3 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

So ironically, I think the 777 from PMDG may be delayed a little.

I am not sure. There is a lot of demand for a quality, systems rich long-range airliner. I think the 777 will do better than a MAX at this point, and they might come to the same conclusion. iFly and PMDG have long coexisted and offered the same NG package, I do not think PMDG is going to be so worried about them. And from the reviews on the P3D forum (what few comments there were), it does not seem to be at the level of authentic simulation as what PMDG provides, I think a lot of us will wait for a MAX from PMDG - and they know that.

This said, I will be quite happy purchasing either a MAX or a 777 from PMDG this coming year. 

On 12/18/2022 at 7:33 AM, F737MAX said:

The -700 and -800 are a lot more popular (real world and sim world), the much cheaper -600 scratches the itch for anyone who doesn't care for matching the model

Back when pricing schemes were being discussed I said they really should charge X for the first in the set, then a small fraction of that for all other variants.  Something like $60 for the first one, and $10 each for others.  I might have picked up more than one model but as it is now they're all going to be so similar I really don't care to own more than one at the price points they're going to go with.

12 minutes ago, Cognita said:

I am not sure. There is a lot of demand for a quality, systems rich long-range airliner. I think the 777 will do better than a MAX at this point, and they might come to the same conclusion. iFly and PMDG have long coexisted and offered the same NG package, I do not think PMDG is going to be so worried about them. And from the reviews on the P3D forum (what few comments there were), it does not seem to be at the level of authentic simulation as what PMDG provides, I think a lot of us will wait for a MAX from PMDG - and they know that.

This said, I will be quite happy purchasing either a MAX or a 777 from PMDG this coming year. 

But there really isn't any competition for a study level 777 in MSFS now. No other developer is making one, that I am aware of.

It's in PMDG's financial interest to beat IFly with the MAX in MSFS.  PMDG can gobble up much of the sales for the MAX, leaving IFly in a difficult spot.  If IFly comes out with the MAX first in MSFS, it puts PMDG in a difficult spot, because most of the people that want a high fidelity MAX will have bought IFly's version in MSFS.

If the 777 from PMDG is delayed a few months, I don't think it will hurt PMDG's bottom line that much.  Short of something coming out of left field, like QW suddenly releasing their 787 (which may usurp a few customers that want a long haul Boeing in MSFS) or some unknown developer suddenly releasing a high fidelity 777 for MSFS (very unlikely, IMO), I don't think PMDG will lose much sales by delaying their 777 for a few months, just to focus on getting their 737 MAX in MSFS before IFly.

Anyways, this is just my opinion.

Edited December 19, 20223 yr by abrams_tank

21 minutes ago, Noel said:

Something like $60 for the first one, and $10 each for others

PMDG know that they can charge a premium and get away with it. So I doubt the follow-up variants would ever be that cheap.
That said, I think they've left an awful lot of potential sales on the table. $150 or so to get the full NG range, rather than the $245 we're expecting them to charge, would make that a lot more paletable and get more people to open their wallets.
 

21 minutes ago, Cognita said:

There is a lot of demand for a quality, systems rich long-range airliner. I think the 777 will do better than a MAX at this point

Agree.
 

10 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

But there really isn't any competition for a study level 777 in MSFS now. No other developer is making one, that I am aware of.

It's in PMDG's financial interest to beat IFly with the MAX in MSFS.

Disagree. There is *a lot* more money people are willing to be spend on a long-hauler, whatever that is, rather than "yet another 737".

I also don't think iFly are anywhere near ready to launch a MAX for MSFS. Look how long it took them to get a version out for P3Dv5, a platform they were relatively comfortable to design on.

The competition at this point is therefore FBW's A380, iniBuilds' A300, TFDi's MD-11, Aerosoft's A330-300, QualityWing's 787(?), FSLabs' A330, plus JustFlight's A300 and B747-200.
While some are more likely to make a quicker appearance than others, the interest in long-haulers will significantly diminish after the first two (of any type) are released. Therefore, I think some of the players that haven't yet made an appearance yet are a lot closer to a L.H. airliner release than PMDG is.
PMDG got it right last time by releasing relatively early, it also helps that they seem to be the only serious developer tackling the more modern Boeings.
 

Edited December 19, 20223 yr by F737MAX

2 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

Anyways, this is just my opinion.

Yes, it is a sound analysis and they may indeed have switched development to the MAX. I tend to think based on their past decisions that they will stay the course and move to the 777 next -- partly because they think the short- to medium-haul market is somewhat saturated right now; partly because of their relationship with Boeing and the implications of a MAX in a widely used flight simulator (I do not think iFly has the same, close relationship); and partly because of development considerations - it is not so easy to just move development priorities around, particularly for PMDG, there are costs associated with that too.

Did iFly ever mention anything solid about MSFS though? I've had a look but can't see much. In the FSElite article about the MAX at https://fselite.net/content/ifly-737-max-8-being-readied-for-release/ they said the following at the bottom:

Quote

Updated to remove the info about MSFS as it has been confirmed development is being considered.

So it sounds to me they haven't fully decided or if they have then development is really early stages. I don't think we will see it in MSFS from them for some time. We don't know of course how far PMDG have got with the MAX at all either. 

