Hello all! I wanted to share some thoughts regarding SDK development and the high level of importance that it has to the entire flight sim community. This will be a bit of a read, but want to provide some background information to frame my discussion.
I have been flight simming for approximately 15 years, since I was in my early teenage years. Flight simulation gave me a huge passion for aviation, even though nobody in my family has any involvement in flying. It was a window into the whole world of aviation that I am extremely happy for. That passion that it created led me to pursue aviation as a career, and now I am a professional pilot thanks to flight simulator. My first two years of flight simming I had no idea that there were “payware” type addons. I just flew the default airplanes and had a moderate amount of interest. Then around 2007 or so I made my first payware purchase, the Level D 767. Many of you that had FS2004/FSX back in those probably remember the aircraft well. That is what took my simulation to the next level, and really forced me to really dive in the books and become a better pilot.
With the release of the new MSFS, there is an enormous opportunity here. More people have now been introduced to flight simulator than ever before. The week of release, there were tens of THOUSANDS of viewers on twitch checking out the sim. There is a huge opportunity here for us as a community to multiply our size and player base exponentially, and to keep new flight simmers engaged. Being a real world pilot I have always tried to fly the most realistic payware aircraft possible. These give the most systems depth and I always look for a “study level” type simulation. I am not alone in wanting these “study level” planes in the new MSFS. There are thousands of other flight simmers just like myself that are waiting on the sidelines for our favorite developers to be able to create and release their aircraft. I do not have any personal development experience, but I have done a lot of research into this topic ever since the release of the new sim. I have great relationships with some of the developers and hear their thoughts and concerns with the SDK for the new sim. The trend has been very consistent from what I would consider the “Titans” of the “study level” industry such as A2A, PMDG, FSLABS, Leonardo(Maddog), etc. etc. The consistent message is that the SDK for MSFS is not yet advanced or matured enough to create the high fidelity true study level simulations that many of us love, and that keep people new to flight sim ENGAGED for the long run. Default level aircraft will typically only hold a new flight sim player’s attention for a few weeks, maybe months, but if our industry’s top notch developers can get a QUALITY SDK with detailed documentation in front of them so that they can get their products created and out the door, then that is going to provide content for people new (and old) to the industry to be able to enjoy.
I have experience with many sims over the years, and most recently have primarily flown P3D, and Xplane, like the majority of everybody else. There is a large number of us that purchased MSFS, enjoyed the beautiful visuals and weather for a couple weeks, and then went back to Xplane 11 or P3D because there are simply no study level aircraft available. The sooner that Asobo can get an advanced SDK in the hands of developers, then they can start getting products out to people so that they can get fully re-engaged back in the sim. I have recently come back to MSFS and tried both the FBW A320 and the Working Title CJ4, and they have really highlighted what the sim is capable of and just how beautiful of an environment there is to explore, but WE NEED SOME AIRPLANES! 
Not just any airplanes, but ones that our favorite developers can sink their full swath of resources into, thanks to an advanced SDK created by you. The developers need the tools that they require to get their content released. There are multiple developers that have visual models already fully done and ready to go, but they can’t do their advanced FMS/Electrical/Engine programming with the current state of the SDK. This should be an absolute top priority for Asobo to really turbocharge this community and help it keep up the momentum to grow with study level aircraft for years into the future.
TLDR: Asobo, you have done great work visually on this game. It is truly a visual masterpiece and I still can’t believe while I am flying on the CJ4 just how good it looks. I would have never thought 10 years ago that we would have had such a great looking simulator. Thank you for your efforts so far, but it is absolutely paramount that an advanced SDK be released to third party developers with good documentation so that they can release those true study level aircraft that so many of us enjoy, and that will keep people engaged on your sim for years.
There is also a pending wishlist post that could use some votes to help perhaps bring some additional attention from Asobo on this matter. I do wish a member of their team would give us some detailed feedback regarding truly what their roadmap is on getting the documentation and tools to developers that are needed.
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/put-more-effort-in-sdk-development/300454
lol…