Letter of Support for Microsoft's Flight Simulator Franchise

Initially developed in 1982 by Bruce Artwick, Microsofts Flight Simulator has developed into one of the longest-running and best known franchises in the world. It is, in fact, Microsofts longest-running franchise, predating Windows by three years.

On Thursday, January 22, 2009, Microsoft Corporation announced their intention to cut 5,000 jobs in response to the recent global economic downturn. In the course of this reduction in force the entire ACES studio, the men and women responsible for continued development of the series, was closed.

In a prepared statement released January 23rd, 2009, a spokesperson for Microsoft confirmed this and stated they are committed to the Flight Simulator franchise, and expect to continue to release products in the series, but had nothing specific to announce at that time.

This petition is to serve as an open letter of support for both the ACES studio members and the Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise as a whole. Over its 25+ year history the franchise has built an unmatched fan-base stretching across generations. With the closure of the ACES studio, we, the loyal supporters of the franchise are concerned with the continuity and quality of the brand. Though the franchise remains the property of Microsoft Corporation, the real value remains in the dedication and creativity of the ACES studio members that have now been lost.

In addition, there is concern within the community that Microsoft has abandoned its supporters by taking this action. As you know, the franchise has a very strong 3rd party developer community that has invested countless hours and dollars to build applications and hardware to support and enhance the franchise. Without a change in course, it is a very real possibility that this industry, and its fans may look to competing products in the near future leading to millions of dollars of lost revenue.

We, the undersigned, ask Microsoft to preserve the integrity of the Flight Simulator franchise and ensure the future of Microsoft Flight Simulator development.