Microsoft Flight Simulator PMDG Boeing 737-600 Released & Priced at $34.99

Today acclaimed third-party developer PMDG released its Boeing 737-600 for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and they had a surprise in store.

[DeathTouch]

Nice!

[FlavorLav01]

How’s $35 for a single plane “Nice”? Supporting crap like this will only see games further pieced apart more and more. Sounds great 👍🏼 👍🏼

[Tacoboto]

This is a third-party developer building this plane for this simulation application.

Flight Simulator isn't Fortnite or COD

[Jin_Sakai]

$35 for a single plane? This is becoming ridiculous. And the people defending it are part of the problem.

[--Onilink--]

Arent these extra planes basically user created content? They are not piecing apart the game, its a storefront for users and partners who create new content and set the pricing

[Tacoboto]

Yep, look at me, totally being part of the problem of... acknowledging the reality that Flight Simulator is used as a legit simulation application with a marketplace that allows third party content.

[Abriael]

It's funny to see people who aren't familiar with flight simulators whining about this kind of pricing.

This is literally the best quality/value/price ratio you'll find at the moment not just in Microsoft Flight simulator, but in ANY flight simulator.

This is not your usual costume DLC, or a bit of story, a bunch of guns, or a few approximately simulated cars. This is an extremely complex aircraft simulated down to the smallest detail by what is considered one of the best if not the best third-party developer in the flight simulation market, fully licensed and endorsed by Boeing.

Its development took a whole development team *over two years* of work, without counting the work done for on it for previous flight simulators, which serves as a base. It's an extremely complex piece of software for advanced users that is by no means comparable to any DLC you'll find for any other game in terms of workload required to create it, complexity, and scope.

So yes, its developers require compensation comparable with the work they have put into it.

Aircraft of this caliber usually cost a minimum of $60, and for other simulators often they go as high as $100 or more.

Incidentally, nothing at all is "pieced apart." This is work done entirely by a third-party developer that has nothing to do with the original simulator, its developers, or Microsoft. The only point of connection is that it runs within Microsoft Flight Simulator. That's what it's an "add-on" and not a "DLC."

Microsoft (or anyone else) isn't "piecing apart" anything. They have delivered a massive amount of content from the get-go, and they continue to deliver TONS of free content on a bi-monthly basis, with the free 40th-anniversary edition coming in the fall that will include new aircraft, helicopters, and more for free to everyone who purchased the base sim.

As a matter of fact Microsoft Flight Simulator has gotten so much free content (and will continue to get it for the foreseeable future) that it blows out of the water pretty much every game on the market on any platform, and this is simply a fact.

Advanced add-on aircraft like this are a completely separate market for advanced users who want an extremely deep level of simulation, and this price is *extremely* low for this kind of content, which is defined "study-level" for a reason.

And it's priced this low for the purpose of providing an entry level for people who have not tried advanced airliner simulation and would like to get their feet wet to see if it's for them, because it's definitely not for everyone.

If you think this pricing is high, then you simply aren't the kind of advanced user this product is for. You can be content with flying approximately simulated cessnas and seeing the sights, or be awed by flying over your house. You won't need to spend a dime more than the base package.

People who have the slightest idea of what they're talking about, know that this is pretty much dirt cheap for the value it offers. Please educate yourselves before irrationally bashing something you obviously don't know.

[Jin_Sakai]

“Yep, look at me, totally being part of the problem of... acknowledging the reality that Flight Simulator is used as a legit simulation application with a marketplace that allows third party content.”

A digital plane being $35 that could easily be $5 or $10. Yes you are part of the problem for defending the ridiculous price.

[Imalwaysright]

Abriael

This thing costs half the price of a full game and just to put things in perspective I'm just going to mention a game called RDR2 that cost €70 at launch. You're full of shit and you'll only manage to fool those that want to be fooled.

[Abriael]

@Jin_Sakai: translation of what to say: "this should cost less because I say this should cost less."
That's not really how life works, buddy. I explained for your sake how things are from the point of view of someone who has been flying on flight simulators for nearly 30 years. You brought nothing to support your demand besides a meaningless "you're part of the problem" catchphrase. Try again, because there's no "problem" here besides some overentitled people who demand to be given products for less than their worth because they know nothing about said products.

