Open Letter to Microsoft Games Studios

[Francois]

I just sent this letter to Phil Spencer in Redmond.


To: Phil Spencer
VP of MS Games Studio
Redmond, WA

An open letter regarding the incomprehensible decision to kill Flight Simulator development.


Dear mr. Spencer,

I have reason to believe that you are, at least partially, responsible for the killing of Flight Simulator, through laying off the entire 'ACES studio' at Microsoft.
I would like to make you aware of my view on that incomprehensible decision. I think I can safely say this is the view of tens and very likely hundreds of thousands of dedicated Flight Simulator fans and users all over the world.

YOUR customers, as well as mine.

My guess is, knowing some of what happened internally at MS in the past years, that someone in the management or finance department noted that the ‘Flight Simulator game’ was not raking in anywhere near as much money as Windows, Microsoft Office, Exchange or any of the XBox games.
Of course it was not, and it never did.
‘We’ all know that.
The Flight Simulator market was and is a niche market compared to MS’ other products, and certainly compared to the rest of the world’s gaming industry.

But you see, THERE is the problem.
Flight Simulator is NOT a game, even though it can be used as such and even if Microsoft’s marketing folks tried to sell is as such.
However, I am pretty sure that many people within Microsoft never acknowledged that. Or even understand.

Flight Simulator is exactly what the title implies: a simulation.
Maybe you've never used it? Then let me explain you the basics of it.
FS(X) is not only of aircraft or the flying with them, not only of the instruments and controls. No, MS Flight Simulator is the ONLY simulation in the world that you can use on a PC and that simulates the World of Aviation in the broadest sense. It has all the world’s airfields and airports included, in various levels of sophistication and realism, it has a wealth of various aircraft from the venerable Piper Cub to the latest Boeing 777. But it also has all weather effects with clouds, rain, snow and storms, and it has the world’s landscapes modeled. Not just some little areas around one of the airports as regular 'games' would have, but the entire globe ! It has sounds, Air Traffic Control that tells you where to go, Artificial Intelligence aircraft that fly around you, even road traffic and all sorts of boats underneath your plane. It has all the seasons, light and dark, the sun and the moon, bad weather and good.

In short Flight Simulator offers you everything you may find in real aviation with the only exception being the risk of actually killing yourself!

What is even more important however is that Flight Simulator has brought flying to many hundreds of thousands of people who would love to go flying, but can’t, for whatever reason. Word has it that you have sold a million copies of the latest version even !
It has been the first window - pun intended - into the world of flying for so many kids, many of whom are now pilots.
It is the only program that has sparked not a few fan sites but actually thousands of Internet communities that not only provide news and help to its participants, but that also fulfill a social role in today’s fast-paced world, where so many people get isolated.
It drives thousands of sophisticated model cockpits all over the world, many of them being used for real-world training in various forms

I dare say that Microsoft Flight Simulator has been the best medicine for many people, taking them away into the virtual skies, forgetting their pains, heartaches, worries and misery and making them ‘pilot’ for a few happy hours at a time.

And although FS will live on, and third party add-on developers and publishers will continue to build new parts for it, it is THAT what Microsoft has taken away from them and from all of us. That ‘history’, that part of our lives that has always been there and should always have remained there.


So I, in the name of tens, and more likely hundreds of thousands of dedicated Flight Simulator users around the globe, I hereby kindly ask you to think about the implications of stopping a unique program and 'movement', of taking away an 'icon' of the Gaming Industry, Microsoft and of all flightsimmers world wide. And of throwing away ESP with it.

I wonder, how many PASSIONATE customers you have for MS Office? Or Windows Vista?
I guarantee you that the Flight Simulator customers are passionate. About aviation in general and about your product in particular. For almost THIRTY YEARS already. THERE is the difference with anything else you have ever produced!

So therefor PLEASE RECONSIDER this most unfortunate decision, knowing that MS Flight Simulator is NOT your run of the mill Microsoft product and knowing how much you have hurt such a huge number of your customers.

Thank you kindly for your time



Best but sad regards,

François A. 'Navman' Dumas
(among many other things) Managing Editor

The simFlight Network
www.simflight.com


François A. Dumas
Founder

Silver Cloud Publishing
francois@fssupport.com
www.silvercloudpublishing.com

Zuiderhout 55,
1695 AT, Blokker
The Netherlands

Phone +31-229-214062
Mobile +31-640-885739

[Scratch]

Very good letter, perfectly stated what many feel. Thanks for writing it.

[Bruce Thompson]

Very well done Francois:applause::applause:

[harleyman]

Well said...Hopefully it may open a small corner of his eye about our Flight Simulator and how we live and thrive by it...

