PMDG has repeatedly stated that they would like to offer their liveries for the 737 and 777 at no cost as they do on their website. But according to them, the marketplace will not allow them to be listed for free, even though the screenshot below indicates that items can be listed for free. Furthermore, other developers, namely Inibuilds, have been allowed to list their liveries for no cost.
Why is PMDG forced to charge for theirs? Xbox users are forced to obtain liveries from the marketplace and thereby must pay for them, whereas PC users are allowed to access them directly from PMDG for free.
REPRODUCTION STEPS
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Purchase PMDG 737/777 liveries on the Marketplace
You must pay for the liveries
MEDIA
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Liveries for the 737-800 were immediately available from PMDG on OC3 but not on MSFS 2024 when the plane was released. There was a hack though. If you downloaded the 737 from MSFS 2024 instead of streamed it, you then had access to all the PMDG liveries for free via OC3.
After the most recent PMDG 737 update my liveries (all of them) were glitched and looked like what you see below.
I tried deleting and reinstalling all liveries through OC3 and this didn’t work. So I deleted the 737 from MSFS 2024. It then would not let me download it again. I kept getting a failed to install message after it downloaded. So my only option now is to stream the 737. This means no free OC3 liveries. I now have to buy PMDG liveries from Market Place. Well, at least the plane flies nice. I am fine with this. No big deal. Just make me a 787.
inibuilds sells their A340 exclusively on the marketplace and offer liveries without issues through their launcher. PMDG are not being honest on this one.
@TenPatrol fixed my problem. I am now able to download my MP purchased 738 and have full access to all of the free OC3 liveries. I am on PC. I understand console users have to buy liveries from MP.
This is not a real technical problem. There is a very simple solution: PMDG can include all liveries directly in the Marketplace version.
Each aircraft (PMDG 737-800, 777, etc.) can be sold separately, with its full set of liveries included - the same liveries that are currently available via OC3.
Are you sure about that? Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve heard it mentioned countless times that the MP does dictate a minimum price, however, any 2020 to 2024 package conversion can be offered at no cost, as long as the old version is already owned. PMDG themselves did update the 777-300ER for free, along with many other examples from other developers, including livery creators like Bravoairspace.
The least they should have done is to ensure that the 2020 liveries got upgraded instead of just sold again as new products. For some reason, they seem very reluctant to partake in discussions about the various methods that would reduce the price well below the minimum requirement. Of all the things they’ve said, iniBuilds getting special treatment during their A340 release is the only statement I actually believe to be true.
Items cannot be listed for free on the Marketplace “yet”, and I put quotes around that because way back when the Marketplace launched, Jorg and team said they are looking into how to incorporate freeware into the Marketplace. That was a few year ago now and no new updates have been granted. The only free items available in the Marketplace today are directly from Microsoft (i.e. world updates and sponsored aircraft).
As for PMDG, if i remember correctly the issue was when they launched in 2020, if they added all of the liveries, the file size of each of their planes would be gigantic and they wanted to allow users to select at least a group of liveries they may want and the only way they could do that was to charge. I don’t think they are being fully disingenuous, but I’d assume they could sell them for 1.99 as that’s the cheapest I’ve seen for livery packs.
That being said, in 2024 most is streamed now anyway so the sizing problem for the users shouldn’t be as much of a deal if they package them all together so you can pick and choose which liveries you want.
There are so many ways that PMDG could reduce the financial impact on those of us who either chose to use or are forced (Xbox) to use Market Place it’s obvious to me that PMDG aren’t interested in losing this additional revenue.
Whereas free doesn’t seem to be an option, all liveries could be provided in one pack at minimum price and then permanently offered at 60% off as one example. Pack size isn’t an issue when everything can be streamed now.
The least PMDG can do is stop trying to deflect and blame others for their choice.
Where there’s a will there’s a way. PMDG have clearly demonstrated that, in this case, there’s a “won’t”.
Very disappointing from a developer that I had so much respect for.
PMDG once recently explained this as an impossibility due to licensing concerns. Their aircraft are licensed with (in this instance) Boeing, however the airline liveries are not. To avoid any potential challenges with that, they do not sell their licensed aircraft with unlicensed liveries.
Whether you choose to believe that is up to you, but it’s at least a semi-reasonable explanation for the business practice.
I agree with this solution up to the “permanently 60% off” part - most countries have consumer protection laws which prevent “permanent discounts” because if the discount is permanent, it ceases to be a discount and is just the actual value/price of the product. This is a consumer protection practice because otherwise the seller is creating a sense of added value when there is none.
As we see numerous other developers release items at discount or in bundles, everything is just too hard for PMDG and the MP it’s all gotto be released individually in bits and drabs at full price
Wait and see if the MD-11 comes with bundles
PMDG are too busy focused on revenue raising projects and forgot their aged fleet still doesn’t have push back.
The short answer to your core issue here is that what is permitted by the SDK and what is permitted by the business are not always in agreement. For example, the SDK may not contain anything that states you cannot put explicit content on your aircraft liveries, or name your product something obscene or vulgar - yet those are business rules enforced by the Marketplace team, even though both of those things are technically possible.
I can see how the wording of the text in OP’s screenshot can add to the confusion, and he is right in that it doesn’t make it clear whether free listings are possible or not on the marketplace. Still, the post might seem a little surprising as most people assume the minimum price is common knowledge by now.
The fact that the liveries are separate downloads on pc too should tell you something, mainly that the money grab certainly isn’t the only reason for this practice. Also, let’s not forget the struggles the Famous Flyers and Local Legends are having with livery licenses.
Here’s the bundle discount option: The liveries on the top left are included in the bundle right next to it with all the other packs I filtered in the screenshot, lowering the price from 5.59€ to 1.09€. None of the packs were on sale, permanently or otherwise.
Oops, the A330 and 737 liveries are obviously not part of the bundle, but you get the idea.
I’ll just add here that the main reason why I started posting after all these years is PMDG’s decision to disregard the free upgrade option for their 2020 liveries, which would have been the most reasonable way to make sure existing customers wouldn’t have to pay for them again.
Looking at my screenshot it should make me sick to my stomach having purchased liveries with real money for all those bad to mediocre default planes, then why is it that I’m feeling worse for buying them from PMDG, a developer which arguably created superior aircraft for the sim?
The answer is simple: Most of the packs in the bundle were upgraded from 2020 to 2024 completely free of charge, and the ones that weren’t received the bundle discount you can see in the screenshot. For those who already owned several upgraded 2024 packs, the remaining ones barely cost anything. So yes, they squeezed an extra euro or two out of me by packaging the liveries in that first pack again, but that’s still far more reasonable than PMDG’s behavior has ever been on the marketplace, with maybe the 777-300ER upgrade being the only exception.
Despite all its issues, the marketplace does have at least some consumer-friendly features, none of which PMDG seems to be interested in.
