1 hour ago, lwt1971 said:

our focus is very much on Microsoft Flight Simulator. We entered this business to provide the best quality add-ons. Entering a long-term relationship with the fantastic team at Microsoft Flight Simulator, allows us to do just that but to a much wider audience in Microsoft Flight Simulator."

So it means with high possibility, their A380 will be an exclusive on MSFS that could be sold via a DLC from Microsoft 

Edited June 12, 20224 yr by omarsmak30

Just now, omarsmak30 said:

So it means with high possibility, their A380 will be an exclusive on MSFS that could be sold via a DLC from Microsoft 

yeah, that is probably the deal they made. Give one aircraft for free, and the rest will be sold through the MS Store. 

6 minutes ago, omarsmak30 said:

So it means with high possibility, their A380 will be an exclusive on MSFS that could be sold via a DLC from Microsoft 

It’s probably part of the partnership deal they signed with Microsoft. The assumption is, Microsoft paid iniBuilds for their A310 for this partnership. So the deal probably also requires that the A380 be an exclusive aircraft for MSFS only.

Could be MS is trying to move the remaining user base from P3D to MSFS who are still refusing to move citing the lack of study level aircraft for MSFS with the A310 as then that doubt won't exist anymore. Unlikely this is it, but who knows.

Myself I was wary and did not move until the Maddog was released for MSFS and haven't looked back. The improvements in scenery and FPS with the new simulator is breathtaking. 

Looking forward to the A310! 

9 minutes ago, Ikarus280 said:

Could be MS is trying to move the remaining user base from P3D to MSFS who are still refusing to move citing the lack of study level aircraft for MSFS with the A310 as then that doubt won't exist anymore. Unlikely this is it, but who knows.

Are there many? 😅

9 minutes ago, omarsmak30 said:

Are there many? 😅

Probably not on the entertainment side but more the commercial training side.

Also, RIP Xplane...

Well,

this was a really rewarding week end ( not just the ordinary weekend because in Portugal we had 2 holidays next to the weekend, so, a total of 4 free days ! )  in terms of flight simulation.

I was finally able to use the Fenix decently, having completed with success 3 pleasurable flights, was also able to try the PMDG-737 and the Kdiak which had both received updates I didn't have the time to install and try.

I also played around with the free "Maverik" adventures / aircraft, and I confess I find it really amusing to play too !

Finally, today's announcement of the 40th Aniversary of MS FS, was the cherry on top of the cake 🙂

Regarding Inibuilds and the upcoming A310, I believe my thoughts about the promotional sales were confirmed. I bought the Beluga and the A310. The A310 in particular is an aircraft I have always liked a lot. The Beluga is iconic, after the Guppy...

All I can think about is using XP11 and the A310 to train for the upcoming release for MFS. I will try to learn the systems, and using it in XP11 will be important to make comparisons when the MFS version get's released by november 2022.

Great news for the future of flight simulation !

I am stunned, what is this free?? The news and the buzz around this sim just keeps growing. If we get a few of the technical details that still need working on there will be no stopping the upwards momentum.

Edited June 12, 20224 yr by Car147

2 hours ago, abrams_tank said:

I also think Microsoft has more ambitions with MSFS. If Microsoft can consolidate the consumer market with MSFS, they will go after the commercial market next.  This huge spending and investment by Microsoft into MSFS, such as the money that Microsoft likely paid iniBuilds for their A310, tells me that Microsoft is very, very, likely going to go for the commercial market at some point.

I agree. Microsoft solved the problem of Flight Simulator  that caused them to stop development in the past. 1) In sim marketplace let's them monetize addons sold by third parties which contributed to continued development and maintenance. 2) Leveraging the talent of third parties (ORBX, Gayasim, iniBuilds etc) to add value/marketing to the base product 3. Showcasing their core technologies such as Azure AI that will reap commercial sales for the Azure platform. 4) Xbox and its game pass makes for wider market reach, especially the in game store. 

 As for the commercial training aspect, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Microsoft and Lockheed Martin are behind closed doors negotiating on LM integrating code to create products for commercial applications as per their previous agreement with ESP. Either way, what a time to be alive. 

1 hour ago, Ikarus280 said:

Could be MS is trying to move the remaining user base from P3D to MSFS who are still refusing to move citing the lack of study level aircraft for MSFS with the A310 as then that doubt won't exist anymore. Unlikely this is it, but who knows.

Myself I was wary and did not move until the Maddog was released for MSFS and haven't looked back. The improvements in scenery and FPS with the new simulator is breathtaking. 

Looking forward to the A310! 

I doubt that's really the way Asobo look at it, and I doubt Microsoft think about it at all, haha.

Asobo have said their ambition is to make MSFS a the best simulation for serious simmers there is.  By simply delivering that, they'll win over anyone they'd reasonably be able to "convert" from competing platforms.  And some people will ride or die with P3D to the "end", which is fine.

XP had a little under 1/5th the average/peak concurrent users in May that MSFS had (and that's only comparing MSFS Steam numbers - not Xbox or MS Store), and it stands to reason at this point that P3D is probably much smaller than that.  I'm not sure that's enough business for them to see value in aggressively pursuing holdouts.

10 minutes ago, Scottoest said:

I'm not sure that's enough business for them to see value in aggressively pursuing holdouts

I think your right that it’s not a specific target per se, but the holdouts are probably big spenders overall. 

4 hours ago, 737_800 said:

The only bad thing about this is that there are almost none A310-300 left in the real world that could be simulated in the sim 😞

Not entirely. Mahan Air and Iran Air still fly a fairly sizeable fleet of them with Mahan having a lot more. Kam Air in Afghanistan still fly one. If you like exotic destinations such as Iran and Afghanistan then there are several great freeware options for airports in Iran and one for Kabul. Don't forget cargo airlines such as ULS in Turkey and Royal Jordanian although the latters A310's days are numbered.

14 minutes ago, FrankSalo said:

 As for the commercial training aspect, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Microsoft and Lockheed Martin are behind closed doors negotiating on LM integrating code to create products for commercial applications as per their previous agreement with ESP. 

Now this is a much more realistic prospect than Microsoft trying to compete directly with Lockheed Martin for defence contracts.

 

 

16 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

Now this is a much more realistic prospect than Microsoft trying to compete directly with Lockheed Martin for defence contracts.

Lockheed Martin is a customer on Microsoft Azure so business wise, they both would benefit from this arrangement.