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Flight Simulator Devs Grounded By Microsoft Job Cuts [Disturbance In The Workforce]
Kotaku —
... divisions, some of them are, with sweeping cuts announced for the company's Flight Simulator development studio. According to sources speaking with Gamasutra, "a large portion" of the staff at ACES Studio - based in Redmond, and wholly owned by Microsoft - have been let go. ACES aren't only the team behind Microsoft's long-running Flight Simulator series, but were also working on Microsoft Train Simulator 2 as well. The future of both series is up in the air following the cuts. Report: Microsoft Makes Big Cuts At Flight Sim Studio [Gamasutra]
Tragic Casualty of Microsoft Layoffs: Flight Simulator Grounded, Forever [Microsoft]
Gizmodo —
The first blow to us from the layoffs Microsoft announced yesterday cuts deep into our childhood memories: Flight Simulator is permanently grounded. The entire development team is gone. Flight Simulator debuted in 1982, making it one of the longest-running continuous franchises in the gaming industry. Both barely a game and so much more, Flight Simulator was an experience, and one of the first things on a computer that truly astonished me. I was flying (and crashing!) a real plane, really (virtually)! And all on my ...
Microsoft Flight Simulator Devs Part of Job Cuts
DailyTech Blog Feed —
Future of Microsoft Flight Simulator is unknown Microsoft is now among the many technology firms that have been hit with hard times. The answer to fixing the problems with profitability and poor performance for Microsoft and most other technology firms is to cut jobs and reduce spending. Microsoft did just that when it announced earlier this week that it would chop 5,000 jobs from its workforce . Among the first casualties to come in the job cuts are reported to be the entire development team for Microsoft's long running Flight Simulator franchise. Flight ...
Microsoft Flight Simulator developers hit particularly hard by job cuts
CrunchGear —
... The Microsoft-owned developers responsible for the Microsoft Flight Simulator series (and the upcoming Microsoft Train Simulator) have been hit pretty hard by all those ...
Microsoft’s game studios take a beating in layoffs
VentureBeat —
... Gamasutra reports that the Flight Simulator studio, dubbed ACES, suffered big layoffs yesterday, which marked the cutting of the first 1,400 jobs. In addition, we’ve heard that about 30 percent of the company’s video game testers have been cut. Also, next week, the game group is expected to undergo a management restructuring. ...
Has Microsoft Flight Simulator Been Canceled after 29 Years?
Technologizer —
... include the program’s entire development team, and it’s therefore being discontinued . I hope it’s a false alarm. I’ve never sat inside FS’s cockpit even once, but I feel like it’s been part of my life for almost as long as I’ve been using personal computers (that would be 31 years as of this summer). Some of the ...
Microsoft makes cuts to gaming: ACES studio closed, 30% of testers laid off
Joystiq —
... Already, one of their internal studios, ACES, is confirmed shut down. The studio was responsible for the Flight Simulator series. Dean Takahashi from ...
Is Microsoft Flight Simulator coming to an end?
The Seattle Times: Microsoft Pri0 —
... Game industry news site Gamasutra reports that ACES, the Microsoft game studio responsible for its iconic "Flight Simulator" program, was "heavily affected" by the ...
Sources: Microsoft to close completely its Aces game studio
All about Microsoft —
... by the first round of layoffs. And it’s increasingly sounding like the games side of the house bore the brunt of the E&D cuts. Microsoft has closed completely its Aces Studio, the game group that developed and maintained Flight Simulator, sources close to the company confirmed. Aces’ other franchises include Combat Flight Simulator and Train Simulator. GameSutra is reporting that the Aces Studio was affected heavily by yesterday’s corporate layoffs. I hear Aces isn’t just “damaged,” but it’s done. Aces will join ...
So, Flight Sim team, what color are your parachutes?
GMSV —
After more than 26 years, it looks like Microsoft is bailing on Flight Simulator , the longest running franchise in its portfolio, or at least clipping its wings. When the company announced the first wave of a planned 5,000 layoffs yesterday (see “ Tech earnings: the weak in review “), sending a shudder across the Seattle area , the Entertainment and Devices unit was rumored to be a prime target. And today, word dribbled out , eventually confirmed, that Aces , the wholly owned studio that produced the Flight Simulator series, was being shut down. ...
Microsoft job cuts hit game studios, and Flight Simulator looks doomed
Technology: Technology blog | guardian.co.uk —
... It's hard to believe that Microsoft could kill off the Microsoft Flight Simulator, which was used as an unofficial compatibility tester for the IBM PC after that was launched in 1981. However, its future looks very uncertain, according to reports in Gamasutra and Venture Beat. Gamasutra says: ...
Gaming Roundup: GameStop Prospers; Microsoft's Flight Sim Layoffs; Eidos Shuts Studio
paidContent —
... ; according to Gamasutra, the entire development team behind the long-running series has been let go. Launched under the Microsoft brand in 1982, players and independent developers have produced a number of mods and add-ons. The most recent version of the title, Flight Simulator X, was released in 2006. ...
Microsoft Layoff Hits Gaming, Online Services, Real Estate
Xconomy —
... —Microsoft’s ACES studio, the Redmond, WA-based group behind the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, has been shut down, according to Gamasutra. VentureBeat also ...
Microsoft Flight Simulator early casualty of mass layoffs
Obsessable News Feed —
The company's ACES development studio, responsible for the series, is on the chopping block. It looks like the end of an era as Microsoft's longest-running product is having its development shut down as the company dismisses 5,000 workers. One of the groups most affected by the firings is Microsoft's ACES development studio, the team behind the Flight Simulator franchise.
The first release of Microsoft Flight Simulator was all the way back in 1982. There have been regular releases every few years since then, adding color ...
Flight Sim Studio Finished
Edge Online - Interactive Entertainment Today —
... is we are implementing is the closure of the Aces Studio, which was responsible for the Flight Simulator franchise." Microsoft has closed or separated itself from numerous studios during the current hardware generation. Aside from Ensemble and Aces, the company also closed down Shadowrun developer FASA and Freelancer developer Digital Anvil. Halo-maker Bungie split from owner Microsoft in 2007, returning to independence. Word of the studio's closure first appeared on the website Gamasutra . A ...
Final flight for Microsoft Flight Simulator
Yahoo! Tech Advisors —
... was one small group which didn't make headlines but which will have a massive impact to a small, but vocal, minority of computer users. That group? The team behind the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, which has been almost completely eliminated from the Microsoft payroll . MS Flight Simulator is notable especially for its rabid fan base: The most die-hard players organize " ...
