I hope this is ok to post here, but i thought i’d mention when MSFS2028 gets under way, i do hope we have learn’t from the fiasco of the 2024 launch, please try and include 3rd party dev’s, especially those that are responsible for the high end airliners and GA aircraft. Waiting nearly 2 yrs until you can fly the best aircraft produced, from the likes of Fenix,PMDG, Tdi, must be losing you thousands just waiting to switch to the new sim.
Just an idea, and hopefully some thought given to it.
I wondered if there were a better way to make a flight sim and so asked google this question. Quite interesting the answer if you are interested! It certainly offered quite a few possibilities that could be used next time around.
“msfs 2024, is there a better way to develop a simulator like this with ai”
Having the developers of “essentials” on board is crucial.
They started doing it by including gaya, working title and inibuilds, but apparently they only ordered commissioned content instead of including them into development from the start.
And they should broaden this approach by including traffic, ATC and weather.
And at least during alpha stage they should provide copies to reputable developers. I got very angry last time, when I saw that even vloggers got access before developers like PMDG or Fenix.
It was a foreshadowing that marketing was more important than quality.
Let’s hope they’ve learned a lesson there.
MSFS 2028 - Zero Need! Maybe 2030? MSFS 2024 is only just about getting to the point it should have been in when released!
New MSFS should be every 8-10 years imho!
Of course there is need. Fresh money has to come in to keep the franchise alive.
2020 - 2024 - 2028
The old series release every 2 years, now we are on a 4 year cycle.
Microsoft Flight Simulator2028 must have real frequencies so that all multiplayer users can connect and talk to each other. Then the traffic… it should be managed by advanced artificial intelligence. Fly-by-wire camera modes and cameras that capture the plane in flight need to be improved. Better, more detailed maps and real-world synchronized weather…
It would arguably be a risky decision, trust is lost after the debacle of 2024s release and recent severe issues for console users. The PC version seems to be on maintenance mode, trust is lost in the way the beta periods are handled, trust is lost because it’s past regressions (why haven’t the 512x512 textures come back), career mode still full of bugs.
So what would anyone want to buy another new version? Why would mod teams want to have to go through that porting hell to another new version all over again? Which would then prevent new users from moving over alone, they may well be on course for 2028 but I think it’ll be a dreadful decision and I for just one person will not be buying it.
And paying again for everything… because « it used a better sdk and we do premium version of our already existing addons » blabla
Feel like a cow beeing milked.. 
“Yes, the old Microsoft series used to be released, you know, 2026, 2028, and so on. In my opinion, to create a simulator, it takes more than four years. To have a major simulator on the same level as DCS or IL-2 Sturmovik, with that kind of standard, precision, detail, physics and dynamics… all of this takes many years of programming. If you release a simulator every two years, then it’s just speculation”.
Building on what others have said, I do not see 2028 being the next sim. Once upon a time there was a two year release cycle. This was in a time when updates could not be readily pushed, I think the first time an update was available for MSFS was MSFS 2004 almost a year after its release and was obtainable via cd-rom and download. Flight Sim X had 2 that were downloadable. However the complexity of those Sims were much simpler, and the computers they ran on had much less resource available. Development cycles could be every two years and if meaningful updates were needed it only made sense for a new full iteration to come out, especially as the only delivery mechanism was cd-rom.
However, everything is much more these days, simulating more complexity and systems, and much more available resource and complexity of using it. However the internet is now a much larger thing these days even from MSFS X Steam. Receiving larger and more complex online updates is very reasonable and expected across many titles. The MSFS Marketplace also offers a funding resource both in first party apps hosting costs that was not available to MSFS developers before. Plus funding is more widely available with sim across more platforms than before (PC, Xbox, and PS).
For the wider available funding, ability to push updates, and greater all-around complexity (and the recent platform update with 2024), along with points already mentioned - notably the lost trust with consumers and devs alike, I dont think we will see a new sim until at least 2032. Which would also be convenient as its the 50th Flight Simulator anniversary.