And mind you, I guarantee that for all your demands of being able to own this for cheaper, you wouldn't even be able to start the engines, let alone take off.

If you think this is overpriced, feel free to use the much less complex aircraft that cost left or are free. There's a metric ton of them.

@Imalwaysright: and according to what parameter are you saying that this is worth less than half of RDR2? Come on. Tell us how you really feel. 😂

[Imalwaysright]

Abriael

Budget. That is the only parameter needed for those that aren't stupid in the head. According to analysts, RDR2 had a combined development and marketing budget between $370 million and $540 million so I dare you to reply to me with how much it cost to create this thing with another dumbass emoji.

[Tacoboto]

Abriael, these guys don't know at all what they're really complaining about. They see a price tag and out comes the whining on something they'll go out of their way to ignore the proper context of.

[Abriael]

@Imalwaysright budget is not in any shape or form the sole indicator of the value of a product, nor of its pricing. By that logic, any game that cost less than RDR2 to make should also cost less to the final user, which is as dumb an idea as it comes.

Value is determined by the nature of the product itself and what it offers, and the budget is absolutely irrelevant to that. Price is determined by the budget in relation to how many copies something can sell in a specific market. The market for RDR2 is massively bigger than the market for an aircraft that 99% of those who play RDR2 (optimistic estimate) wouldn't even be able to start the engines for, let alone fly or enjoy it.

RDR2 can provide 100+ hours of gameplay to a dedicated user, and so can this aircraft, easily. And that's how you compare value.

Speaking about budget, this aircraft has been in development for over 2 years for this simulator alone, but its development has been an ongoing project since 14 years ago for Flight Simulator X. If you think there's a small budget that doesn't compare with games of similar price behind it, you're completely delusional.

[jeromeface]

@Jin_Sakai You should stop trying to contribute to the conversation, you obviously have no idea how simulators work... its not just building a model and texturing it.. you're showing insane ignorance. The downvotes on all your comments prove my point.

[Imalwaysright]

"By that logic, any game that cost less than RDR2 to make should also cost less to the final user"

RDR 2 doesn't cost more than other games due to what economists call sticky pricing. When you have constant prices for 5 or even 10 years suddendly asking consumers to pay more for a product than they're used to is something that most of them wouldn't accept. That is why publishers need a good excuse to raise pricing of games such as: "it's a new generation so development costs will increase..." and even then some, like me, won't take kindly to them because we know how much money these companies are making.

"Value is determined by the nature of the product itself and what it offers"

Bullshit. Production costs and supply and demand determine the price of a product but for this industry you also have to take in account sticky pricing. Considering that this game can be easily be obtained through a download and that supply isn't a issue then I have to ask again: how much did it cost to create this thing? Go on, tell me with another dumbass emoji.

[Knushwood Butt]

PMDG has a total of 8 employees according to Wikipedia.

[ChubbyBlade]

This is how REAL simulators have always been. One of these planes has more controls and things to learn than a standard AAA game.

You’re learning an entire flight system that teaches you how to fly the real thing. It’s not like driving a car.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Abriael put the price in the title knowing full well people would complain about a single dlc plane costing $35 and would there by generate heat. Genius.

[frostypants]

3rd party add on, kids. Entirely unaffiliated with the makers of the base sim. Would you prefer MS blocked the sim from 3rd party content just so everything was free (i.e. these products wouldn't exist at all)? Do you seriously have zero clue how sims generally work? It's basically like an open platform where anyone can make their own content and sell it. And flight models/aircraft systems happen to be some of the toughest programming out there...the base sim only provides a general environment. Don't want to buy it? Fine! DON'T. Wait for someone else to make an add-on, maybe even for the same plane, for less. Not that uncommon. Honestly, you people critical of this have no clue what you're talking about. This is the dumbest dead horse in recent memory. Freaking gen-Z noobs man...

