Been nagging me for a little while and never found a solid and clear answer, so here it is, straight to the pros... 😛 : Would anyone know how are World Updates selected by the folks at Asobo / MSFS ?

Is a region primarily selected based on data availability (cartography / satellite imagery / etc) ?

or is it commercially-driven, ie. existing and potential user base in a selected market / region ?

Cheers,

2Low2Slow 

 

Both, with a priority on the first aspect. If there is no data available, they can hardly do much with a world update. That said I suppose after they've done all those with good data, they'll turn to the rest and just do them with some POIs and some custom airports, I think.

I was actually pretty disappointed with the news of the next WU. I suspected Italy or NZ but was hoping a more exotic region...

yep the Caribbean! 

but nothing to complain. Europe is becoming super realistic

I remember in one of the Q&A it was hinted that user interest played a key role in the decision. That they were guessing which region would please their fan base in particular, instead of what would please the whole world in general.

If I was to wager on it in Las Vegas, I would bet Canada comes next after Italy. But I have seen no hints from Asobo. I did see a big hint 3 or 4 months ago about Italy (it was a slip of the tongue on an Q&A video that gave it away). Canada just seems logical to me.