They've been published.  MSFS is obviously 1st in popularity.  No surprises there.  The big surprise is that XP11.50 is 2nd at about 35% to 40% of people using it.  DCS 3rd. X-Plane 12 4th.  P3D is behind all of them.  

X-Plane is doing much, much better than I expected.  And I expected MSFS to be much further in front (with 10 million downloads).  

Also, the fact X-Plane 12 is about 10%-15% behind X-Plane 11.50 in numbers, after only 3 months is outstanding.  I guess it's obvious.  These numbers destroy the steam stats.  It's no wonder LR have started hiring more people.  With X-Plane 12 having 1/3 of the users of MSFS, after only 3 months, and just coming out of beta, they must be rolling in the money.  I love it when the numbers come out.  Puts to rest all the speculation and misinformation.

https://navigraph.com/blog/survey2022

 

Edited December 22, 20223 yr by GoranM

Xplane 12 and DCS basically being neck and neck is a huge surprise. Its looking increasingly to me like the fall of msfs as it becomes dated will be a lot quicker than it was for FSX and P3D, I'm not picking up anywhere near the commitment to the MS based sims that there was in the past.

40 minutes ago, GoranM said:

expected MSFS to be much further in front (with 10 million downloads).  

The problem they face is exactly the opposite of Xplane.

first impressions of MSFS are great, its only afterwards the flaws it has stop people sticking with it, If I recall correctly I think steam average hours per user per month for msfs is something like half that of XP11.

GoranM thanks for the link it's very interesting indeed. However, I tend to disagree with that interpretation.

You're comparing the longest bars which basically means who owns given simulator. If you take a look at the breakdowns and which is used for 'most of the time' (aka 'primary sim') the differences between sims are closer to expected outcomes - MSFS: 55%, XP11: 9%, XP12: 5%, DCS: 3%, P3D v5: 3%.

Anyway its great to see rise in popularity for X-Plane and I hope it would be sustained. Competition is always great.

 

Edited December 22, 20223 yr by twojastara

Just now, twojastara said:

You're comparing the longest bars which basically means who owns given simulator.

Exactly.  This is the metric I am most interested in.  It represents ownership.  Not usage.

2 minutes ago, twojastara said:

most of the time

slightly ablmbiguous meaning of "most of the time".

I dont think it means 'vs another sim' but rather they spend most of their time in that sim.

or perhaps from a different perspective

"sometimes" using DCS doesnt mean you use any other sim ever, it just means sometimes you use DCS.

Very interesting indeed. Msfs has definitely a bigger user base but so are their running costs. The cost to profit ratio must be much smaller than that of xplane. No wonder Laminar is hiring more devs. Surely they have enough money to spare. What Laminar has accomplished with a much much smaller team is nothing short of amazing. Future is definitely bright for us Xplaners !

For such a recent release, those are nice numbers! It already has more users than P3D v5. I did not expect that.

With the development it will have in the immediate and medium-term future, I expect it to gain a solid userbase.

I'm laughing hard at all those people who have been proclaiming, since 2.5 years ago and still continuing today: "ThAt'S tHe LaSt NaiL iN x-PlAnE cOfFin!!1!"

🤣

Regardless of a more refined or picky analysis, I think the clear picture is that MSFS, XP12 and DCS are the most relevant platforms, the first two growing on the void left by P3D. All three have a robust and thriving 3rd. party support and, while there are things to dislike in each of them, they are undoubtedly evolving and offering something unique for their users.

Hope that v6 can revert the evident decline of Prepar3d.

 

1 minute ago, GCBraun said:

Regardless of a more refined or picky analysis, I think the clear picture is that MSFS, XP12 and DCS

definately agree with this, dcs in particular is really maturing now.

2 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

void left by P3D

Im not sure its so much a void, they really  - afaict - didnt innovate and improve, mostly because they were stuck on esp, both FSX and P3D both kept users and developers for faaaar longer than they deserved.

17 minutes ago, mSparks said:

definately agree with this, dcs in particular is really maturing now.

Im not sure its so much a void, they really  - afaict - didnt innovate and improve, mostly because they were stuck on esp, both FSX and P3D both kept users and developers for faaaar longer than they deserved.

Yes, I actually think the growth based on P3D’s stagnation applies to XP more strongly. That is why I started using XP actually…

MSFS, on the other hand, brought flight-simming back to mainstream and this should be celebrated by all of us, irrespective of their platform of choice. 

Edited December 22, 20223 yr by GCBraun

1 minute ago, GCBraun said:

brought flight-simming back to mainstream

Mainstream? I'd love to rank it with the likes of Forza and GTA in terms of user usage goals and expectations, but I don't think it's quite there.

1 minute ago, blingthinger said:

Mainstream? I'd love to rank it with the likes of Forza and GTA in terms of user usage goals and expectations, but I don't think it's quite there.

When was the last time that a flight simulator was announced on major gaming events or been showcased by popular internet influencers due to its usage of the latest tech such as DLSS3? Which other civilian Flight Simulator is available on consoles, Game Pass or on the cloud?

Yes, it does not compete with Fortnite, but that is not the point anyway. MSFS brought many new simmers to the hobby and that will be a positive for XP as well. 

2 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

or been showcased by popular internet influencers

is hands down getting all that attention. (once ms stopped bribing them)

 

50 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

Hope that v6 can revert the evident decline of Prepar3d.

Prepar3d had an unwritten purpose in which it was able to filled for masses, that move to that platform. That was using the expression of a "void", was left open by FSX itself.

The lack of advancement of it technology, full support of Direct x 9 with compatibility Direct x 10 function and being a 32 bit sim that limited its ability to address more than 4 gig memory. 

Prepar3d address the graphic technology by using Direct x 11, later move the sim to 64 bit to address more memory and make better use of modern hardware. They brought with it hdr lighting, added PBR material to help improve to over all experience.

Now that MSFS is here, that use of technology is no longer exclusive to the relative platform and therefore I see no reason why they would to come back if that was all they care about using it for in the first place.  

 

 

Edited December 22, 20223 yr by BobFS88