[denawayne]

Don't buy it then

[PapaBop]

Compared to scam citizen, that's actually a bargain, there you can buy single ships for the price of a ps5

[NotanotherReboot]

Umm because its cheap? A real Boeing 737-600 costs $9,500,000.00, so this is a great deal. Thank you again, Microsoft

[CaptainHenry916]

Nice that it's $35 dollars for a single plane? I can buy a game for that price 😁😂

[Abriael]

And I can guarantee that any game you buy for $35 won't be nearly as advanced and complex as this.

[CaptainHenry916]

@Abriael

If you want to support the price then go for it. No one ain't stopping you. I would rather play a game called Stray for $35 dollars than to buy a single plane at that price. But that's my opinion.

[Abriael]

@CaptainHenry916: No one stops you from picking Stray if you're into that kind of fun. But the price of a product is determined by its value and how much work went into creating it.

While value is personal, I can guarantee without the slightest doubt that this took a LOT more work and research to create than Stray. And not by a small margin.

It's not a matter of "supporting" the price. It's *objectively* cheap for what it offers.

[RpgSama]

@Abriael

" I can guarantee without the slightest doubt that this took a LOT more work and research to create than Stray. And not by a small margin."

You are seriously saying that just the ONE plane took a LOT more work and research than a full game like Stray?

WOW.

[Abriael]

@RpgSAMA: I'm not just seriously saying that. I can absolutely guarantee it with zero doubt.

This aircraft is an extremely precise simulation of a $80 million airliner. Every single system works as it does in real life. Every part is physically simulated, from its function to potential failures.

To give you an example, if you pilot an aircraft in a normal game, say GTAV, when you pull up on the stick, the aircraft pulls up simply because the programmer set that command to artificially have that consequence.

In this aircraft, your input on the stick has an effect on the physically simulated hydraulic system of the aircraft, which in turn moves (according to the status of the hydraulic fluid in the physically simulated hydraulic lines) the elevators a certain amount, which determines their interaction with the airflow, and as a consequence moves the nose of your aircraft up. And this goes for every single system in the aircraft.

As a matter of fact, it's very likely that programming the sole autopilot and flight management computer of this aircraft took more effort and research than the whole making of Stray.

[frostypants]

Then don't buy it. Complex sims aren't for you. Get a more normie model of the same plane.

Sad how out of touch and entitled N4G's base has become. If $35 is too much for this, you kids aren't the target market. This isn't some new thing. Real sims have ALWAYS been like this.

[LoveSpuds]

As someone with thousands of hours in Flight Sim, going all the way back to FS98, I can tell you that 35 dollars is an absolute bargain.

Precision Design Manual Group's simulators are the best there is, literally every system is simulated and the physics model is incredible. It took me months to learn to fly their Queen of the Skies 747 sim.

Having said that, I would say that I just don't see any point in releasing them to console. People who take Flight Sim seriously, the kind who happily pay 50 quid for a traffic add on, will play on PC.

Just looking at the comments here demonstrate that unless it's free on Gamepass, Xbox gamers won't be happy.

[Abriael]

Eh, yes and no. For every 10 whiners who balk at the idea of spending $35 for an aircraft that can potentially provide hundreds of hours of enjoyment, there's likely someone who will give it a try, find out they love the level of complexity and embrace complex simulation, even on Xbox.

It's worth having to witness the disgraceful whining every time for each of those who are drawn into the deeper aspects of the hobby, and I'm sure PMDG feels the same about it.

[outsider1624]

Do you play it with a controller or the flight stick. Do these work better with a flight stick. You know like how racing games work better with the wheel?

[fr0sty]

half the cost of a new AAA game, for a plane.

[Abriael]

And more value than a new AAA game for those able to use it.

If you don't see the value, this is simply out of your league. Luckily, Microsoft Flight Simulator has plenty of aircraft within your league.

[Imalwaysright]

Price skimming at its finest.