I can’t imagine buying a new simulator unless it has had 6 or 7 updates to make it work anywhere near properly. MS are going to have to convince me that they have got it right and even then I will be wary. There will also be the question of backward compatability - if we have to ditch our 2020 and 2024 addons, that will seriously limit uptake.
i think msfs 2028 is the worst thing that could happen to us.
every iteration of this vicious cycle: “why fix the old when we can do new!” will take us on a downward spiral where something completely unusable is waiting for us at the bottom
I’d imagine the spec’s of the next Xbox will need to be confirmed, before making substantial changes to the existing sim and the next Xbox design is going to be heavily influenced by the current hardware costs.
You can hope/assume the next gen consoles will be faster, more RAM, more VRAM and any existing limits in MSFS (those introduced in 2020/SU6, 2020/SU14 and others) could be removed giving a boost to everyone without having to re-write the entire sim.
For PC users, I just hope one day the sim will be able to utilise the extra resources they have access to which from a RAM/VRAM position doesn’t seem to be the case at the moment.
I very much doubt this is the case. Two points of data does not a pattern make.
I hope when developing the next title the focus is being shift back to improving the experience and visuals in the air rather than on the ground.
The increased ground detail we saw in 2024 came at the cost of poor visual quality when in the air, due to the aggressive LOD system (especially the blurry aerials).
I don’t believe people are thinking big enough. The next version won’t be something comprised of individual’s personal wishlists.
2024 made a huge architectural shift from locally installed to streaming. This, I believe, allowed them to make the biggest MSFS change maybe ever, launching on XBOX and PS5, which massively increased the total available market.
Now, they can’t relaunch on consoles again, so the next version won’t be able to complete with that fundamental change, but the next version also won’t be incremental “improve XYZ” either. It’s going to need to be an architecture change or technology change that lets them do something that is impossible with the current architecture.
stop dreaming guys and think more realistic, after 2024 launch there was hard times for third party developers to keep up with the new sim even Asobo said all 2020 planes " are compatible " there was not the case and even today after 2 years the things are getting hard to understand the new sdk etc , its not that simple to add another sim , i think a new sim right now will be a big mistake .
I don’t feel like we’re being milked. We’re getting a streaming service that we only had to pay for once. There are so many free updates. Microsoft also has to cover server costs, so it makes sense that a new version that brings in fresh money has to come out eventually.
Here’s my crystal ball prophecy:
They don’t want to repeat the disastrous launch of FS2024 (as you all know, it’s more like a beta now 2 years after release)
So to get new cash in quickly:
Early access starting 2028 (game purchase required), targeting full release 2030
I feel very strongly when I say I hope that a new sim is not under consideration at this time, at least not for release anytime in the immediate (2-4 years) future. MSFS (2020) was, allegedly, intended to be a platform for the sim to exist for quite some time. I believe this is part of why it wasn’t officially given a year or number in its title - technically named only “Microsoft Flight Simulator” (we add the ‘2020’ now to differentiate from 2024 only). However, they ran into significant core sim limitations - namely the infinitely expanding size of the sim and core limitations of how MSFS (2020) leveraged multithreading. MSFS 2024 has addressed both of these issues which should, theoretically, allow MSFS 2024 to now be the platform for the foreseeable future.
The growing pains the community of developers and users went through from MSFS (2020) to MSFS 2024 cannot be overstated as I’m sure we all know, and to suggest that another migration to a new title simply because “they’re on a 4-year cadence” seems highly unlikely to me - and I admit this may just be my own wishful thinking.
I believe MS is much more likely to maintain focus and resources on polishing MSFS 2024, adding new features (like the upcoming National Championship Air Races, City Updates, World Updates, and the surprise content we get semi-regularly) and investing in improvements to the Marketplace. I think the latter is where the real future funding for this franchise lies - as long as the MP performs well, there’s less of a need to generate incremental revenue by way of sales of a whole new platform. This is especially true given the volume of users accessing MSFS 2024 via Xbox Game Pass, as MS makes the same money from those users whether they’re playing the new sim or the old sim.