:applause: :ernae:

[JoeW]

I think that will do nicely :typing:

[RCAF_Gunner]

Thanks Francois.

:ernae:

[Thoe6969]

That says just about all that could be said,thats for letting them know the feelings of thousands of flight simmers.They needed to hear it.

[krazycolin]

good luck with that.... business' are notorious for not listening...

[tigisfat]

Well, Microsoft is currently looking for an art director for a flight simulation team. That guy hasn't "killed" flight simulator in every sense. We've already heard that there was internal strife, a lack of production and FS11 wasn't even really started. I beg to wonder if they've wiped the slate clean and started over.

I've seen from their blogs that two of the ACES guys are "gainfully employed" with microsoft on an exciting new project. I'll bet we're not out of luck.

http://forums.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?t=192585&page=5

[Lionheart]

Well put Francois..




Bill

[empeck]

Well, Microsoft is currently looking for an art director for a flight simulation team. That guy hasn't "killed" flight simulator in every sense. We've already heard that there was internal strife, a lack of production and FS11 wasn't even really started.

But TS2 was almost completed, and now it is second TS2 'killed'.

[Nick C]

Well put Francois, but are you sure you want your address and telephone numbers on a public forum?

[tigisfat]

But TS2 was almost completed, and now it is second TS2 'killed'.

We don't know that TS2 has been killed, and we don't know how close it was. We were only given a few teaser shots, and an expected release date of later this year. It could've been WAY behind schedule, hence the internal strife that we know went on.

Not everyone in ACES was released. I'm not saying I know, but we've jumped to a few conclusions and been wrong already. We do know for a fact that microsoft is working on some sort of flight simulator.

[Pepere]

Thank you Francois, well said.:ernae:

David :kilroy:

[b52bob]

good luck with that.... business' are notorious for not listening...

Unfortunately, also not reading. I hope that it does get read and I thank you for you effort. Very well written indeed.

Bob

[lifejogger]

Maybe we all should mail Francois' letter to Mr.Spencer with a note saying we are in agreement with Francois. Bury them in paper.

[mike_cyul]

Thanks Francois, well done.


Mike

[Carvalho]

Very well said Francois.

[Javis]

Very well put, Francois ! Sure's worth a try. Niet geschoten altijd mis ! :amen:

Groeten,
Jan

[Major_Spittle]

There is always X-Plane. They are always working on it, upgrading it, and releasing new versions. I just hope people get behind X-Plane more so it has the funding and support needed to make it FS11.

I fear MS's heart is not in FS anymore, perhaps it is better left to a company that is solely focused on it. Also Storm of War should be out sometime this decade. Who knows what that will bring?

[boxcar]

.
Good word-smithing, Francois. Nicely done.
.

[jojohnson9]

Thanks for the effort...I agree with everything you wrote. Will it make a diffference with MS's decision to axe Flight Simulator? I think not. It is all about money. Will it bring in dollars...if not the hell with it.

[MM]

Thanks, Francois.

[JayKae]

Well written and agreed :)

[Cirrus N210MS]

wow nice should have one sent to news paper or msnbc or somthing eheh

[stovall]

Thanks Francois, very professional letter. Hopefully someone will take notice and consider the impact their decision has made for their customers.

Much appreciated, Tom

[Epsillon]

Nice words.
Thank you, François...:wave:

Stephan

[limjack]

Thank you Francois for taking the time to write such a wouderfull letter on behalf of all of us who love the FS sim world.

Jim

[robcap]

Well written Francois, Thanks alot. I have to agree with NickC.
And Lifejogger. We should all send this letter.
I hope developement continues, with a new(?) and lean team, to make a fresh start, as on the flightsim forum.

Cheers, R.

[foreigndevil]

Well done. I wonder whether they'll send you a reply ...

[Stickshaker]

Good job, Francois. Perhaps it will remind MS of their client base, which can never hurt.

[wombat666]

Francois,
Well constructed and crafted letter.
But will it make it past this person's secretary ......?
:kilroy:

[Francois]

But will it make it past this person's secretary ......?
:kilroy:


No idea.... that's why I am posting it all over the Internet too.....

Don't know if it will help any, but I can't just sit back and do nothing, not after 30 years tinkering with PC flightsims !!!

[sblzei]

Francois,
I fully support your (our) position, althogh I believe that a change of direction is very unlikely to happen...

Good trying, anyway. :applause:

Ezio

[cheezyflier]

Francois,
I fully support your (our) position, althogh I believe that a change of direction is very unlikely to happen...

