Another developer admits sales are falling for legacy sims

[XMAN 12]

I dont have it because of the internet requirement , they could have an offline option , where i could just buy half a continent   

[Noel 4,501]

2 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

With all the issues and hassles with MSFS, going back to either P3D or XP is not something that I will ever do. MSFS has me spoiled now. 

This is what has happened to me, however I have adjusted by using P3D a certain way.  As an avid P3D w/ FSCaptain user, after MSFS release I found myself 90% in MSFS for months, 10% P3D.  Slowly that morphed into 50:50 over the last months.  Then, after giving MSFS a break for a week or two while Asobo tried to sort out all of its recent FPS/stuttering issues that seem to keep worsening, I found myself really missing it again, getting very bored w/ P3D.  Part of this is that even w/ a decent system I have had to reduce settings in P3D to accomdate PERFECTLY smooth flight from start to finish, including all AI traffic, airport vehicle traffic etc.  This has also been helped by flying only dusk til dawn hours when P3D looks fine, helped because it's no problem to have autogen at Sparse and detail distance at medium when its dark outside!   I'm flying just PMDG stuff in P3D and so flying into KSFO-HD or KDEN-HD I have lovely smooth performance and very few of those 'long frames' P3D is famous for, so it works.  Even so, it's just really a cockpit simulator as it were, and does great in that role.  It's just a poor 'flight simulator' when it comes to feeling like you're actually flying in this world.  I had thought I discovered a fix for the stutter/fps problem but alas it failed 30 miles out from arrival in a rural area in Nor Cal no less.  I hope they figure out the aweful FPS drops and stuttering that has plagued many users soon I really miss being able to complete a flight.

[abrams_tank 7,419]

4 hours ago, himmelhorse said:

I am not quite sure where you are coming from here mate.

I believe that we all know that MSFS is the future. To believe that P3D or XPlane will get better graphics in two weeks or even two years is very subjective (unless you have some inside information about XPlane12 or an impending P3D update) Maybe I am reading this incorrectly.

Personally, I would love to see both of those platforms go to, or adopt, the same scenery concepts/levels as MSFS in the VERY short term. THAT, would be a very great equalizer in the scenery aspect.

Which ever way this pans out, the simmer is going to be the winner, and I do not have any problems with that.  I am happy to wait for MSFS to sort itself out and if that happens before I depart this mortal coil, I still win.

Tony

P3D and XPlane will probably not be able to match satellite and photogrammetry data cover for the entire world without help from a company like Google.  And even if P3D and Xplane could somehow magically get that data, it costs money to run the servers for that and manpower to manage those servers too.  That’s more $$$ that it would cost. So some type of subscription fee would probably be required.

You get all that satellite and photogrammetry data streamed to MSFS and it only costs you $60 USD (if you purchased the standard version of MSFS) and no subscription fees are required either.  That is a good deal for purchasers of MSFS.

[abrams_tank 7,419]

This is not surprising that another company other than Aerosoft, is reporting that P3D sales have tanked,  One wonders how much longer X-Plane sales can hold onto as well.

i have said it this before, but the release of MSFS reminds me a lot of when IPhone came out in 2007.  RIM (Research in Motion), the maker of Blackberry, was shocked at the release of IPhone, unable to believe Apple could release such a product that could do almost everything the Blackberry could do, at such a low price compared to the Blackberry.  On the IPhone release, the writing was on the wall for the Blackberry and RIM and now we know the rest of history.

MSFS is similar in that it’s beating P3D and XPlane with superior technology in 2 key areas: graphics and satellite/photogrammetry coverage of the entire world.  And it costs $60 USD for all that.

For the satellite/photogrammetry coverage of the entire world, I have no idea how P3D or XPlane can match that without some type of subscription fee.  MSFS does not charge us a subscription fee for it, which makes it all the more remarkable.  It requires servers & bandwidth, and employees to maintain the servers that stream the satellite & photogrammetry data and that costs $$$.  And P3D or XPlane would need a company that has that data & infrastructure like Google.  In short, I highly doubt P3D or XPlane will ever have satellite/photogrammetry data streaming for the entire world for the home flight simulator market because of these hurdles.

I honestly think P3D, and maybe even XPlane, could end up like the Blackberry in a few years.  They have a lot of catching up to do to match MSFS.  RIM tried with later versions of the Blackberry but still failed.  

Edited April 21, 2021 by abrams_tank

[jarmstro 2,402]

The uncertainty about X-Plane 12 is surely another factor that must be dampening addon sales for XP. Compatibility is my concern.

[omarsmak30 4,068]

I feel sorry for developer like Aeroplane Heaven, in regards to their comment about sound pack, unfortunately Audiokinetic Wwise is a standard nowdays in many games and thus they will need to adopt to it.

The thing is, many of these developers see things in annoying way because they got used to certain way of doing things in previous sims. Now no doubt MSFS has a very steep learning curve but again, this is how it is. Either adopt to it or new developer will jump to it.

