking about viability, MSFS numbers are superior when compared to X-Plane 11 or FSX. If you think X-plane is viable, why wouldn’t MSFS be?

[abrams_tank 7,426]

39 minutes ago, Janov said:

Well, for those that want to discuss this like normal people without resorting to name calling:

Yes, I think the user numbers for MSFS for a flight-simulator are quite good. It would be great to really see usage data for all the big entries in that market, including FSX, for example.

It is normal for any new game to drop in users after the initial hype, it will be interesting to see where MSFS stabilizes and if that level is "sufficient" for MSFS to continue funding and developing it.

I believe 4.000ish players per day would be plenty - I think that is about where the curve will bottom out with the advent of new aircraft and further updates.

Cheers, Jan

 

Jan, if you are a flight sim enthusiast, you want flight sims to all advance and get better.  This will only be a big win for all of us flight sim enthusiasts. The main problem with XPlane is that for years, Austin seems to have put a low priority on graphics and using real life geographical objects and landmarks that could be streamed to the user's computer (opting for autogen instead).  In addition, the cost of purchasing a huge number of add-ons just to make XPlane decent is also inhibiting.  MSFS has set the bar higher, which is a huge win for the entire flight sim community.

I also hope that XPlane catches up to MSFS in these three areas.  It would just be a win win for the entire flight sim community.  Personally, I see MSFS's entry into the market as moving the ball forward by a lot.  I hate to say it, but for many years, the ball was practically stuck in the same place and was only moving forward by a few inches every year for flight sims.  This year, Asobo and Microsoft took that ball that was moving a few inches every year, and they punted it 50 yards further down the field. Now that, is progress.

Edited December 17, 2020 by abrams_tank

[Ricardo41 5,954]

1 hour ago, JacquesBrel said:

How do you want me to respond to that?

What's your opinion about the Steam player count?

Don't bother. He's the king of non sequiturs. 

[B777ER 2,486]

2 hours ago, Scottoest said:

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/12/17/microsoft-flight-simulator-is-fastest-growing-entry-in-the-series-with-over-2-million-players-to-date/

Active players are way less. Likely less than 250k that will stay on the platform and buy and use 3PD addons long term.. But whatever makes MS marketing happy so they get their bonuses.

[Waldo Pepper 1,953]

Two million for FS2020,  a few million more for CyberPunk 2077, both Xbox and PS5 consoles releasing concurrently (using AMD components),  AMD and nVidia releasing their next gen graphics cards concurrently,  and supply chain interruptions caused by a global pandemic.    No wonder hardware is so hard to get.

/On a side note, 2020 cannot end fast enough.  Other than FS2020's release it was pretty much a throw-away year.

[Scottoest 1,561]

Just now, B777ER said:

Active players are way less. Likely less than 250k that will stay on the platform and buy and use 3PD addons long term.. But whatever makes MS marketing happy so they get their bonuses.

Of course active players are lower.  There's always a huge gulf in games, between sales and ongoing active users.

These are pretty standard announcements in the videogame industry.  And if over 2 million people have installed and fired up your sim to at least give it a try, by all means trumpet that number,

[Scottoest 1,561]

Side Note:  Kinda shocked that with over 3.5 billion miles flown collectively, only 72% of the world has been seen.  Also, that dog needs goggles.

[Janov 2,383]

26 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

Jan, if you are a flight sim enthusiast, you want flight sims to all advance and get better.  This will only be a big win for all of us flight sim enthusiasts. The main problem with XPlane is that Austin seems to have put a low priority on graphics and using real life geographical objects and landmarks that could be streamed to the user's computer (opting for autogen instead).

Well, I think this has some merit - and I think the advent of MSFS has certainly shifted priorities at LR...a bit. But as you stated, the design philosophy of X-Plane is "function over looks" - which makes it popular among those that share the same philosophy.

It´s a bit like watching a hospital show on TV if you are a real doctor or an "airplane movie" if you are a real pilot...you can´t stand to watch, because certain things are simplified for the sake of the average Joe viewer - so they don´t get overwhelmed by technicalities.

Laminar could never implement a worldwide terrain coverage like MSFS - they don´t have the manpower, data or resources. So even X-Plane 12 will stay behind MSFS in the visual department.

The big asset X-Plane has over MSFS is the massive know-how behind it - both on the developer but also on the user side. Educated and knowledgable users are asking for and appreciating features that require deep aviation knowledge to implement. So in a way these users and LR are mated to each other in a perfect symbiosis.

If I interpret X-Planes Steam numbers correctly, about one third of it´s users have switched to MSFS when that came out. X-Plane is nowadays at the same usage numbers it has been at one year ago (it would have been higher if not for MSFS, yes).

The problem with the "a flightsimulation enthusiast wants all flightsimulators to prosper" statement is that it doesn´t quite work that way. The market is small enough as it is, and a franchise needs to sustain a critical mass to stay viable. Simulators need 3rd party, and they tend to go where the most users are - which makes more users go there. An unstable situation. Eventually it isn´t healthy competition, it is a battle of displacement to push the competition over the brink of profitability/viability.

The customer benefits in the short term - when all parties involved learn from each other and try to leapfrog and better the competition. But once one company gains superiority, this doesn´t work any more. Ever wonder why the CEO´s of the "big 5" have to go to the senate so much?

Cheers, Jan

 

Edited December 17, 2020 by Janov

[Waldo Pepper 1,953]

Just now, Scottoest said:

Side Note:  Kinda shocked that with over 3.5 billion miles flown collectively, only 72% of the world has been seen.  Also, that dog needs goggles.

Probably the polar regions.

[Waldo Pepper 1,953]

6 minutes ago, Janov said:

Laminar could never implement a worldwide terrain coverage like MSFS - they don´t have the manpower, data or resources. So even X-Plane 12 will stay behind MSFS in the visual department.

And all of that could change one day if Austin Meyers ever picks up a phone,  and talks to the right person at Google.    

Edited December 17, 2020 by Waldo Pepper