Good trying, anyway. :applause:

Ezio

that would involve someone using the "m" word. no one, regardless of the cost, will admit to making one of those.

[6297J]

Francois,
Well constructed and crafted letter.
But will it make it past this person's secretary ......?
:kilroy:


Even if it does, will he make it past the first paragraph? I don't think I would.

I'm really sorry but at the likelihood of causing great offence, I just don't see the point of sending letters like this. It has all the aggressive 'it's not fair' tone of an angry teenager who has had his Gameboy confiscated. It would in no way make me reconsider my decision. Quite the opposite.

And where is the evidence that hundreds of thousands of simmers are 'hurt'? How many people have signed your petition Francois? 2000? Seriously - 2000!!! That's just embarassing. How is that going to persuade Microsoft to think again. If I was a Microsoft executive that would be all the evidence I need that canning the whole program was justified.

In all the general and developer FS forums on the web you see the same 30 or 40 people posting every day. The same people have been posting in these dwindling forums for years and years day after day. Half of them have a vested interest in the continuing success of Flight Simulator and have something to sell, some of them are sad frustrated fighter pilots who think they can now fly an F-16 because using FS has 'taught them how' and of course some, myself included just want to keep an occasional eye on new developments and addons. But it's the same people, the same few people. Very rarely somebody new turns up, rarer still they become a regular. In general I think the interest is much much smaller than you think. They might sell a lot of copies initially, relatively speaking but most people who buy Flight Simulator treat it like any other game (sorry, Simulator game), they load it up, play it for a few weeks, get bored and move on to something else. Or they play with it for ten or fifteen minutes a couple of times a week while waiting for the dinner to cook. Very very few get as obsessed with it or take it as seriously or will be as emotionally damaged as a result of the desicion by Microsoft as your letter implies.

The ultimate insult to a simmer is Get a Life but the twaddle that has been written since the Aces announcement is making me come as close to using it as I ever have before. I am truly not bothered that there will not be an FSXI for five years, ten years or ever at all. FSX will continue to be an occasional diversion for me and now and again I will be blown away by an occasion addon but my god, and ban me forever for saying this if you like, there are more important things to write letters about these days than the demise of a simulator game!

:banghead:

[Francois]

...... which then makes YOU the exception in these communities and not us :wavey:..... fortunately.

[jmig]

I must agree with Francois with this one. While the realist in me has to agree with with others that in the end it probably won't help, I am glad he wrote the letter. Why?

Because Francois is passionate over flight simming. It is good to see people who are passionate expressing there passion. Nothing was ever accomplished by naysayers and herd mentality acceptance. Which, BTW I have to include myself in the herd mentality. I have done nothing but shrug my shoulders and continue on my business.

I also did not see an "angry teenager who has had his Gameboy confiscated" tone in the letter. I saw disappointment, yes. I also saw a listing of items Francois thought were not in MS's best interest and they should consider.

I would be willing to co-sign the letter and or a petition.

Who knows? It just may help. It certainly can't hurt.

[Helldiver]

I'm a bit older than the previous writer and upon consideraion of his rather mean letter would only say this;
Like Mayor Daley's heartless and thoughtless desecrating of Meigs Field. the closing of Aces studio hurts a lot of people. But not as much as it hurts Microsoft.
It is just another sign that this all powerful company is headed for self destruction. This guy Spencer is merely a tool in it's ruin. I feel very sorry for him.
Flight Simulator will go on. It's too strong a force. It's just too bad that Microsoft will not be sharing a part of it.

[kjb]

Well stated...the letter didn't sound angry to me. When one looks at the number of hardware and software companies involved with this one program, plus all the hobbyists and users, there are a lot of people who share the statements you made.

[fsx]

Well done Francois

Erich

[DPS]

No harm in writing to MS to express your disappointment - perhaps they will write back and offer to sell you the rights to the game. Good luck.

[txnetcop]

Francois I support your letter, but also believe it will fall on deaf ears as they have already decided to move the sim to other platforms including Windows Live. PC12 (Paul) might want to comment on this. He and some of the other ACES group are back to work with a project they are being closed mouth about...which is great. Having worked in the corporate world for over 20 years in Silicon Valley, I can imagine the various reasons FS11 and Train Sim 2.0 came to halt, re-organization comes to mind as does Larrabee graphics priorities for Intel graphics chips and a host of other reasons I can think of.

Remember "evil triumphs when good men do nothing," and while I doubt evil is the intention of the "evil empire M$", it does come down to more than economics when a decision of this magnitude is reached. Francois, thanks for being one of the good men who try and get the bottom of things and offer solutions and not just complaints. Your are a credit to our hobby and to the craft at large.