[omarsmak30 4,068]

Double post 

Edited April 21, 2021 by omarsmak30

[OSM 683]

In a one year FS2020 will have 100+ airplanes. In a one year community will stop talking about other flight simulators. A new flight simulator will appear only when some kind of newest gaming technology will be developed, which FS2020 doesn't have.

[Dominique_K 10,149]

5 hours ago, Chock said:

.

whining for the sake of it

I am no fan of AH but in any case it does not sound whining to me but sheer frustration with a couple of convincing examples. Milviz, in another thread here, seems to share the same.

I fly exclusively MFS these days and love it but I truly wish to see P3D still around because the ambulating mess that MFS is and Microsoft’s obvious goal to prioritize expanding fast the customer base at the expanse of reliability and depth makes its future uncertain. I certainly will keep my eyes open to P3D6 if they can significantly improve scenery and light rendering. Lockheed-Martin has all the assets to give some hard time to Microsoft if they want so.

[G-RFRY 1,712]

Sales have dropped for me I already have most large addon airports for P3D but when something new comes along I buy, that I suspect is why sales have dropped off nothing new and when MSFS gets saturated with addons where do they go then, they will not have MSFS 2 to makes money on.

Edited April 21, 2021 by G-RFRY

[Ricardo41 5,949]

MSFS 2020 has, in just a few months, reduced all other sims to legacy/niche simulators. 

Whether this is a good thing or bad thing remains to be seen. 

The addon market has followed/will follow suit. 

Announcing a new addon for P3D is like saying: "Coming soon on VHS tape".

[HighTowers 1,434]

This is simply just going to take time. But all things considered, the pace its moving forward is quite impressive.   Just from another very rough perspective, I had a look at the avsim library  and the xplane.org freeware downloads statistics of which they are rather vague and not updated.  Avsim library which has been around for ages, but the "downloads for the past 365 days" page brings up a 2017 year for some reason. Nevertheless, from a library featuring FS9,FSX, and P3D, the monthly downloads were on avg approx 25-30k. Thats only one source. There is plenty others. Xplane forums downloads I couldnt find exact stats, but the all files page which ranges from files all the way back to XP7 thru to XP11 has roughly around 55,000 files.  Add duplicates from other sources. 

Flightim.to one of many freeware sites but seemingly the most dominant, already has 9million downloads, and over 21,000 files. That in a span of about 8 months.  

From something still in very early infancy, this has alot of attention. Development will only get stronger.  Its already been mentioned a few times in this thread with the blackberry analogy and others, but its clear that the new kid on the block is taking over.  So you either you step it up to compete from other platforms, or step aside and join in.  You can deduce the statistics from other ways I am sure, but given the time periods, I think it says it all the way its going.   There are many who say the SDK is incomplete. Fair enough, but its not stopping FBW, WT, and Aerosoft from putting out really decent product.   Heck the "Hype performance group" already has a decent AH135 heli that is one of the most downloaded in flightsim.to.    This despite Microsobo saying helis wont be in the sim until 2022.   Anything is possible. 

https://library.avsim.net/viewstats.php?Graph=fileperiod-365

https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/

https://flightsim.to/statistics

[himmelhorse 1,276]

17 minutes ago, HighTowers said:

But all things considered, the pace its moving forward is quite impressive.

Unfortunately for many, the pace of moving backwards is also impressive (and frustrating)

21 minutes ago, HighTowers said:

So you either you step it up to compete from other platforms, or step aside and join in.  You can deduce the statistics from other ways I am sure, but given the time periods, I think it says it all the way its going.

So true and you don't really need to be a super sleuth armed with video cameras and calculators to work out just what is going on.  It all started back in 2019 with an incredibly clever and very aggressive publicity campaign and has not really let up since. Let's face it, the signs were pretty obvious even then.  

I do believe, however, that even if the others are reduced to niche products, a lot of developers will be clever enough to make a product in three versions. I think they will make a majority of their profits with the MSFS versions and the others will just be a small(?) bonus. 

I am still muttering with incredulity, the ability of developers to make money out of jazzing up what is already pretty staggering scenery.  The aircraft developers certainly have their work cut out for them and that is regardless of which platform they are developing for.  

Time will tell of course, but I am not buying any addons for MSFS until they start updating with updates that do not break my existing platform each and every time.  We have to give ourselves a collective pat on the back for our perseverance  and tolerance thus far. (or is that just marketing???)

Tony

[abrams_tank 7,419]

1 hour ago, Dominique_K said:

Lockheed-Martin has all the assets to give some hard time to Microsoft if they want so.

One thing LM doesn't have though is the infrastructure to stream satellite/photogrammetry to all the home users of P3D.  Microsoft already had that with Bing, even before MSFS was greenlit.  In many ways, Asobo is piggybacking off of the infrastructure and data that was already built out for Bing.  

Edited April 21, 2021 by abrams_tank

[OSM 683]

I'm sure that other Microsoft simulators, such as Ship, Rail, Transportation, and even military strategy, soon will start to use Bing maps streaming service.

Edited April 21, 2021 by OSM