13 minutes ago, EGLD said:

How long will all of our £100 purchase prices sustain pulling down satellite imagery before the men in suits start to question who's covering the on-going costs - I assume we'll get a new version before then

They take a cut on every marketplace purchase and their future plan surely includes paid DLCs. They could even go on and sell cosmetic items like they do in other games. There's plenty room to make money beside paid subs. Regarding subs... we also got Gamepass subs, where MSFS is a poster boy. 🙂

Edited July 13, 20214 yr by tweekz

1 minute ago, tweekz said:

With all the people using MS servers day by day, simmers are a neglectable fraction in that equation. It'd be more damage to ruin your image by shutting down the streaming and getting bad reports in news magazines which more people read than just simmers.

I admire your utopian vision of Microsoft but trust me, the infrastructure costs associated with running MSFS, and the revenue it's generating, will be known down to the last cent within Microsoft and someone will be signing that off every year

I'm not suggesting they'll shut down the streaming, I'm suggesting they will at some point possibly need a new source of revenue to cover the cost of running the infrastructure when the pot they have gets sufficiently low

Perhaps the on-going purchase of the client software will cover the infrastructure costs for it's lifecycle, who knows, but it's naive to think they'll run it as a charitable entity

2 minutes ago, tweekz said:

They take a cut on every marketplace purchase and their future plan surely includes paid DLCs. They could even go on and sell cosmetic items like they do in other games. There's plenty room to make money beside paid subs.

that's a good point, they wouldn't have chosen this purchase model without having confidence it can sustain itself in the longer term, but my hunch would be a new client as well in the years to come

1 hour ago, EGLD said:

I suspect by years 2/3+ we'll be finding out Microsoft's funding model to continue allowing us to stream satellite imagery

It's already in place: xbox game pass

Have a look at the discord, new screenshots are available, looks amazing 😉

WIP

Edited July 13, 20214 yr by bendead

MSFS is really changing up the marketplace along with the pace of development. I love FSlabs but they take an age to update or develop new features and their prices sting. There is an air of arrogance about them and I welcome this competition. 

If this airbus is any half as good as Fenix is claiming then the switch will be complete and I will have little reason to use P3D again.

FSlabs might have missed the (air)bus, that being said they might be working on a fantastic A350 in the background, only they know!

6 minutes ago, bendead said:

Have a look at the discord, new screenshots are available, looks amazing 😉

WIP

With the description they posted:

I'm happy for everyone who likes Airliners, personally I'm looking forward to A2A Comanche as I'm primarily interested in GA aircrafts, but this bird really looks impressive.

Edited July 13, 20214 yr by Ixoye

@ca_metal  Thanks for posting, as I am not on Discord, and I don't really want to sign up, but looking at how they are now communicating and the work they are putting in, it looks like they are really going for it! 

A lot of people saying "oh no another A320".

If you think about it...this new addon has been WIP for over a year now - how could they have foreseen where the FBW would end up?

I love my FBW A320, but I am also glad to be able to have a payware A320  in the near future too.

This thread is the first in a year where a bunch of us are banging the same drum and there is actually no one that is standing for an opposing view. We still keep going 🙂

The reason for the silence is that finally the writing that has been on the wall for a year is starting to sink in. Now PDMG has jumped on the MSFS bandwagon with proof in the pudding, in the form of the DC-6. FBW and Fenix (maybe) have put their nails in the coffin - showing that MSFS actually is a suitable platform for complex aircraft... 

I have been working with software development for 25 years in different management positions - but I am sure that is not necessary to understand immediately after the release of MSFS that this was going to happen? One of the largest software companies in the world go all in with a dear old franchise all over the media landscape. They had a clear goal of pushing Azure advertising as that is their big cash cow. They get the perfect storm with Covid to boost the interest and all major newspapers in the world praise the simulator on the release day. And the competition is a small indy developer and an aircraft giant that has no interest at all in the consumer market. Both have products with complex legacy engines that are 10 years behind from a tech perspective. Who would go winning out of that fight?

After Apple and Google put their writing on the wall, Nokia - the mobile king of the hill at that time, stayed with Symbian for ages and then jumped on the late train with Windows Phone. If they had been Android pioneers, their mobile division would probably be live and kicking today. Anyone that even remember Symbian these days? They had very loyal developers that refused to switch to Android, as it was not suitable for mobile development...

I really hope that FSL realize that P3D is Symbian - if the Fenix 320 really is good I hope they focus 100% on MSFS now and announce that they will release a full fidelity A350 - claiming that spot if Fenix gets rolling fast. They are needed as the larger market has place for many professional add on developers. Too much word not allowed on the marketplace now. 

5 minutes ago, mazex said:

The reason for the silence is that finally the writing that has been on the wall for a year is starting to sink in. Now PDMG has jumped on the MSFS bandwagon with proof in the pudding, in the form of the DC-6. FBW and Fenix (maybe) have put their nails in the coffin - showing that MSFS actually is a suitable platform for complex aircraft... 

Don't forget Working Title, and, at some extent, Aerosoft. I think those were the ones leading the troops. LOL
 

5 minutes ago, mazex said:

I really hope that FSL realize that P3D is Symbian - if the Fenix 320 really is good I hope they focus 100% on MSFS now and announce that they will release a full fidelity A350 - claiming that spot if Fenix gets rolling fast. They are needed as the larger market has place for many professional add on developers. Too much word not allowed on the marketplace now. 

Don't you think FSLabs would be better developing an A330 first? I think it's way more popular than the A350.

Edited July 13, 20214 yr by ca_metal

It says an autoland video coming cool - thanks for sharing 

Edited July 13, 20214 yr by Richard Sennett

2 minutes ago, ca_metal said:

Don't forget Working Title, and, at some extent, Aerosoft. I think those were the ones leading the troops. LOL
 

Don't you think FSLabs would be better developing an A330 first? I think it's way more popular than the A350.

Sorry - that was rude. So much looking forward to their Twotter, and love the WT Garmins. Have not dived into the CJ4 pool yet but people seem to love it. 

And you may be correct regarding the 330. I would personally be more interested in the 350 🙂

6 minutes ago, ca_metal said:

Don't forget Working Title, and, at some extent, Aerosoft. I think those were the ones leading the troops. LOL
 

Don't you think FSLabs would be better developing an A330 first? I think it's way more popular than the A350.

Aerosoft are making the A330! 

They nodded to the work FBW had done on the A320 (or maybe they knew about Fenix) and have decided not to make it.

 

source: Aerosoft forums (i don't have a link handy though)