By the way, I want to thank Microsoft for introducing flight simulation into our lives, and withstanding the constant barrage criticisms of each new generation. Somehow we finally migrate to each one while holding dearly to the last one. I do hope they have our best interest at heart down the road as well.
Ted

[Henry]

Well put Francois
and for the people who who do not believe it will be read
or it is pointless
at least someone is doing something positive
if you do not ask you will never receive :amen:
Cheers
H

[Major_Spittle]

Perhaps a few hundred letters to the CEO that go something like:

I am retired and currently use your program FSX. X-Plane runs on LINUX which is free and will save me $160 when building my next computer. Linux also comes with a free Office Suite that does everything a person could want on a home PC. This is an added $200 value. Just using Linux will save me over 30% of the cost on my next computer build.

[Cactuskid]

Hear, hear Francois! Very well said, and I believe that your letter speaks for a vast majority of us in the flightsim community. That being said, I am also skeptical that it will make a difference to the pencilnecks at MS corporate, but as others have said, it won't hurt.

It's a shame that with the upcoming advances in computer technology that MS has chosen not to make FS a part of it. I have been an avid flightsimmer since FS98 and it is truely a passion for me. I am also a real-world pilot who can no longer indulge in my enthusiasim for flying because I can no longer afford to. Flightsimming has become a great surrogate for me and has kept my passion for aviation alive.

One thing that I believe cannot be taken away is the sense of community the we share here at SOH and other forums. I've 'met' like-minded people from all over the world, and to me, that one of the best things about our hobby!

I remain optimistic that all the very talented developers of FS software and hardware will continue to develope the outstanding add-ons that make the FSX platform so much better.

Thank you Francois for your letter. I know it comes from the heart. :ernae:

[Pepere]

Personnaly I don't think MS cares one way or another about FS or any users of it - They took XP off new computers even when half the world want XP over Vista - they don't CARE. It's their way or the highway.... David

[AusWilko]

Front page of Avsim spells out the future and it is dark

[Snuffy]

I'm sure your words will go over much better than my hate filled four letter worded document. :amen:

(Not really, I haven't sent one ...)

Thanks Francios, put me down on the petition again!!

[Helldiver]

As a former CEO and President of an Electronics company and two Aerospace companies the third or forth item in our charter was “You shall do no harm to the community” That is funding charities, donating time and help and to give your customers full consideration and service.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
As long as Bill Gates was running the place, it more or less subscribed to that item of charter. <o:p></o:p>
However, then the Bean counters took over. “Why should we provide service by Americans? We can do it much cheaper by having it done by someone in a barefoot county. So what if nobody understands them? By the way, Why don’t we charge for this “Service”? The Bean counters start to ignore the third charter of the company. <o:p></o:p>
“Let’s come out with a totally different operating system that will obsolete all previous systems and make another Gazillion bucks and call it <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place>Vista</st1:place>? <o:p></o:p>
By the way, what are doing with the Aces Studio, with their Flight Simulator stuff? The most they’ll ever do is 500,000 sales and all we’d make is a lousy 130 million off of it. Close them down.”<o:p></o:p>
And so it goes…<o:p></o:p>

[Railrunner130]

Well said Francios. :amen:

I've been trying very hard not to get worked up over this. My initial thought was that it's just a wave to be ridden out until the world economic situation improves and M$ will right their wrongs. However, now I think letters such as this need to be written to ensure the course is maintained.

This whole Live thingy idea sounds great to M$, but not to me. I don't want to have to buy FS ala-carte. That's a load of crap. I pay for a program, I want the whole thing. Not a piece of it. Perhaps offer me a combat simulation pack later to revive Combat FS, but that's it. I don't want to have to pay for the basic program, the basic scenery, the aircraft. And then, if I choose to go on a round the world flight, buy more scenery and some other stuff as I go. That's like paying tolls on my computer. That's crap and it's not a good way to do business. Initially, that sounds good for payware developers, but it's not. It would mean more money out of pocket- money that I don't want to shovel out. I'd end up downgrading my capabilities, not expanding in order to do what I want to do. And that's how payware gets hurt.

Additionally, the way I see it, part of the responsibility of any and all aviation related businesses is to foster aviation. M$ became an aviation related business when they released FS nearly 30 years ago. Now, they have a civic responsibility to ensure that that fostering continues.

M$ - Don't screw with a good thing!

[thedude247]

20 bucks says that this guy won't even read the f#$%ing letter.:faint:

But the effort is still the right thing to do.:applause:

[gera]

Nice letter Francois, but I think a waste of your time.....Microsoft is out to make money, money and more money. A typical
greedy company....very much like those that have messed up the economics of the USA and the world.....so sorry.:bs:

[Mongo]

Well written Francois! Thank you for sending that letter. Now here's hoping someone on the other end will listen...

