ANNOUNCEMENT Orbx expansion plans and roadmap May 2012

[John Venema]

Hello everyone,

I have been away from the forums in the first few months of this year for a number of reasons; one of which is to allow nominated Orbx staff, moderators and team leaders take responsibility for key communications and customer liaison. The other is that 2011 was a difficult one for my family with some quite stressful life threatening health issues we had to work through as a family and that meant I needed to take a back step from day-to-day Orbx operations and focus on the important things in life. The good thing about situations like these is that after nearly six years we have built a solid team framework in our company and almost every facet of keeping Orbx moving along has been more than capably handled by the team. I want to give a big shout out to the whole Orbx team for their outstanding work ethic and product delivery leading to last December and also the exciting product pipeline being worked on even now.

So that's the personal stuff out of the way, and of course you won't find me posting as much on the forums moving forward, since my role as CEO is moving in a different non-developer direction and more focused on the bigger picture of company growth. With over 80 staff (and counting) spread around the world, the days of me having a hand in every aspect of the business are long gone. I might even lose my "developer" badge, LOL! More about that in a moment.

Orbx is growing!

When Matt, Marty and I started the company back in 2007 we rented some office space in the heart of Melbourne and planned to cater for about 12 people there over a five year period. Thing is, we weren't ready for that "corporate" presence back then, and as many of you remember we went through some difficult birth pains as we worked very hard to get the initial FTX Australian regions out the door and on sale. Since then of course we decentralised and we've grown to a virtual team spread around the world of some 70+ people, which recently has grown even larger. A while back I shared our plans to open a UK-based development office in the Hampshire area and this has now gone ahead full steam to the extent that we have outgrown the temporary office building being used.

So we're moving to a state-of-the-art new facility in Havant, the Langstone Technology Park. This is a former IBM data center which now houses some 3,500 tech workers across a dozen companies including Lockheed Martin, Hitachi and other software companies. This will be the new worldwide HQ for Orbx and we'll have 15 staff working there by mid-June when we finalise the office move. We are planning to have over 30 staff in our 2,400ft leased area which can cater for up to 45 staff by 2014 and beyond. I will be splitting my time between Australia and the UK as we push to grow Orbx to be the world leader in simulation software for the FSX and P3D platforms.

Langstone Technology Park - our new home. More info - http://www.langtp.com/

The UK Development Team

Located in our Langstone Development Centre will be several teams including our new Regions team (building FTX England as I speak). This includes a texture/landclass team and autogen team. We'll also have a modelling team led by Russell White as well as Airport development teams. The aim is for the UK office to be releasing at least six or more new regions per year and 24+ new airports per year. The initial focus of their work is to build out Orbx-quality airports for the UK and Europe, and yes - we will be working on regions in Europe from early 2013 with an aggressive rollout strategy.

We have staff relocating from various parts of the world to work in the UK office, including I am proud to say, my two sons Toby and Reece who will be working on landclass textures and photoreal ground imagery development. Toby's work can already been seen in the YPMQ Port Macquarie Airport release, and soon the YBTH Bathurst Airport release which he's working on with Tim Harris. I am very proud to have my two sons working in the company with me and they are very excited to be relocating to the UK to work with the outstanding team already in place there. Greg Jones who worked on YMMB Moorabbin Airport will also be relocating from Australia shortly and will be based there as well.

Matt Tomkins concluded a training visit to Hampshire a few weeks ago and currently Holger Sandmann is in Havant finalising further training to the landclass/texture team there. We have more training scheduled soon, and Orbx is investing in our senior leaders visiting and supporting the new team as it grows.

We are planning to host our inaugural Orbx Developer Conference in 2013 at the new office, which will be an exciting time for the company as staff from all corners of the globe will fly in for workshops, company vision sessions, guest speakers, planning meetings and generally getting to know their colleagues from around the world.

The Orbx Roadmap

So in 2012 I made the decision to slow the information feed about out product roadmap mainly because we have been doing a lot of core infrastructure work within the company and working on the Prepar3D product rollout. Soon Ed Correia will be finished developing the first of two Orbx P3D Migrator tools; the "linker" edition. This will allow our entire Orbx product library to be linked to P3D from FSX. The second version of this tool will be the "mover" edition; this will physically move your Orbx products out of FSX and permanently move them to P3D. It's a one-way trip, so that tool is for those who have decided to de-camp from FSX and make P3D their new sim of choice. Rest assured, FSX is most definitely our core platform for as long as Microsoft continue to sell it. We build on FSX first, then port to P3D. That is how we'll continue to operate for the forseeable future. Yes, we're excited about P3D but we also recognise most of our customers have a huge addon investment in FSX and we will always support that platform while people are using it as their main sim.

