MSFS tops Navigraph 2023 survey results

[lwt1971 8,077]

https://navigraph.com/blog/survey-2023
Full report: https://download.navigraph.com/docs/flightsim-community-survey-by-navigraph-2023-final.pdf

Some notables re: MSFS:

• 70.8% use MSFS as their primary simulator (2nd place: X-Plane 13.1%, 3rd place: P3D 4.6%)
• 63.2% picked MSFS as "used most of the time", up from 55.9% last year
• 73% likely to buy MSFS 2024
• MSFS 2024 expectations: performance/fps optimization - 27.9%, improved graphics and realism - 20.2%, improved weather - 16.8%, improved flight model - 11.4%, ...

Some general notables:

• 23,736 respondents
• 64% do IFR flying mostly, 19% VFR mostly
• Most valued aircraft feature: systems complexity - 38%, realism and authenticity - 26.6%, flight model accuracy - 17.4%, graphics/visuals - 10.4%, ...
• Future products most looking forward to: PMDG 777 - 29.2%, Fenix A319/A320/A321 - 12.3%, FBW A380 - 11.3%, ...
• Best product releases of 2023: PMDG 737 - 11.2%, Fenix A320 - 9.7%, A2A Comanche - 8.8%, MSFS2020 & AAU updates - 6.4%, X-Plane 12 - 4.9%, Horizons 787-9 - 3.7%, ...
• Media consumption: FSElite - 44.9%, Flightsim.com - 33.2%, Avsim.com - 28.9%, ...
   

Edited December 22, 2023 by lwt1971

[Krakin 6,305]

Yeah that is what you call market domination and despite the hiccups surrounding it's announcement, it looks like MSFS 2024 will have a healthy kick-off from the more hardcore crowd

[Daytona125 225]

I'm actually a little surprized the number is only 70%.

 

[Twenty6 708]

Were you only able to take this survey once or once-a-day?

[ha5mvo 274]

33% casual gaming. Yep Indeed reflective of the current situation.

[Christopher Low 5,565]

Who is the guy with 1TB of RAM?

[Krakin 6,305]

5 minutes ago, Daytona125 said:

I'm actually a little surprized the number is only 70%.

 

Note that only 2.6% of those surveyed said they use consoles primarily. This indicates something some of us have been saying for a while now. The casual market does not know about this survey. It is better to use the results to gauge the core market.

[Tuskin38 7,233]

3 minutes ago, ha5mvo said:

33% casual gaming. Yep Indeed reflective of the current situation.

Casual can mean many things.

Some people considering flying once a week to be casual.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Tuskin38

[abrams_tank 7,682]

Looks like MSFS increased its market share further. This is this year's result:

You can see that MSFS reached maybe 85% in the bar graph for this year, with "Most of the time" reaching 62% to 63%.

Compare this year's result to is last year (2022)'s result:

You can see that MSFS reached maybe 75% in the bar graph for last year, with "Most of the time" reaching 55% last year.

Edited December 22, 2023 by abrams_tank

[Daytona125 225]

13 minutes ago, Twenty6 said:

Were you only able to take this survey once or once-a-day?

Only once.

[lwt1971 8,077]

For the "Main purpose of your flight simulation" question these were the answer choices and results:

1) Casual gaming / Entertainment: 33%
2) Curiosity / Interest in Aviation: 42.2%
3) Familiarization of cockpit/airport/airspace: 11%
4) Maintaining skills/currency and proficiency of training: 7.7%
5) Training towards a pilot license or certification: 5.5%

Given these answer choices, most of us who sim and don't do IRL flying have 1) and 2) to choose from (perhaps also 3)), and that's where the bulk of the answers went naturally. Given the answers re: factors important in a sim where the top answer was flight realism (from last ear), and factors important in an aircraft (this year) where systems/FM/etc are in the top answers, and IFR vs VFR (this year) it's pretty evident the users who participated in this are mostly the "hardcore simmer" kind who use their sim, including those who use Navigraph.
 

Edited December 22, 2023 by lwt1971

[abrams_tank 7,682]

27 minutes ago, Krakin said:

Yeah that is what you call market domination and despite the hiccups surrounding it's announcement, it looks like MSFS 2024 will have a healthy kick-off from the more hardcore crowd

MSFS already dominated the market last year after the first study level airline releases. To see MSFS gain more market share this year, that is very impressive!

[Bobsk8 13,201]

17 minutes ago, Twenty6 said:

Were you only able to take this survey once or once-a-day?

Once , only. 

[ryanbatc 13,233]

22 minutes ago, ha5mvo said:

33% casual gaming. Yep Indeed reflective of the current situation.

I'm a father with 4 kids, a real world pilot and ATC.  I wrote casual gaming on my response.  At this stage in my life I don't need every single switch and button operational...nor do I have time for it.  It doesn't mean I don't buy the high end addons or don't try to simulate real flight...I just means that I'm typically on for a short flight where I probably start on the runway.  4 years ago I was in a different place and I did want to simulate more.  And in 4 more years when my older kids are out of the house maybe I'll be back to that.

The point is - everyone is in a different state of flightsim - it's not bad if you're casual.

Additionally the sim, with certain addons, will absolutely support incredibly in depth simulation.  MSFS2020 has come a long way since release!

Edited December 22, 2023 by ryanbatc

[lwt1971 8,077]

39 minutes ago, ha5mvo said:

33% casual gaming. Yep Indeed reflective of the current situation.

Not quite, especially given the answer choices the survey made available for this question: https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/640625-msfs-tops-navigraph-2023-survey-results/?do=findComment&comment=5045825 ... if not an IRL pilot currently or no intentions of becoming one in the future, which of those answers are we to choose?