EBBR Marketplace

[ktomais 56]

So, EBBR has been released since Apr 20 but has yet to appear in the Marketplace. I seem to remember that it was said that all vendors received the product at release. Any idea on what's going on with the process in the Marketplace?

[Jonas S. 466]

Hi @ktomais,

 

I suggest to ask over at the Microsoft/Asobo forum. As mentioned before, all vendors receive the files at the very same time. Once that is done, it is out of our hands.

[ktomais 56]

Thanks Jonas. I am a bit surprised though that there doesn't seem to be much concern for its release (in the Marketplace). I suspect Aerosoft has contacts with Asobo/MS for the state of their product releases. Especially for when a release is stuck for this long. I will attempt to inquire there as well, but I hope for a more involved approach in the future.

[simtom 36]

2 hours ago, Jonas S. said:

Hi @ktomais,

 

I suggest to ask over at the Microsoft/Asobo forum. As mentioned before, all vendors receive the files at the very same time. Once that is done, it is out of our hands.

 

Might this have something to do with the VDGS Module since the updates for EDDK and ENVA are stuck because of that same module? This was posted by Matthijs in a different thread.

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Yes it is related to the VDGS module indeed.  Anything that 'expands' the standard options of the sim will always need assistance from Microsoft. Let me assure you that we are talking to Microsoft about this on a daily base. 

 

Basically however, this is not in our hands.

 

 

[ktomais 56]

57 minutes ago, Mathijs Kok said:

Yes it is related to the VDGS module indeed.  Anything that 'expands' the standard options of the sim will always need assistance from Microsoft. Let me assure you that we are talking to Microsoft about this on a daily base. 

 

Basically however, this is not in our hands.

 

 

 

Hi Mathijs and thank you for your reply. It's important to know that there's a to and fro about this. Would there be any indication of progress? 

 

Meanwhile, would it be possible to decouple the VDGS module, and offer it separately, so that this and future projects are not "stuck" for the marketplace?

 

I appreciate this is a quite involved process, so not necessarily applicable in this case. Perhaps something for the future. 

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

30 minutes ago, ktomais said:

Hi Mathijs and thank you for your reply. It's important to know that there's a to and fro about this. Would there be any indication of progress? 

 

Meanwhile, would it be possible to decouple the VDGS module, and offer it separately, so that this and future projects are not "stuck" for the marketplace?

 

I appreciate this is a quite involved process, so not necessarily applicable in this case. Perhaps something for the future.

 

Look, this is a complex issue. Perhaps time to shed some light on it.

 

Commercially (from a publishers point of view) the Marketplace is huge. I (we) simply do not understand publishers that think they do not need it. If your add-on if not on the Marketplace you not only loose acces to the biggest shop (by far) but also to MSFS Xbox and MSFS Cloud. If you only read forums like this you might think these platforms are not important but that is because these customers use other media to communicate (if they do). Let me tell you the fact Simple Traffic is still not available on the Marketplace is costing us a shite load of money. If you want to make money with a MSFS DLC you need the Marketplace. It does not matter how you or I feel about that shop, it is still the biggest. 

 

From a developers point of view the Marketplace is not ideal. You have to abide to limitations that are not the valid for shops like ours, Orbx etx. Microsoft allows us to make DLC they will not sell. From their point of view this is totally logically. They have three platforms, PC, Xbox, Cloud and they only want to sell stuff that works everywhere.  As publisher we want the same! Heck if it would run on a Sony Playstation we would be super happy. But the simple fact is that there are technical limitations that are simply not easy to overcome.

 

From the customers point of view things are not always easy to understand. The huge plus is that it is easy. You do not leave the sim, you do not deal with any third parties in weird countries. The negatives are that you only get what Microsoft wants to sell, have to wait until they handle it and that it is encrypted (so you can't tweak it). And because not every publisher/dev can use (or wants to use) the Marketplace you will not find all DLC. 

 

High-end simmers, who know the DLC companies, will probably buy where they did so for many years. Most casual simmers will default to the Marketplace and will be totally happy there. Those in between will decide on experience. That is why we invest a lot in customer support. It is where a 'small' company can compete with a massive company.

 

Aerosoft is happy to sell our DLC on every platform, in every shop.  We will solve the VDGS issue soon.

 

 

 

 

[ktomais 56]

Thanks for the insight on this. Appreciated. 

[JTTG 0]

Still waiting currently for a release on Xbox, any update on this? It still shows as ‘pc only’..