http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i ... tory=21981Gamasutra wrote:Redmond, Washington-based ACES Studio, the Microsoft-owned internal group behind the venerable Microsoft Flight Simulator series, has been heavily affected by Microsoft's ongoing job cuts.
Development sources have told Gamasutra that a large portion of the dev house's staff has been let go - with multiple reports indicating that the entire Flight Simulator team has been axed.
End of FS?
End of FS?
That's really sad. Like the one guy commented: "If true, this is going to have a huge domino effect. There's a whole industry around MSFS, not just a fanbase, but tons of people who depend on it for their daily income. Add-on developers, publishers like JustFlight, Flight One, and many others; magazines; hardware manufacturers; trade shows; etc.".
The end of the flightsim era, enter the complete world dominance of (genres such as) Halo!
The end of the flightsim era, enter the complete world dominance of (genres such as) Halo!
A quote from Tom Allensworth on the Avsim Forums
I'd say that confirms the end of MSFS right there...Tom Allensworth wrote:The picture that is emerging is not pretty. Of the over forty ACES members assigned to MSFS, all but six appear to be immediately impacted. Those six will be left to button up the product, burn master DVDS and then be forced to look for employment within the greater MS.
Wow... 25+ years down the tubes. Well, sort of... 
I still remember flying MSFS when it looked like that. I was only circa seven years old when my dad brought home my first copy.
A trip down memory lane:
Flight Simulator History: (Microsoft) Flight Simulator and its creator Bruce Artwick
I still remember flying MSFS when it looked like that. I was only circa seven years old when my dad brought home my first copy.
A trip down memory lane:
Flight Simulator History: (Microsoft) Flight Simulator and its creator Bruce Artwick
Truly a sad day indeed. However not all hope is lost it may seem:
However not all hope is lost it may seem:In a statement, Kelda Rericha of Edelman, Microsoft's public relations firm, said, "We are committed to the Flight Simulator franchise which has proven to be a successful PC based game for the last 27 years. You should expect us to continue to invest in enabling great LIVE experiences on Windows, including flying games, but we have nothing specific to announce at this time."
Last edited by Blaze on Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The argument(ing) starts getting interesting from page 2 and on...
Figther Ops Forums: Layoffs at ACES (MSFS devs)
Figther Ops Forums: Layoffs at ACES (MSFS devs)
The most interesting thing I saw in there-Lawndart wrote:The argument(ing) starts getting interesting from page 2 and on...
Figther Ops Forums: Layoffs at ACES (MSFS devs)
Seems to me that someone who just wanted the planes IN FS should have to buy another $45 3rd party aircraft add-on to enjoy a great FS experience. I do have some payware stuff and it does do a better job than the default stuff, but thats for another time and another place.AngryDispatcher wrote:1) The 737-800, A321, CRJ-700, EH-101, R-22, F-18, P-51, and the glider were all brand new aircraft. Not FS9 "ports". The default aircraft are not meant to please the hardcore crowd. They are there to flesh out the simulator for the general user base. Those who want a more realistic experience can do so by giving patronage to the many excellent 3PD's out there: PMDG, LDS, LSH, DA, Eaglesoft, etc...
Posted this on our forums as well, but I just want to get this to where everybody sees it. This news posted on the avsim forums makes this even more sad. Any respect I ever had for Microsoft totally and completely went out the window with this.
From AVSIM.com
The Facts Emerge - The future of MS Flight Simulation
Posted: Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 20:01
There has been a lot of speculation, rumor and simple guesses as to what Microsoft is going to do with the Flight Simulator “enterprise”. Through a number of sources, some of whom are former ACES members, we have been able to get to the bottom of where our hobby is heading, at least as far as Microsoft is concerned. Our sources will remain anonymous, for obvious reasons. Here are the hard, cold, and very disappointing facts:
FACT: Microsoft Flight Simulator for the PC is dead. There are no plans to continue the FS series in a form that we would recognize. The wholesale dispatch of the ACES team speaks volumes to this.
FACT: ESP is dead. Boeing, Raytheon and presumably Northrop Grumman (ESP’s first adopters) received notification that the ESP franchise is done and that, in effect, they are on their own. We have seen some discussion putting hope in the emergence of ESP as the next "engine" for flight simulator. That is not going to happen.
FACT: Some developers in our hobby approached Microsoft to purchase the MSFX code. Microsoft rebuffed that offer in total. We presume that this is because having the FSX code out there would “diffuse” their future intent and model for a flight simulator “replacement”.
