Asobo have said that they’re going to keep developing the sim for as long as potentially ten years. This will create significant cost for them in terms of paying for developers etc. My worry is that they’ll start to depend on the marketplace for that revenue to keep maintaining the game, which will mean that new features and updates will need to be made in such a way as to leave space for independent developers to fill the gaps. For instance, maybe Asobo won’t perfect the flight model of airplanes too much to leave space for independent developers (you won’t need to buy planes if the existing planes are too good!). Or maybe they won’t make the scenery too good. These are perverse incentives that I’d much rather be a customer of Asobo and pay for their time to develop awesome new content.
The pay-for-DLC model is something that Paradox do, for instance, and they have successfully maintained their games for very long periods of time with great content produced throughout the life of the game (CK2 is a perfect example).
Edit: When I say updates I mean content updates like for example UK World Update, Japan World Update, gliders etc, not bug fixes and flight dynamics improvements.
I’m all for it because then it becomes an optional upgrade model where we can see reviews of the update and decide if we want it rather than it being forced on us with bugs that make us want to stop playing. I’m all for charging for the update and it to be optional. Maybe then they would get their act together.
It’s naive to think that bugs in the base sim will disappear if they charge for upgrades.
If you don’t download the UK package from the marketplace, you still have the bugs introduced with this update.
Also Asobo/MS profit from sales in the Marketplace, as far as I know. So there is an income source anyway.
They won’t disappear but they won’t be forced on us either I was perfectly fine before this UK update. Now I refuse to even play the sim in its current state .
Not sure if paying for updates is a good idea. Updates should always be free. Especially when you start with a base game that has so many bugs/issues.
I’d rather see them work on the core base for a few month’s. So we get a proper base game. After a while they can think about adding dlc (world/aircraft) wich would be payd. The rest can be filled in by 3rd party content. In this way, the team can focus on the core game, make some money 1 or 2 times a year with introducing a dlc pack and can again continue on the base game. Also they can bring out new versions maybe every 2 year with big improvements wich they can charge for. My problem with 3rd party addons is that you never know what to expect. Is Asobo was to work like this, at least we would know what the quality of the dlc will be and if we’re willing to pay for. Anyone else wo is very serious about flught simming still has the possibility to buy from 3rd partys.
Look at the assetto corsa competizione model. They started with the base game (also lot’s of bugs) fixed the bugs in the beginning and made some graphic improvements. Now every once a while they bring in some new dlc like tracks and cars bundled. Add a fair price and it’s always amazing content. Between those dlc releases alot of core game updates are released.
I’m sure they wouldn’t object if you want to send them a cheque after each update.
Put your money where your mouth is - literally
I really don’t understand these people with more money than sense, who tell dev’s they should charge more - or say “I would pay XXXX for this - it’s never too much” etc.
You seem to think throwing more money at them will suddenly make it all better. And how many people do you think are going to stick around when it turns into a Dovetail style cash grab like their Train Sim franchise?
You also seem to think that sales somehow stop as soon as they have released the title. What makes you think that a) there aren’t people waiting for a better sim before they purchase; b) enough people are willing to pay for updates to make it worth charging for? and C) sales won’t continue for many years to come, giving them a constant income, as was the case with FSX and is the case with sims like Aerofly and DCS World?
Especially after there have already been so many complaints about the current pricing.
I don’t know what you are drinking - but I want some!
It seems like it could be doable. For instance the UK update has a component you get from the marketplace, but download of that component is optional. They could potentially charge for that and make the flight dynamics updates free (so have a free patch and a payable part of the update).
I guess one of the reasons they’re free and forced upon everyone whether they want the new update or not is multiplayer. Its so much easier synchronising data if everyone has broadly the same thing. Its much easier for them to coordinate everyone’s user experience.
I am quite sure that Asobo and Microsoft are making a pretty penny from us all and will continue to make money from the community, through whatever cut they take from products developed and sold through the marketplace. Its in both companies interest to keep the community sweet at present, and to a large extent they are .Its how they progress as time goes by that will be important . If a year from now we still find updates cause more problems than they cure then it will be less forgivable. But for now I am still amazed a times how incredible this ‘game’ is and hope soon it will become the flight sim that we all so desperately want it to be. If only Asobo and groups like the flyby wire squad collaborated we would get there all the quicker.
MS has mentioned that they will have DLC packs. A great example will be the helicopters.
Once developed, they will introduce one or two helis into the sim free of charge, and introduce a DLC pack of helicopters, for those interested in the more in-depth systems and wider variety and choice.
I am not worried that MS will make enough money to support active development. Remember that we have surpassed 2 million in player base on PC through MS store, Steam and Gamepass. The Xbox version is to come out this summer and will be open to a potential market of about 90 million users.
Marketplace items will also be a generating stream of revenue, on top of commercial licenses once the sim is fully mature.
MS has given us a glimpse of what to expect, and with those revenue streams, it should be enough to maintain active development, as the Sim’s market share rises and the arduous process 3rd party developers go though starts paying off (in other terms, when high-end 3rd party planes will be released - this process is always long and difficult).
Ok and this will work with Multiplayer how?
EA Battlefield Series messages all over again?
“Server unavailable because you don’t have this particular update DLC”
No thanks!
I was perfectly fine before this UK update. Now I refuse to even play the sim in its current state 
.