Earlier this week, dedicated press and YouTubers alleged that a Boeing 737 MAX for Microsoft Flight Simulator was about to be released by PMDG. As it turns out, that’s not the case.
The case started with the finding of a “737 MAX” listing hidden in PMDG’s store. Many jumped to the conclusion that the listing was a signal that the aircraft was about to be released, perhaps to celebrate FlightSimExpo, which will happen next week.
It’s worth mentioning that Simulation Daily declined to report on this alleged “leak” as it wasn’t very credible. This kind of placeholder store page is found almost daily in gaming, and in most cases turns out to be just that, a placeholder with no news relevance.
On top of that, it would be highly illogical for PMDG to keep an impending release of a Boeing 737 MAX a secret instead of announcing it as soon as possible with much fanfare. A competing product is available and has just been made compatible with MSFS 2024.
It would be in PMDG’s best interest to let their customers know that their own product would come soon, prompting them to wait and at least see which one would turn out to be the best, instead of just purchasing the other option. This makes the idea of a surprise release at FlightSimExpo less than credible.
PMDG Founder and CEO Robert Randazzo clarified the situation, defining the rumors as “silly” and mentioning that the page that was discovered was indeed a placeholder, and the situation that is holding back the developer’s 737 MAX will take “a few months” to unlock.
Here’s the full statement from the developer’s forums.
“Max. At Expo? Okay that is just SILLY:
I have mentioned a number of times that our MAX development is currently in holding in order to ensure we de-conflict it from some work we are doing on the Enterprise side of our operation. That status has not changed, but we anticipate it will change over the next few months.We love the anticipation for our version of MAX, but please do believe me when I say that we aren’t just going to drop such a thing on you unannounced. You’ll know it is coming. You will have seen a few preview images (mostly of landing gear- because that annoys a subset of people) maybe even a few streamers, and we’ll have been narrowing the release window for you for a few weeks prior to actually releasing it. The last time we did an unannounced release was 20 years ago this summer with our first 747-400 release in august of 2005. We learned a few things about marketing in the 20 years since and unannounced releases aren’t our thing.
Oh- and since someone is bound to launch a conspiracy theory: That link someone found on Thursday? It has been live since 10MAY and was being used by one of our supporting vendors to test systems that will be used to distribute the 737NG updates for MSFS 2024 at a discount for our existing 2020 customers. So, no, it isn’t some guaranteed hidden signal that we are prepping a product release.
Believe me- we get far too much credit for organization and deviousness. I wish we had the energy to create such subterfuge. We are too busy trying to unwind changes to the MSFS intake process!”
A similar statement is also included in a video released today, which you can watch below.
Randazzo also mentioned that updates for the 777 line will come next week with a series of fixes, while the -200LR version is now in beta, and it should release in early July. It could be slightly delayed between July 8 and July 9 due to the American Independence Day festivities.
737 fans shouldn’t be too sad about the fact that the MAX isn’t coming next week, as the 737ng series for MSFS 2024 will be the focus after the 777-200LR, and it’ll also receive an upgraded visual model, additional features that have been developed for the 777 line, and an entirely new sound suite, on top of several new features in the EFB tablet.
Those who purchased the 737s for MSFS 2020 will be able to upgrade by paying a price that is described as small.
If you’d like to read more flight simulation news, you can find plenty in our latest roundup article from yesterday.
If you want to go further back, we have a handy overview video of the major flight simulation news in the past week. You can watch it below. As usual, leaving a like and a comment, and subscribing to our growing YouTube channel is extremely helpful.
Editor’s note: since a picture of PMDG’s 737 MAX does not exist, we used a screenshot of the 737-800 for illustration purposes at the top of this post.