9 hours ago, stans said:

Not surprised.  M$ dropped the ACES team and exited the flight sim world in January of 2009 because flight sims were not making money for them.

Not the case here the MS big bosses want more money for AI for fear of being left behind by Apple, Google and China.

1 minute ago, G-RFRY said:

Not the case here the MS big bosses want more money for AI for fear of being left behind by Apple, Google and China.

Yeah, but flight sim is not a big market, not a big money maker, MS goes where the money goes.

23 minutes ago, stans said:

Yeah, but flight sim is not a big market, not a big money maker, MS goes where the money goes.

MS cannot sack ASOBO they don`t own them but likely leave them to carry on. But not supported by MS. Remember MS tried to get someone to take on FSX but there were no takers. MSFS is now rolling in the cash for addon creators you could blow over 2,000 on payware.

https://youtu.be/DSsNnKt3Jq4

 

Is any game safe from MS. If game pass fails will MS pull the plug on free streaming from the cloud.

 

Forza Horizon does really well.  The problem with Forza Motorsport is that it is this "sim-cade" game that isn't an arcade game, but isn't a full on sim either.  

Racing sims are becoming more mainstream and accessible, with a lot more options than the old days.  Forza Horizon is not a racing sim and not trying to be one, it is more arcade and fun, and appeals to a huge audience.  With Motorsport, the game is stuck between two groups.  

I was a long time fan of Motorsport, but honestly I ask myself, "why am I playing this over one of the better driving sims?"  Motorsport was not well received this version either.  Motorsport is essentially a "poor" racing sim today.  It isn't easy to pick up and play, but it isn't nearly as realistic as modern sims.  

We don't know that they will keep Horizon and not Motorsport, but them firing half of Turn 10 kind of leads to that obvious conclusion.  Also they ported Horizon over to PS5, and it clearly has more mainstream appeal.

There was a day where the Forza vs Gran Turismo arguments would be the center of the console wars.  Those days are gone and these games really don't have the appeal.  

 

On 6/24/2025 at 1:33 PM, kerosene31 said:

I wonder if people just aren't upgrading as much?   Steam games still seem to do very well.  

Honestly, if I wasn't running a flightsim that really pushes my hardware, I would still be on my 5+ year old PC.  MSFS is really the only reason I upgraded.  

  

agreed.

The problem is it`s going to get more expensive.

https://www.guru3d.com/story/dram-price-increase-2025-ddr4-ddr5-gddr6-costs-rise-up-to/

Nvidia is now more interested in AI than GPUs that are costing more to manufacture.

https://www.guru3d.com/story/nvidia-hits-trillion-market-cap/

And more worrying for PC users.

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/ai-malware-can-now-evade-microsoft-defender-open-source-llm-outsmarts-tool-around-8-percent-of-the-time-after-three-months-of-training

PC prices seem pretty normal, granted I'm just taking a quick glance at Alienware (of course you can save a lot more money building).  Maybe they have so much markup that they can absorb component price increases?  

You can get a lower end (non MSFS) PC for $1000-1500 US (remember that game consoles can cost $700 now).

$2000 seems to get you a solid rig, 2500-3000 for a more powerful rig.  That seems quite reasonable, especially with inflation.  

Of course if you get on the bleeding edge you pay a huge premium.  

I made the mistake of upgrading my PC during covid and that was expensive.  Back then, you needed 3000 just as a starting point.  I'm not actively shopping now, but I haven't noticed any big price increases.  

Edited July 11, 2025Jul 11 by kerosene31