[fr0sty]

That has got to be the saddest excuse i've ever heard for price gouging. "You just don't get the value." No, I get the value of adding new vehicles to a simulator. And it's not half the cost of the damn game. They're nickle and diming you and you're cherring them on for it... thus hurting the industry as a whole now that they know they can get away with it.

"more value than a AAA game" ... hilarious. AAA games take as long as several days of straight playthrough to complete, have extremely complex systems that take teams of hundreds of people several years to develop... and they still come in at $70. This plane didn't take a team of hundreds years to make. It might have taken a couple dozen a few months.

[ChubbyBlade]

Yep tell me you don’t play sims without telling me you don’t play sims.

Y’all acting like this is like just adding a car to gram turismo.

Stray - $30 for a 2 hour game where you do nothing but wander around as a cat - that’s ok

“One plane” that’s completely simulated with its real life counter part, modelled 100% accurately, flies like the real thing with working instruments and accurate physics and flight models, all the actual controls inside the aircraft that behave accurate, all the landing and take off controls, even the auto pilot etc, all of which can take hundreds of hours to master, 34.99 RIP OFF!

I can’t believe people on this site. You all are acting like it’s a game where you pop it in and hold the trigger to go forward. 100% guarantee none of you could get this thing off the ground.

[Nuvem]

And here we see a sheep in its natural environment.

[MajorLazer]

A lot of idiots in this thread who know nothing about simulators. Abriael is 100% right.

[KillaJamm]

Seems fair.

[Elda]

I thought this was just some dlc that was basically an airplane for $35 but I see the price is basically for something called a pmdg which is a real flying training manual. I get the $35 price tag...lol.

[Abriael]

More or less. PMDG stands for Precision Manuals Development Group, but that's a name that comes from the history of the company, not what they do now.

You're not entirely off, though, as this kind of add-on has every smallest system of the real aircraft precisely simulated, and it's called "study-level" for a reason.

It's the closest to the real thing you can get on a home computer.

[acustomer]

Compared to Diablo Immortal this is a steal :D

[anast]

You beat me to it.

[Duke19]

I have a feeling most people bitching about this price have never even played MS Flight Simulator or have any idea what PMDG does.

People just love to be pissy online nowadays

[Abriael]

I don't just have that feeling. I'm absolutely positive that's the case.

[chadwarden]

And people complained about GT7's MTXs 🤣

[Bladesfist]

There's a pretty big difference between GT7s level of simulation of a DLC car and these simulations. I own a couple of DCS World planes and it's really useful to have the actual manual for the plane in order to get the startup checklist and sequence correct. These are designed to be as complete as possible.

If you think it's not worth the money then that's fine, it's a pretty niche hobby to get into this level of simulation, most people will probably hate it.

[ChubbyBlade]

Not even remotely comparable. You think learning to fly an air liner with hundreds of controls is the same as a car?

[Nacho_Z]

I guess when nerds want something, they want it.

[ChubbyBlade]

It’s a simulator. It’s not like gran turismo and Forza where they make a model and tweak some of the values. It’s a full on simulation that teaches you how to fly the real thing. Real pilots use these for training.

[Nacho_Z]

I'm sure you're right, I've had flying lessons and a simulation would have been useful because even a Cessna is horribly complicated.

I doubt that pilots or pilots in training account for any meaningful sales figures however.

[ChubbyBlade]

People in the comments acting as if these planes are like an additional car for Gran Turismo lol. These are SIMULATORS. All of them are like this because a single plane often takes around a year to fully develop and they’re not cheap to develop either.

Learning to fly them is a “game” in it and itself.

But of course it’s the people who don’t play simulators who are the ones whining about it. Simulators usually release with ONE vehicle. ONE. The DCS games, each plane is about $20-$30.

[Godmars290]

Longing for the days of $5 horse armor... Though not really.

[Rainbowcookie]

That started it 😆😅

[generic-user-name]

But remake TLOU for $70 and everybody loses their minds!

[CS7]

I can’t believe people want a full price up-rez of a game.

I’m lost for words.

I say this as a massive TLOU and Sony fan. Our industry is heading for some dark days if we’re ok with Elden Ring (a brand new hundred hour RPG) costing $10 LESS than “remake” of a 10 year old game.

