Micro Soft Closes Flight Simulator Department

Here is an article I just read in BBC news from the UK about MS Simulator
shut down.

Job cuts ground Flight Simulator


The future of Microsoft's long running Flight Simulator series has been cast
into doubt, after the software maker US laid-off the entire development
team.

Microsoft says it is "committed" to the series, despite shutting the Aces
studio when it cut 5000 jobs.

But third party developers say Microsoft needs to outline its plans for the
game in more detail.

MS Flight Simulator is arguably the longest running computer game series
ever, first launched back in 1982.

Nels Anderson, founder of enthusiast website FlightSim.com said the studio
closure was a "dark day" for the flight sim market.

Speaking to the BBC he said he was baffled by the decision.

"Microsoft have apparently cancelled a 27 year franchise. Flight sims were
one of the few things about Microsoft people actually liked. It made them
money and had an enormous following.

"To cancel something like that is an amazing thing to do," he said.

Just Flight's director, Dermot Stapleton, which publishes third party
add-ons for MS Flight Simulator, told the BBC that as Microsoft had only
announced the studio closure, people would have to draw their own
conclusions as to what future plans the firm had in store for the game.

"It's the end of the line for their in-house development studio, but that
doesn't mean it's the end of the line for the game.

"All Microsoft did was name a group of developers working on the game Aces
Studio and now, as they've laid them and a load of other developers off,
they have been somewhat hoisted on their own petard.

"My guess is that Microsoft will now licence the code to a third party
developer and then cross that "cash bridge" when they come to it."



Deja vu

But Nels Anderson was more pessimistic, saying Microsoft had done something
similar with its Train Simulator series.

"Microsoft announced a sequel to MS Train Simulator back in 2003. A year
later, they shelved the project. Three years later, they announced a new
version, that too was cancelled.

"I think this gives us an indication as to what is in store for Flight
Simulator," he said.

Most people agree that the latest incarnation, MS Flight Simulator X, has at
least three to four years use before it starts to show its age. Even today,
many still use the five year old Flight Simulator 2004, rather than FSX.

Speaking to the BBC, Derek Davis, editor of PC Pilot magazine, said there
was a silver lining to the bad news.

"I don't know what the eventual fate of Microsoft's Flight Simulator series
will be, but I think we're going to see a rise in sales and an increase in
third-party development.

"There is now some stability to be had - we're all going to be using FSX for
some time - and that is going to make it far easier for developers to
produce new aircraft."