Redmond, Washington-based ACES Studio, the Microsoft-owned internal group behind the venerable Microsoft Flight Simulator series, has been heavily affected by Microsoft's ongoing job cuts. Development sources have told Gamasutra that a large portion of the dev house's staff has been let go - with multiple reports indicating that the entire Flight Simulator team has been axed.
Sure, but MSFS is the most successful game of this genre. It may be kind of a niche product, but it has a very faithful audience. Microsoft could have sold the whole studio and made a decent buck, rather than simply shutting it down. I can't see this as a smart move.
Stormwatch wrote:Sure, but MSFS is the most successful game of this genre. It may be kind of a niche product, but it has a very faithful audience. Microsoft could have sold the whole studio and made a decent buck, rather than simply shutting it down. I can't see this as a smart move.
MS doesn't sell development houses that they own/bought out. If they can't have it, nobody can. They don't want any competition in any market.
"I think Ikaruga is pretty tough. It is like a modern version of Galaga that some Japanese company made."
This is really going to have a negative effect on the crusty old geezer segment of the gamer market. That said this is probably for the best since FS X was by far the weakest entry in the FS franchise.