[badz149]

were you there complaining when Nintendo released all their Wii U ports on the Switch for $10 more than they cost originally? If you were, fair enough.

[FlavorLav01]

Elden Ring is overrated. 80hrs in and I’m convinced it has no meaningful story, and the atmosphere is less then half as interesting as Bloodborne. Classic case of more is not always better IMO. 100hrs+ does not make a game great. And the up-rezzed game you speak of isn’t just any ol’ game. It’s literally one of the GOATs, and your making your final judgment on the upgrades coming without playing it. Smarter AI, 3D audio, dualsense features on top of graphical work done. Were people really expecting a whole new experience out of a REMAKE? And don’t pay $70, nobody is forcing you to buy it before a price drop, I just can’t understand that argument.

[Rainbowcookie]

You do realize uou don't have to buy it and their are some who never ever even played it?

[generic-user-name]

Up-rez? I didn't realize upping the resolution improved the enemy and friendly AI in games. I didn't realize upping the resolution added motion matching and new combat animations. I didn't realize upping the resolution means every asset being remade. I didn't know it meant added support for haptics, adaptive triggers, 3D audio, industry leading accessibility options, seamless cutscene to gameplay transitions, improved lighting and facial animations. I also didn't realize we were being forced to buy it at gunpoint instead of waiting for a price drop if we so feel.

Speaking of Elden Ring, before that game was reskinned several times it was Demon's Souls, and plenty of people didn't seem to be bothered when that PS3 game was remade for $70.

[Godmars290]

"Headed for"?

[the worst]

Bozo's. Will buy this and complain about a full game that cost $70

[ChubbyBlade]

Not even remotely comparable but cute try. This literally teaches you how to fly the real life counter part.

Do usually games take into account the actual weight, speed, construction and thousands of controls and electronics to simulate the real life aircraft? It takes hundreds of hours to perfect flying these.

[Imalwaysright]

Let us know when you're hired to fly the real thing.

[CS7]

Bro… You really ok in paying next gen prices for a remake of a game that pretty much plays like it did 10 years ago with better graphics?

Like really you want this to be a trend?

[Tedakin]

These prices aren't set by MS, but by third party devs selling through the store.

[frostypants]

They don't care about facts. They care more about their irrelevent feelings.

[frostypants]

Clueless nimrods who think gaming should be, and would survive as, a socialist industry: the thread. The entitlement and detachment from reality is hilarious.

[brewin]

Holy hell they just Gran Turismo'd Fight Sim 😳😂 No thanks

[Rainbowcookie]

This is an easy solution that most are complicating and i'm not talking about if it's worth the $35.
1. The developer can decide the pricing of a product. Since you are not the developer you cannot.

2. The consumer can decide if you want it or have the same value as the developer in their hearts and then either pay and support or leave it and move on.

3. If you have an opinion sure you can give it, but if you aren't interested as a consumer and you aren't a developer surely it's just an opinion. Not all opinions are wrong , but not all opinions are right either.

4. The only way a consumer has a say is with their cash. Because you need something does not mean you can determine price. If no body buys there is no market and a developer needs to reduce the asking price and vice versa.

These are the options. This gotta have everything my way entitled outlook is truely a sad part of life we are developing nowadays. I do blame dlc , lootboxes and general consumer society as it speaks to our inner person as if we are infants. We need to learn if not having something today that doesn't mean we won't have it tomorrow. Just my 5cents

[Bathyj]

We all just agree that value is subjective and if someone is willing to pay for something that it's worth it. And no one should tell other people how to spend their money.

Can we also agree if you work and spend time on something you should get paid for it whether you're making video games making DLC or digging holes in the ground. Work is work.

[lonewolf10]

So many clueless comments on one article, this is pure gold.

[ChubbyBlade]

Yea they think this is like adding a car to Forza lol. Last I checked in Forza you can’t even interact with the dashboard.

[DMgHalt]

Get X-plane, the flight simulator that pilots train on, and you can load pretty much any model of aircraft you want for free.