The first free-to-play entry in Microsoft's venerable Flight Simulator franchise is reaching an ignominious end just a few months after its initial release. Microsoft has announced that it is halting further development on Microsoft Flight and reassigning some staff members at the Vancouver studio that developed it.
Flight, which launched in February, will continue to be available as a free download with a small number of planes and the ability to fly around certain Hawaiian islands. Microsoft will also continue to operate the online store where players can purchase new planes, locales, and gameplay goals as DLC, but no new content will be produced.
The staff reductions in Vancouver also put an end to Project Columbia, a Kinect-based child-focused interactive TV project first announced last year.
"Microsoft Studios is always evaluating its portfolio of products to determine what is best for gamers, families, and the company, and this decision was the result of the natural ebb and flow of our portfolio management," Microsoft said in a statement provided to Kotaku. "Many factors were considered in the difficult decision to stop development on Microsoft Flight and Project Columbia, but we feel it will help us better align with our long-term goals and development plans."
The Flight Simulator series has hit a rough patch in the new millennium after being one of Microsoft's premiere PC gaming franchises in the '80s and '90s. Following 2006's Flight Simulator X, the publisher shut down Flight Sim maker ACES studio in 2009 before starting up development on the more accessible Flight in 2010.
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