So it looks like MSFS had its highest actively monthly user number in over a year, and the second highest returning user number ever:

Please note this is not the all time high user number for MSFS. I think that was probably back in 2020 on its release (or perhaps the XBox release of MSFS back in 2021). But over the last year, MSFS had its highest "actively monthly user number in over a year" according to Jorg. That's interesting because I wonder if some of the market for the more serious flight simmers are shifting further over to MSFS, if the Navigraph survey is showing the trends of the more serious flight simmer market. It would be consistent with the last Navigraph survey, which showed MSFS reaching 85% in 2023 for "most of the time" for the survey question "How often do you fly any of the following flight simulator software?", versus 75% in 2022.

As for the second highest returning user number ever, I believe Jorg was saying the Top Gun release had the highest number of returning users for MSFS.  So the last month saw the highest second highest returning user number ever, after the Top Gun update. That's also interesting because aside from the A300 release by iniBuilds and Sim Update 14, I don't recall any event or release that was really that earth shattering for MSFS in Q4 of 2023 that would explain the increase in active monthly users or returning users (was Sim Update 14 really that good?).

Seems like MSFS 2020 is in a good spot before MSFS 2024. Now if they have a smooth and good MSFS 2024 release, I can see the numbers getting even better for MSFS. If MSFS 2024 is plagued with issues and problems on its release, I can see the reverse happening and MSFS losing some momentum.

You can listen to Jorg's summary of the highest active monthly user numbers and second highest returning user number here:

 

 

Edited February 8, 20242 yr by abrams_tank

Those stats simply cannot be true, I have been away from my sim PC for the past two months!...😎

Edited February 8, 20242 yr by Bernard Ducret

Like dreams, statistics are a form of wish fulfilment.

Jean Baudrillard
 

Dont  think  the  other  sim  will find  some  other  spin  on  this  🙂

I have no idea why "numbers of users returning" has any value for statistics. Most people might have just done a flight in the F18 and quit MSFS again and went on to play something else.

20 minutes ago, Fiorentoni said:

I have no idea why "numbers of users returning" has any value for statistics. Most people might have just done a flight in the F18 and quit MSFS again and went on to play something else.

It has value for a lot of reasons. One reason is because it shows if MSFS is retaining its users. If the users return and remain active with MSFS, they are more likely to purchase add-ons in the MSFS marketplace.

Another reason is that some users may own multiple civilian flight simulators. So if they are returning to MSFS, they may be finding value with MSFS that they may not be finding with the other civilian flight simulators they have installed. I suspect that after the release of the study level airliners back in the spring of 2022, the returning users to MSFS was probably pretty high from spring to summer of 2022.  I know a lot of Twitch streamers that were streaming MSFS on its release, and then stopped streaming MSFS from 2020 to 2022. Chewwy was one of those streamers. He streamed some MSFS on its release in 2020.  Then in 2021, he was mostly streaming other flight simulators, but had the odd stream on MSFS, until the spring of 2022. When the study level airliners came out for MSFS in 2022, he virtually switched his streaming to MSFS full time in 2022 (and now Chewwy works for the MSFS team). Another example is edwardthepilot, who was mostly also streaming other flight simulators, until the study level airliners in 2022. Now edwardthepilot primarily streams MSFS.

Edited February 8, 20242 yr by abrams_tank

"HIGHEST MONTHLY ACTIVE USER NUMBER IN OVER A YEAR" @FiorentoniDid you hear properly? He said HIGHEST...!! 😄

Look, we all know Jörg likes his marketing, but the statistic means nothing, why? Because like he says, "now the holiday season is behind us..."

Guess what happens in the holiday season? People have the spare time to play games.

As long as MSFS' average monthly active user number doesn't plummet, that's all that matters for us flight simmers.

I use the sim more now because it's winter time where I live (near D.C.) and can not be outside doing more productive things besides playing games like MSFS in the cold.

The Avsim way, anything positive posted about MSFS, will be immediately followed by members claiming that the positive comments are just not true. 

4 hours ago, pete_auau said:

Dont  think  the  other  sim  will find  some  other  spin  on  this  🙂

Dude, are you hitting the space twice when you're typing on purpose? lol

2 hours ago, F737MAX said:

"HIGHEST MONTHLY ACTIVE USER NUMBER IN OVER A YEAR" @FiorentoniDid you hear properly? He said HIGHEST...!! 😄

Look, we all know Jörg likes his marketing, but the statistic means nothing, why? Because like he says, "now the holiday season is behind us..."

Guess what happens in the holiday season? People have the spare time to play games.

As long as MSFS' average monthly active user number doesn't plummet, that's all that matters for us flight simmers.

I would think that more players with more spare time almost certainly results in more sales. More sales is good for MS and good for me.

 

1 minute ago, hansb57 said:

I would think that more players with more spare time almost certainly results in more sales

If it's a consistent theme, absolutely. A one-off data point, meh...

Which chart do you think looks healthier?

^^A one-off 'highest monthly active users in over a year' vs. 'Mr Consistency'

The great news is MSFS is the second chart, chugging along nicely with steady figures. I'm not worried about resources being pulled or the game's servers being switched off anytime soon.

1 hour ago, Drumcode said:

Dude, are you hitting the space twice when you're typing on purpose? lol

Better 

 

than

 

hitting

 

enter

 

twice

3 hours ago, F737MAX said:

Look, we all know Jörg likes his marketing, but the statistic means nothing, why?

Because the "active users in a year" is a simple counter. Person accidentally opens MSFS? +1 active user, even if he never uses it again in that year.
What actually matters for marketplace sales is the amount of hours users play MSFS. Of course every "new" user is a potential long time user, but this percentage can vary wildly. I think only a very small percentage of MSFS users are regular users. Still a lot more than with P3D or XPL in total numbers, but what I was trying to say is that "active users in a year" has no meaning without the number of hours of usage.

I'm buying more these days from the in-sim Marketplace than I ever purchased before. Thanks to MSFS, now is truly the Golden Age of flight simulation.