2 hours ago, Fiorentoni said:

https://store.steampowered.com/search/?filter=topsellers

shows MSFS2024 on rank 24 for the most sold games (in the last week IIRC). (That's the current state, I hadn't looked for the rank the weeks before the iniBuilds announcement, so it might have been even more down on the list.) I think I remember MSFS2020 being much higher up the list in the week before release in August 2020, possibly even on rank 1.
Steam doesn't cover XBox sales, though, so all of that is only an indication and not evidence.

Also keep in mind I wasn't saying MSFS2024 sells "badly" in absolute numbers - just that the numbers are relatively low compared to what Microsoft was likely expecting / hoping for.

MS isn't making business decisions based on pre-order numbers.

They're making business decisions based on the last 4 years of unprecedented engagement with their customers, plus a good dose of prognostication based on history, etc.

More from RSR on that forum thread, all of these quotes below about the 777F looks like... still not clear to me if they feel that the 737 will work day 1 with 2024 as it stands currently 😅

https://forum.pmdg.com/forum/main-forum/general-discussion-news-and-announcements/336001-16nov24-msfs2024-release-week-what-to-expect-from-pmdg?p=336080#post336080
"Kidding aside- it is precisely as I wrote. The platform is spectacular, but we have not succeeded in running our 2020-built products on it yet. MS assures us that they will run in the RTM version, but we haven't seen that happen yet- so I am being overly cautious about making promises on behalf of PMDG based upon promises made by MS. I want to be sure we understand what you should expect when you buy 777F. If we find it works out of the box with the RTM version, then just fine and great- out it goes to you. If we find it won't run on MSFS2024, then at least we will be able to tell you that prior to your purchasing it for MSFS2020- and you will know fully what to expect at that time.
As a developer, we have a responsibility to be able to tell you clearly what to expect... so a bit of caution is called for here. - RSR"

https://forum.pmdg.com/forum/main-forum/general-discussion-news-and-announcements/336001-16nov24-msfs2024-release-week-what-to-expect-from-pmdg?p=336085#post336085
"The problem we have is that MS had made promises about compatibility that we currently cannot offer assurances on because our in-house experience shows that the product will not run on the build we have. For that reason, we want to be sure we don't drop the product into the market only to have a bunch of folks purchase it based upon promises made by MS that might be completely true, or they might be true only after a few months of updates... I think it is better for us to know what we are dealing with before we shoot an approach to minimums... -RSR "

https://forum.pmdg.com/forum/main-forum/general-discussion-news-and-announcements/336001-16nov24-msfs2024-release-week-what-to-expect-from-pmdg?p=336082#post336082
"We'll know LOTS more WELL before Christmas. That is one of the few things I am certain of right now. - RSR"
 

Edited November 17, 20241 yr by lwt1971

50 minutes ago, lwt1971 said:

 

It all makes sense to me:

The add-ons don't run with their current build, and once they get the "Gold" release, they'll know for sure.

He takes a long time to explain things, but given how overweening many in the community are, I get it. 🤣

I've been following what's been going on in the SDK support forum and let me tell ya, I think the SDK team haven't seen their families much for the past month.

13 hours ago, GGLurch_2 said:

And now after 4 years, Asobo is changing the base Sim.

And if they didn't 'change' the base Sim they would be a direct target of everyone here looking for the base sim to improve and better align with aeronautical fidelity.  Thank goodness they are changing the base sim.  And that these PMDG planes largely will work unmodified in 2024 is fabulous.