So what is is store for you this year?

Essentially, we'll continue to drip-feed product release information and only show screenshots and videos of products which are late alpha or in beta. We will only update the website with new product pages as they enter mid-beta cycle. This means that we can generate excitement around products which are real, in production, and not too far from being released. That said, I know many of you are anxiously awaiting an idea of what we are working on, so let me list you the products which are currently in development. Remember, this is just a list of what is currently being worked on - there are no release dates around any of these, nor will any of our staff give you estimates or timeframes. This is just what is being worked on by our staff worldwide.

Australia

YBTH Bathurst Airport

YBRK Rockhamption Airport

YSCB Cityscape Canberra

New Zealand

FTX NZ North Island Region (NZ-NI)

NZQN Queenstown Airport

NZMF Milford Sound Airport

North America

FTX Northern California Region (NA-NCA)

FTX South Alaska Region (NA-SAK)

CZST Stewart Airport, PFJ

W16 Monroe Airport

77S Kresswell (including bonus OR57 Walker Field)

KAJC Jackson Hole

KVOU Pearson Field Airport

CYBD Bella Coola Airport

KWYS West Yellowstone

W28 Sequim Valley

Aircraft

Victa Airtourer

Vans RV4 (alpha cabin detail shot below)

Europe

FTX England Region (EU-ENG)

EGHR Chichester/Goodwood Airport

EGKA Shoreham/Brighton Airport

EGHI Southampton International

.. plus many more in pre-production for the UK.

We are particularly excited about introducing the Orbx quality of airports to the UK. As part of the development process, our UK partner company CEO Barry Hudson and I rented a C172 from Goodwood and did some circuit work to give the project some context.

What you will see in the sim in conjuction with FTX England and FTX EGHR Chichester will look remarkably similar to the photos below:

Barry Hudson, CEO of partner company GIS-ECO at Goodwood airport during our recce visit:

New Orbx Technology

So far Orbx has continued to innovate with new tech being introduced almost with every release. We have a growing roster of "flow" tech being added, a new unique way of optimizing autogen which you first saw in NZSI and soon in EU-ENG; the new release of PeopleFlow2 by Jorge Amengol which will end up having a library of over 300 characters all in various clothing, uniforms, poses and animations; the incredible new 2cm/pixel ground imagery by Russ White; dynamic snow on building roofs by Tim Harris and soon more unique animated trains and racing cars at W16 by Jorge and the W16 team. These are just a glimpse of what you can expect to see through 2012 not only in FSX, but seamlessly ported to P3D as well.

What I can promise you is this: we will never stop trying to push the boundaries, innovate, and try new things. Your investment in Orbx products means you are indirectly investing in our growth for the future and our ability to spend R&D dollars and hire new staff to help us build the future of flight simulation.

Thank You!

Thank for all so much for your support of the last Orbx sale in April. We delivered over 40TB of data via our CDN which is a record month for Orbx. There will be no more sales from us - we will continue to offer the most competitive pricing for the most immersive and innovative products we can make. Please support us by purchasing what you can afford through the entire year, rather than hold out for sales that won't come. As a growing company we simply need to flatten our revenue curve and offer consistent pricing through the whole financial year. So grab what you can at the time it's released. We have levelled the playing field for every customer which means you all pay the same price, all year round.

Thank you for sharing our journey so far. Many of you were there in 2008 when we launched AU BLUE, and many more of you have "discovered" Orbx over the past five years and become staunch fans and supporters. I hope that sharing our expansion plans and our roadmap and vision will encourage you to believe that the next five years will be some of the best in desktop simulation ever.

From our perspective, the future looks very bright and clear indeed!

Finally ... A special video

Patrick Scharnowski from the Orbx beta team has made a celebration video of our PNW airports as we move to new regions. We'll feature it as a YouTube video on the website shortly. Join us to remember our PNW journey, the introduction of new tech, some dearly loved locations, and the introduction of the final new airports for PNW to come soon!

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P72fkvzraG4&hd=1

[Andy Ri]

Mr. Venema, i hope everything with your familiy is fine..