[Vigilius]

Well done François, thanks from us all

[Francois]

Fortunately, I am one of those people who can afford to waste (at least some) of their time...... ;-)

[JIMJAM]

I remember the good ol days when flightsims were a developers flagship product.
Then the shooters "Doom" came and 1st person games became their technical showcase.
One by one they started falling off and I do not blame them.
Sims were hard on computers and 80-90% of the forums were not about how to fly them but how to get them to run.
Then the consoles came which were perfect for 1st person shooting games but horrible for flight sims.
We all saw this coming and I am surprised it took this long.
I plan to pickup the GOLD VERSION and keep it boxed just in case.
Nice letter but its about the bottom line,not the flight line.
Maybe if you tell em to put some planes in the next Halo it might work.

[Bjoern]

I beg to wonder if they've wiped the slate clean and started over.

Let's hope they did.
FS desperately needed a fresh start anyways.



they don't CARE.

Windows 7 and its public beta and (soon to come) public Release Candidates...are a clear indication that MS *does* care

[jhefner]

As long as Bill Gates was running the place, it more or less subscribed to that item of charter. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
However, then the Bean counters took over. “Why should we provide service by Americans? We can do it much cheaper by having it done by someone in a barefoot county. So what if nobody understands them? By the way, Why don’t we charge for this “Service”? The Bean counters start to ignore the third charter of the company.

As all of this continues to unfold, I can't help but wonder if Bill Gates' departure wasn't a result of seeing the culture changes that were taking place, deciding he wanted no part of it, and getting out while the going was good.

No, there has been no official work from M$ that Flight Simulator will be folded into Windows Live. But, this fits everything I have read about M$ for years; pushing as much software as they can get away with away from software license and CD to "software as a service" model, where you download and pay for what you use. They wanted to do that with MS Office for years; I think only corporate resistance has held them back to date.

It would also allow them to get their hands in the pot in regards to the add-on market. While it is pennies compared to M$ profits; I sure the bean counters were tired of seeing others profit, and not themselves.

I think in the end, they will end up killing the goose that laid the golden egg. And, no, they won't be smart enough to save face like Coke did and release a "FS Classic." :typing:

[Kiwikat]

Perhaps a few hundred letters to the CEO that go something like:

I am retired and currently use your program FSX. X-Plane runs on LINUX which is free and will save me $160 when building my next computer. Linux also comes with a free Office Suite that does everything a person could want on a home PC. This is an added $200 value. Just using Linux will save me over 30% of the cost on my next computer build.

LOL:applause:

[idancesafetydance]

WOW Francois, that's DEEP, I (no joke either, im being 113& serious) I almost cried. Great letter man, I am sure they'll think long and hard about what they've done. those b@st@rd$.

[Guruswarmyoz]

Thank you Francois i very much agree with you.

On a side note, Should we as the entire FS community start an online petition & present to Micro$oft to show that they have a "duty of care" to the customer? All major FS site would have to be involved to have the maximum impact...

[Lionheart]

Perhaps a few hundred letters to the CEO that go something like:

I am retired and currently use your program FSX. X-Plane runs on LINUX which is free and will save me $160 when building my next computer. Linux also comes with a free Office Suite that does everything a person could want on a home PC. This is an added $200 value. Just using Linux will save me over 30% of the cost on my next computer build.




Man!

:faint:

This makes me want to get out an old computer and get it running and put that on it!!! (But I do love my Mac! :d And they designed XP9 on Macs, heh heh)




Bill

[noshadez]

Cool Francois... this is sorta like a version of the great country song "Take this job and shove it!"..you let em know with this mail what you think about it..and your thoughts are mine and a lot of others..Especially FS is a great way to getaway from all the hustle for hundred of thousands mostly mid->older aged folks..but hey! we count too..mayby they will get a clue..ThankX

[Francois]

Thank you Francois i very much agree with you.

On a side note, Should we as the entire FS community start an online petition & present to Micro$oft to show that they have a "duty of care" to the customer? All major FS site would have to be involved to have the maximum impact...


Yes, and I am trying, but not getting anywhere. Alittle over 2000 people have signed on to Facebook Group now...... which is GREAT, but far from 100.000.

The 'problem' with this hobby still is that there are so many different little groups, clubs, VA's, magazines, websites and forums.
It is like trying to get all car owners together to protest against the ridiculous high taxes they have to pay in some countries. They all agree, but you never get more than a hundred to say so in one place, if at all ! :help: