Just wondering - at some point, Asobo is going to cease offering all of the free updates (world / city updates, service updates, etc, etc). Curious about thoughts on when this will be. At some point, developers stop supporting a product. Asobo is certainly under no obligation to continue this level of support, they could cease all support tomorrow and it wouldn’t be unheard of in the software field.
That day will be coming with MSFS just wondering how far off it is?
Very far! Doubt there will be another flight sim in the next 20 years or so as graphics are maxed out. I believe they’ll continued updates and fixes for at least the next 5+ years. There’s a lot of fine tunings left, bugs, etc.
See their Development Roadmap
There was a rumor that the sim was going to be supported for a minimum of 10 years from the initial release date.
That was originally stated by Jörg Neumann, head of MSFS, but he has since altered his statement on that (21:57):
Seems like an odd business model. Continue to invest significant costs for free software upgrades for a decade with minimal new revenue coming in (I’d argue that pretty much everyone who is into civilian flight sims has already purchased this so future sales are going to be minimal) to offset those costs. I’m not an MBA but it doesn’t sound like a very good business plan.
the business plan sounds good, because the main input source is not this cheap 60€ what the sim costs, more the add-on for which we spend money and where they get a part of it. I assume, like in other games, that model will bring enough money that we can enjoy the sim for more than 10years. But nobody can give you a warrenty and so also “Jörg” must be carefull about the statements 
I really hope that the financial model behind MSFS makes sense for Microsoft so that they will continue supporting this sim with a significant dev team for a long time to come.
I purchase a large part of my add-on products via the in-game store to make sure MS gets a decent share of that income. (spent >$1500 for planes and airports so far but that’s a different story 
)
flight sim is the MS entertainment software flagship and has been since the outset.
I think the safe answer would be that MS is going to support, expand, and provide services for MSFS for a period of years. The past is gone, the future is a question mark at best. Only today really matters in the grand configuration of things. However long the support lasts I am here for it. Looking around today at what is available in all of the different aspects of flight simulation, from the PC’s and consoles, to the screens and VR equipment, to peripherals and finally to all the different flight simulators on the market we are living in a sort of Golden Age. And how about our 3rd party developer community. Cannot set aside the amazing work these folks are doing to enhance our experience in all the various flight sims. We are living the dream.
I believe support will go much further than the original 10 year estimate.
It’s a platform for creative content. Airports, aircraft, scenery,…
If it continues to sell and perform in the market then it could be 15 years, hard to say exactly of course as none of us including MS/Asobo will know what the world will be like one year from now let alone 15.
The thing is MS can afford it. Sometimes it’s revenue from other places that keeps things moving. We are talking about a 40 year old franchise. In the digital industry that’s quite a feat.
The world and the weather will already have been calculated in to the Metaverse costs so that makes MSFS as a stand-alone product very profitable and certainly worth further investment.
Don’t forget that every Christmas and birthday, these kids that are currently 10 or 11 years old will get a little older and will want to buy a flight simulator. That’s a guaranteed yearly audience for a long time.
You do know that Microsoft get most of their MSFS revenue from commission on Marketplace products, right?
I’d like to buy more from the Marketplace rather than 3rd party stores to support the sim, but the Marketplace has so many problems 
Marketplace revenue % cuts, the potential for more future product placement like Top Gun, potentially some kind of season pass for challenges or forms of competitive play, such as landing challenges, glider endurance challenges (perhaps with cash prizes?) could all make for a sustainable platform
Until it becomes too much of a revenue drain then updates will become new versions for sale.
After that becomes too much of a revenue burden they may sell the core program to Amazon, Walmart or CVS… Who knows… Smile and Happy Flying.
MS is not short of money. FS may very well be a “Lost Leader” for them where they continue to support the product for years with little or any profit. No different than the corner store down the road from me that sells milk at cost just to get you in the store. Other products are used to generate revenue on the products you break even on.
I always suspect MSFS to be Microsofts attempt on building their own Metaverse. Catching the globe in de cloud and then build from that in many applications. Not only VR travelling but even building games in the MSFS platform. Imagine driving a train or a tank or a racecar through it. It very likely won’t stop at aviation. We’re just the sweet bunch paying for the launch of this massive project and getting a very very beautiful sim environment in return. 
So I’d say its a pretty solid business model. Covering your initial development costs through the flight sim community and then expand from that onwards.