Also, it's not like this was released without anyone knowing. We've know since about summer 2022 that iFly were doing a Max for P3D

Edited December 19, 20223 yr by Zangoose

1 hour ago, Zangoose said:

Did iFly ever mention anything solid about MSFS though? I've had a look but can't see much. In the FSElite article about the MAX at https://fselite.net/content/ifly-737-max-8-being-readied-for-release/ they said the following at the bottom:

So it sounds to me they haven't fully decided or if they have then development is really early stages. I don't think we will see it in MSFS from them for some time. We don't know of course how far PMDG have got with the MAX at all either. 

Also, it's not like this was released without anyone knowing. We've know since about summer 2022 that iFly were doing a Max for P3D

You need to follow the IFly forum. Sorry, I can't find the links as it's been maybe two months since I read their updates, but maybe two or three months ago, iFly in their forums and updates mentioned that they were working on the MSFS version of the MAX, but it wasn't quite ready for pictures yet.  They said they would have a later update on the iFly MAX for MSFS with pictures.

2 hours ago, Cognita said:

Yes, it is a sound analysis and they may indeed have switched development to the MAX. I tend to think based on their past decisions that they will stay the course and move to the 777 next -- partly because they think the short- to medium-haul market is somewhat saturated right now; partly because of their relationship with Boeing and the implications of a MAX in a widely used flight simulator (I do not think iFly has the same, close relationship); and partly because of development considerations - it is not so easy to just move development priorities around, particularly for PMDG, there are costs associated with that too.

I think they've viewed the MAX as safe territory to squat, even though there's a credible competitor, they know they will still have an overwhelming grasp on the market 

777 is next probably out of a lack of originality (same order they developed for P3D)... they have not shown much interest or progress in developing the MAX and I'd be really surprised to see that change. 

Edited December 19, 20223 yr by mspencer

2 hours ago, Cognita said:

I am not sure. There is a lot of demand for a quality, systems rich long-range airliner. I think the 777 will do better than a MAX at this point, and they might come to the same conclusion. iFly and PMDG have long coexisted and offered the same NG package, I do not think PMDG is going to be so worried about them. And from the reviews on the P3D forum (what few comments there were), it does not seem to be at the level of authentic simulation as what PMDG provides, I think a lot of us will wait for a MAX from PMDG - and they know that.

This said, I will be quite happy purchasing either a MAX or a 777 from PMDG this coming year. 

Generally agree.  I think PMDG have made their mind up and the 777 will come first.  They've already made the commercial and development decisions as far as PMDG forum announcements go.

PMDG already had a reputation and MSFS has enabled them to build a brand upon it.  The market now is far wider than P3D has ever been - the bold, ultra competitive pricing of the 737-600 was an appeal to that market.  They're all set to capitalise upon this with the 777.  I don't think they'll be too worried by an iFly Max;  the MSFS market is now big enough to have 'churn'.  Customers will come and go, new ones arrive, older ones will expand they're libraries.  

Personally, I think it's inevitable that their biggest seller will turn out to be the 747.    

 

 

Question is, regarding the 777, if it'll offer a plausible C*u law implementation because without that it will never become a 777 simulation. 

I believe I once Saw mention that they were working on a p3d update but I'm not sure if it's still considered or if it will only become available for MFS?

Regarding the -900, I will most probably end up buying it because the 700 is already my preferred airliner in MFS, followed by the DC-6 and the Fénix 320.

Edited December 19, 20223 yr by jcomm

14 hours ago, WestAir said:

Does anyone know what aircraft are planned right now and in what order?

The plan (!) they communicated is 737-900 - first 777 variants - MAX - remaining 777 variants - 747 - undisclosed new product which might be a 757.

4 minutes ago, Nixoq said:

The plan (!) they communicated is 737-900 - first 777 variants - MAX - remaining 777 variants - 747 - undisclosed new product which might be a 757.

I do hope for the 744 to come right after the triple7. Actually, I wish it'd come next, but alas...

It's an airframe we won't have, while further variants of the others, uh...we will. So those are less interesting (to me).

Plus, 747 is somewhat unique (esp now that the end has come) and carries a great deal of cachet. The rest are just iterations on a theme that you can barely tell apart at distance or in cockpit...

58 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

I do hope for the 744 to come right after the triple7. Actually, I wish it'd come next, but alas...

It's an airframe we won't have, while further variants of the others, uh...we will. So those are less interesting (to me).

Plus, 747 is somewhat unique (esp now that the end has come) and carries a great deal of cachet. The rest are just iterations on a theme that you can barely tell apart at distance or in cockpit...

Personally, I'm most excited for the MAX and 777 at this point. I'd buy a PMDG 757 in a heartbeat but I'm not sure if that's really going to happen. A 787 would make a fine replacement, though.

For me, the 777, A330 and A350 are what I’m looking for. Likely will not purchase the 747. Will get the TFDi MD-11 cargo in lieu of the PMDG 747-8. I lost interest in the 747 whilst using it in P3D. I am keen to see the all new VC of their 777 though, that will be nice.