“Good news coming this week” – PMDG discusses 737 pricing in MSFS, -700 variant the first to be released
Update, January 18th – Stay tuned for further news later this week! According to PMDG, something “good” is about to be revealed. Maybe the pending issues are finally left behind?
Another week, another PMDG update. After the previous showcase of the GPWS functionality in the upcoming Boeing 737 for MSFS, this week, PMDG’s boss Robert Randazzo discusses the pricing plans for the product and talks a bit about the -700 variant of the aircraft.
As usual speaking in PMDG’s forum, Randazzo showed two new images of the 737, depicting the -700 variant of the aircraft in its cargo and business configurations. Not much to see here, as these are two generic external shots of the aircraft not unlike those we’ve seen before. Worth noting is that the Boeing 737-700 is actually going to be the first model to be released on MSFS by PMDG, to be followed by other airframes.
This may come as a disappointment to many of those looking to get their hands on the PMDG 737, since the -800 variant is a much more popular variant and surely the one most people have been looking for. For some reason (since clarified, read more below), PMDG is going with the -700 first, with a gap of around 6 weeks until the -800 is released.
PMDG is changing up the product release strategy with the 737 for MSFS. While previously the company would sell a base package and then provide expansion packs with different airframes, now they will offer single packages for each variant, in an effort to provide users with more affordable purchasing options when looking to get just one particular variant.
The thing is (opinionated section ahead!), PMDG appears to be immediately inverting this logic by selling the -700 first. Maybe they are betting that folks will eagerly get that first variant just to be able to fly *a* 737, even if the most desired model would be the -800, to then make the planned purchase of that longer variant once it becomes available some 6 weeks later. Surely, if the -800 variant was the first to come out, subsequent purchases would be significantly fewer… And the final lineup hasn’t been established yet, so we’re really not sure if the -800 will be the second to come out or not, although Randazzo says that those are the team’s intentions… and there’s even a very remote possibility for the -800 to come out first if the -700 gets hung up for some reason. The -600 and -900 variants are also planned.
That said, Randazzo did point out that starting with the -700 would provide a more solid foundation to build subsequent variants, both in terms of system logic and options packages. Going from the -800 to the -700 would mean moving backward on a series of tasks, to then jump ahead again for the longer models, in a very inefficient ordeal. So, it appears there’s some good reasoning behind this planned rollout.
In any case, in practice, if you want the -800 then you’ll be able to buy just that and save some serious money when compared to previous releases of the PMDG 737 on other platforms. As for exact pricing… no news yet, but hopefully we will have more details on that front soon.
Existing owners of the PMDG 737NGXu for P3D are in luck, because the promise PMDG made a few years back still stands: full credit on that purchase will be transferred to your purchase decision in MSFS, as long as you buy the aircraft through PMDG’s store.
In related news, the problem that was reported before that was stalling the release of the 737 is still waiting to be fixed by Asobo. After nearly 100 days of waiting, PMDG still hasn’t heard from Asobo regarding this issue, which continues to prevent some (undisclosed) key functionality to be implemented in the aircraft.
To learn more about the latest developments concerning the PMDG 737 for MSFS, see below our previous coverage on this subject.
Randazzo turns to poetry in the latest PMDG 737 development update
Check these magnificent new cockpit images of the PMDG 737 for MSFS
PMDG faces last minute struggles with the 737 for MSFS, release date put on hold
Editor’s note, January 18th – Added some clarification from PMDG regarding the reasoning for the -700 release in the first place.
Cal Fox
The article states that the -700 variant is first right after saying the -300 variant is first (paragraphs 2 and 3)
Vasco Ferreira
My apologies Cal Fox, an unfortunate typo. Fixed!
Firefly
Vasco – I like MSFSAddons, but I’m not a fan of opinions in news, such as “The thing is, PMDG appears to be immediately inverting this logic by selling the -700 first. Maybe they are betting that folks will eagerly get that first variant just to be able to fly *a* 737, even if the most desired model would be the -800″, please just report news and leave the conspiracies to Avsim. I only say this because if you read further down the thread you’ll see a legitimate reason why the -700 is first and that the -800 could actually come first…”The 700 is a better foundational point than the 800 when it comes to all of the system logic and options packages that cover the fleets. To go from 800 to 700 we would have to work a bunch of tasks backward, or rework them, which is worse. That being said, if something in the 700 gets hung up and the 800 is completed first, it will release first. I don’t really see much chance of that, however”
Vasco Ferreira
Hello Firefly. I appreciate the constructive criticism very much. I always try to refrain from giving some “opinionated views” on news such as this, but I felt my initial impression was going to be shared by many. Thankfully, as you kindly pointed out, there’s is further clarification about the reasoning behind PMDG’s decision, and I will update the article accordingly. Thank you!
Tomas
Fortunately, Vasco can write anything he wants on his site, you as user have choice to read it or not. If there were some of his opinions in some articles, they were spot on. Not everybody has the time to go through all possible forums or sites, thats one of the points of this site, I would say. You can of course correct him in comment, if he has wrong info, but I would like the read also his opinions in further articles and not few boring rows of text like in other news sites. Cheers.
Firefly
I wasn’t saying he shouldn’t, I’m just saying I’m not a fan, imo news sites should be impartial and state fact only, which is why I and someone else quoted the reasoning from PMDG, whether you believe the reasoning or not is another story and that can then be debated in the comments and avsim etc, but as you say some people will only come to this website and read the news and I don’t think it’s fair people being subjected to opinion when they’ll then believe it for only a innocent reason behind it
Joe
Hi Vasco – this is the actual reason why the 700 is first, quote is from RSR
“The 700 is a better foundational point than the 800 when it comes to all of the system logic and options packages that cover the fleets. To go from 800 to 700 we would have to work a bunch of tasks backward, or rework them, which is worse. That being said, if something in the 700 gets hung up and the 800 is completed first, it will release first. I don’t really see much chance of that, however”
Vasco Ferreira
Hi Joe. Duly noted! The article has been updated some minutes ago with that additional clarification. In truth, it would be much better if that reasoning was promptly revealed by PMDG. It all makes more sense now… although I believe my opinion still stands… releasing the -700 first is both a sound development decision, but also a commercially intelligent one… 😄
JOE
No probs Vasco, it probably is partly commercial as well, but I think the new way of selling will be better for all going forward. Anyway Rob released another update today, saying there may be good news later this week, hopefully an update to this Asobo blocker 🙂
Alex
Great article, Vasco!
Vasco Ferreira
Thank you Alex! Hopefully this will develop into further good news in the following days. This 737 will be a huge milestone for MSFS 🙂