Is this really Microsoft's or ASOBO's way of thinking about Microsoft Flight Simulator users on Xbox?

General Discussion & Community Support General Discussion
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In a YouTube video from the Microsoft Flight Simulator account announcing an older scenery update, I asked via a comment the following questions:

"When will Xbox users be considered in the development priorities of third party product integrations for Flight Simulator?

When will all aircraft, apps, activities, scenery, addons and peripheral utilities such as Vatsim, Ivao or Navigraph be available to Xbox customers who pay for the game just like PC users?"

Even though I haven’t had the kind reply from Microsoft or Asobo, I did manage to get two user responses that caught my attention.

The first of the responses reads:

"Vatsim, IVAO and Navigraph are not dependant on.

Microsoft. 3rd party products integration on Xbox depends on the developers of these products to adapt their products to the console platform, like PMDG’s 737.

Not a microsoft defender, just telling you the truth."

Is that true? When I asked the same question to some developers, the reason they gave me is the impossibility to connect to the console and the lack of test environment on Xbox. Additionally, the public statement of Vatsim, for example, tell other version of the story.
The second response received to my YouTube comment was:

“Get over it… Console users are not serious simmers and so there is no point in developing e.g vatsim for Xbox use…”

On the latter, I would like to know if indeed Microsoft and Asobo think this way about Flight Simulator users on Xbox (it is my sincere hope that this is not the case).

I expose these genuine concerns (both my original questions, and those derived from the answers to my YouTube comment), to know the opinion of the community and if possible from Microsoft and Asobo as direct sources.

Thank you all in advance for your kind and valuable responses.

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Wow I don’t know who said that, but they really need to give their head a shake! How single minded! I happen to know quite a few xbox flight simmers who take the sim very seriously and inquired a fair bit into using VatSim on Xbox.

It is unfortunate that VatSim isn’t on Xbox as simming on the console can be stepping stone into a wider world of aviation. IMHO.

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Yes it was so frustrating and offensive :face_exhaling:

Thank you very much for your recognition :pray:t2:

That’s one of the reasons of this topic (other is the indignant answer and my concern about if the general community think in that way)

PS: Excuse my terrible and primitive English, isn’t my native language but a do my best :smiley:

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While there is a large number of PC flight simmers who think in that way, most don’t.

Also, don’t forget, the number of Xbox users as a percentage of total MSFS users isn’t small. Developers would love to tap into that part of the market.

However, the lack of an Xbox testing environment and, more importantly, the inability to have a product run an external program outside of the sim on Xbox are huge barriers to those products ever appearing on the Xbox consoles.

Given how fundamental an externally running program is to both the Fenix A320 and to VATSIM, I doubt either will ever make the transition away from being PC-only products.

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This is where I feel sorry for the Xboxers.Some people have Xbox for other games and such and forking out for a dedicated P/Comp is something that a lot of people can’t afford on top of that or other costs and don’t have space for a PC.The arrogance and rudeness of people like the one before is astonishing!! I’m sorry for his attitude…I’d like to think there are more supporters for Xboxers rather than the opposite.

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Absolutely agree… I know that the size of the market share isn’t the problem, in fact, it’s an insensitive

That’s by far the “highest wall” I think… but, why do any effort to find alternatives (ATC users control integrated by ”voice rooms” way by example?

And… why any effort to translate other addons in native form? (Like a simple FSEconomy and Passengers inside the game like a addon)… I’m pretty sure that it will give a huge profits to developers and Microsoft

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A perfec picture of the general situation

I really appreciate your words sir

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It says far more about this person’s narcissism than it does you or any other Xbox simmer. Ignore it - it’s more laughable than it is offensive.

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You should change the misleading title to this post as you’ve stated the replies aren’t from Microsoft or Asobo

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I have to say this, but going to YouTube, and expecting serious input is probably not going to end well. :wink:

YouTube. Twinned with Mos Eisley.

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The latest official comments on Xbox v vatsim is

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This is very much against our stated principles and is stated in our Code of Conduct

  • The Skies are Open for All - Everyone is welcome to Microsoft Flight Simulator regardless of age, gender, race, sexuality, or creed.
  • One World, One Community - No matter how you play – regardless of platform, experience level, or reason – we are one community of aviation lovers.

MSFS takes this statement very seriously.
As to when, we have no more idea then you.
I can assure you though, that this sim working as fully as possible with Xbox is one of the bigger priorities of MSFS.

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As frustrating as some of our console-specific issues are, this statement is definitely true.

Just one example: just over a year ago, Xbox users had nearly no high fidelity airliners or business jets on console. Since then, we’ve gotten the free iniBuilds A310, AAU1 that brought high fidelity functionality to the default CJ4 and Citation Longitude, high fidelity updates to the Boeing 747 and 787 via AAU2, an implementation of WASM despite many hurdles to allow more 3rd party products on Xbox, and the upcoming high fidelity A320neo and Cirrus SR-22T.

The iniBuilds A320neo in particular mostly benefits console users who cannot access FBW or Fenix.

If the MSFS team wasn’t prioritizing Xbox users who want a high fidelity experience, almost none of that would have happened.

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I saw a review, on YouTube, of a plane I thought was great. It was not available for XBOX. So I emaled the developer. The Developer said they have done all the work to put it on XBox Marketplace but either Microsoft, Asobo or the XBox Marketplace have not responded to the developer. and that was over 6 monts ago. They could be passing the buck but…it is business, right. You sell something you make to people who want it. If it cost you too much to bring it to marketplace, in time or money then you abandon that Marketplace. Right?

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Youtube comments are hardly genuine. Take them like anything on the internet: with a grain of salt. Play the game how you want. It’s unfortunate xbox players are left out on a lot of nifty tools and addons (as a PC player i truly feel for console players) but that’s where we’re at right now.

It still comes back to an external app running alongside the sim. There still has to be a way for these apps to read certain data from the sim such as speed, altitude, heading, weight, fuel etc. The xbox is a closed-system meaning everything that runs on it has to be built with whatever is packed inside that little box sitting on people’s TV mantle. As a result, you can’t just run an .exe file like you would on a computer.

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The optimist in me thinks, if I can use a keyboard and mouse with my Xbox, like a PC, and if it has an explorable file folder system, like a PC, and if MSFS has led to WASM development which leads to the ability to run non-native code in a sandbox…maybe, just maybe, things like BeyondATC, A2A and VATSIM will be a console reality one day.

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The Realist in me thinks NO — (fact of MSFS X-Box Life)

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There’s really not any technical reason why these things can’t already run on the XBox platform today. An external application is not strictly required for the fancy modeling of recent aircraft, as the same APIs they use in SimConnect via external applications are available in WASM (identical, in fact). An external application is not needed to bring your own engine model, FM, etc.

Similarly, online ATC could certainly use an in-game panel for UI and secured HTTPS WebSocket connections and cloud services to bridge to their existing protocols. HTTPS connections outbound are not prohibited and there are APIs in both the JS and WASM stacks for that.

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They could find a way to adopt something similar if they really wanted. Of course the demand has to be there first…

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I think the hardest part is that it changes the way things have been done for any flight sim before. Microsoft specifically keeps XBox closed off from 3rd party mods for any of its games/services, so getting around that would take time and effort to figure out how to get around that.

I was part of the FIFA and NHL modding community back in the day and it was pretty huge in terms of PC modding because of how open the games and framework were. Now it’s pretty much impossible on console and I don’t think the effort to figure it out is worth the time or effort.

But it sounds like Microsoft and Asobo are much more open to finding a way to make it work, hence the WASM update that is an MSFS exclusive. So hopefully that means more to come for console simmers.

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