What is Microsoft’s future intent as regards flight simulation? Simple really… Create a flight simulation system for Windows Live, and sell applications for it much like Apple does for their IPhone / Ipod family. Third party developers will have to submit their applications, as do Apple developers, for approval by MS and they in turn would earn a percentage from the sales of those applications. Vendors that we have talked to are extremely upset about this. It also brings back memories of the infamous Papa Tango attempts to hijack freeware.
Imagine for a moment a “live” simulator that has as its core a “Flight Unlimited” like virtual world. You can fly around a very small part of the world in the default system, but to add to your simulation world, you have to purchase the additional scenery from MS. You want more than a 172, a Baron, or a 737? Simple, purchase it via the Live system.
Imagine for a moment the availability of liveries that would be made available. Without approval by the airlines, you can imagine the lack of variety in the “live” modeled aircraft. Under the present arrangement, freeware is seen as free advertising for the United’s, American’s, Lufthansa’s and others of the world. Insert the dollar into the equation, and it is reasonable to expect that our current arrangement with carriers would evaporate. Would MS consider providing freeware via its live system? Don’t hold your breath – too many liability concerns, copyright infringement risks, product support and management issues to take on for free.
What about VATSIM, IVAO and the plethora of other peripheral attractions that we now benefit from? Imagine paying to connect to VATSIM for an hour or two of supervised flight. Spend some time thinking about the ramifications of this, and it only gets scarier.
We have a simple new reality to face up to; Microsoft has changed their business model as regards the flight simulation genre and we are seeing the first steps of that new model taking hold. We can assume that a “live” version will entail online subscription costs per month or year, and additional add-on’s will cost us.
From AVSIM.com
The Facts Emerge - The future of MS Flight Simulation
Posted: Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 20:01
There has been a lot of speculation, rumor and simple guesses as to what Microsoft is going to do with the Flight Simulator “enterprise”. Through a number of sources, some of whom are former ACES members, we have been able to get to the bottom of where our hobby is heading, at least as far as Microsoft is concerned. Our sources will remain anonymous, for obvious reasons. Here are the hard, cold, and very disappointing facts:
FACT: Microsoft Flight Simulator for the PC is dead. There are no plans to continue the FS series in a form that we would recognize. The wholesale dispatch of the ACES team speaks volumes to this.
FACT: ESP is dead. Boeing, Raytheon and presumably Northrop Grumman (ESP’s first adopters) received notification that the ESP franchise is done and that, in effect, they are on their own. We have seen some discussion putting hope in the emergence of ESP as the next "engine" for flight simulator. That is not going to happen.
FACT: Some developers in our hobby approached Microsoft to purchase the MSFX code. Microsoft rebuffed that offer in total. We presume that this is because having the FSX code out there would “diffuse” their future intent and model for a flight simulator “replacement”.
What is Microsoft’s future intent as regards flight simulation? Simple really… Create a flight simulation system for Windows Live, and sell applications for it much like Apple does for their IPhone / Ipod family. Third party developers will have to submit their applications, as do Apple developers, for approval by MS and they in turn would earn a percentage from the sales of those applications. Vendors that we have talked to are extremely upset about this. It also brings back memories of the infamous Papa Tango attempts to hijack freeware.
Imagine for a moment a “live” simulator that has as its core a “Flight Unlimited” like virtual world. You can fly around a very small part of the world in the default system, but to add to your simulation world, you have to purchase the additional scenery from MS. You want more than a 172, a Baron, or a 737? Simple, purchase it via the Live system.
Imagine for a moment the availability of liveries that would be made available. Without approval by the airlines, you can imagine the lack of variety in the “live” modeled aircraft. Under the present arrangement, freeware is seen as free advertising for the United’s, American’s, Lufthansa’s and others of the world. Insert the dollar into the equation, and it is reasonable to expect that our current arrangement with carriers would evaporate. Would MS consider providing freeware via its live system? Don’t hold your breath – too many liability concerns, copyright infringement risks, product support and management issues to take on for free.
What about VATSIM, IVAO and the plethora of other peripheral attractions that we now benefit from? Imagine paying to connect to VATSIM for an hour or two of supervised flight. Spend some time thinking about the ramifications of this, and it only gets scarier.
We have a simple new reality to face up to; Microsoft has changed their business model as regards the flight simulation genre and we are seeing the first steps of that new model taking hold. We can assume that a “live” version will entail online subscription costs per month or year, and additional add-on’s will cost us.