As a new zealand flyer from 5 months (almost everyday) and everytime the scenery looks better and better i'm very happy for your plans to make UK and rest of europe. Been there (in UK) many times. I know there the landclass/landscape is so amazing. I know your team will do the same thing in the FSX/P3D like the real one look.

I have a little question - how do you planning to do the whole europe? Each country separate?

Thanks You !!!

(NOTE: sorry for my poor english, it's not my mother language)

[skkuda]

Just a few words.....Wish you (your family) and entire Orbx team the best!!!

Cheers

[retep49]

John, thanks for your explanation about what is the ORBX roadmap and wish you and your family and the entire ORBX team the best!!

Many thanks from Peter

[Frankie_2]

Thank you for this announcement!

But I've a question concerning the "optimizing autogen" you mentioned in the announcement. Are updates for PNW and the other regions planned with this optimized autogen?

[petehowell57]

John, glad to hear that your family problems are being overcome. As a family man I know that the family must take priority. I'm amazed at the size of the ORBX organization. I had no idea! Also impressed that you have chosen the UK as your new HQ - good choice lol. So looking forward to the coming year(s).

Best wishes to you, your family and the whole ORBX team

Pete Howell

[Flyboy]

Thank you John for letting us "in" on where you are taking Orbx, and by extension, "Us", the flightsim community. You have delivered to us "The Best" scenery that money can buy and made FS a really enjoyable hobby.

All the best for you and your family, and to the Orbx team.

And thank you once again for that awesome "April 2012" that we just had.

See you in the skies ....

[rockliffe]

JV, may I wish you well and I hope your personal issues are being resolved. As has already been said, health and family come first. Your roadmap is very much welcome, I can't believe you've grown Orbx to the size it is over such a short period of time. I am so looking forward to being able to do some proper GA flying around the UK! Also, the single linker tool for P3D will make this platform so much more attractive for many. Good luck to you, your family and all the Orbx team.

[Zach Hansen]

Very Exciting News John And Nice To See You Good Luck With Very Thing.

[Jay Kae]

*grins* 44.3Tb, so yes, you can say I am pretty proud of the network I built for FSS/Orbx John, mate, you know where I stand in regards to Orbx. I am looking forward to everything in the future and I hope to be a part of Orbx for a long, long time

Again, as always, all the best for your family mate!

[Misha Cajic]

Always the same sunglasses John... LOL

All the best for your family and look forward to future releases!

[Taph]

JV nice to hear from you, wish you and your family well. Nice to hear Orbx is going from strength to strength.

Taph

[ajc]

Wow, that is exciting news!

John, I hope you and your family well as well as everyone who made Orbx come alive.

AJC

P.S What has happend with the Jabiru project?

[michael63]

Thank you very much for this big business update. I have been on the boat since 2009 and I have become a true Orbx fan. Your regions are just fantastic and I can't wait for a new region to be released.

The Road Map looks very interesting and I am looking forward to all the 2012 releases.

[alan2]

Yes , its been one hellova trip , from day one to now . Always exciting and inovating . It doesnt look like its stopping any time soon ...good !!

Thanks for the updates, I can now roughly work out how much a year I need to spend to keep the Team going ..lol

Keep well JV - Health and happiness .

[alexf]

Excellent to hear from you and see the roadmap. Wish you the best. Keep 'em coming!

[Eric C]

Exciting news JV on the future of Orbx, and my prayers and wishes go out to you and your family, all is possible my friend, cheers

[Charlie P.]

It's been an honor Mr. Venema! Keep up the great work, and I pray for nothing but good health for you and your family!

[drumsonly2002]

Well said John and that is very exciting news.

[JoseCFII]

Congrats! Keep up the OUTSTANDING work. FSX is still alive and well, thanks to ORBX.

[Matthew Kane]

I am excited as always about what you guys continue to produce. Keep pushing the boundaries my friends

[Just Fly]

Thank you so much, JV and everyone involved in ORBX! You really made FSX worthy of being called a real simulator, it wouldn't be the same without you guys! Thanks for bringing us so many hours of pure enjoyment!

Looking forward to the next 5 years with you, gents!

And JV, I wish your family all the best for the future!

Cheers!

Just Fly

[Krono]

Thankyou for the glimpse into our future.

I am looking forward to our flight into PS3D and everything your two companies are developing for everyone.

Also only 8 months to go to see you again at Avalon 2013, for anyone that has not been you should start looking now and get ready to go.

Ken

[PiperFM]

Very good to hear you guys are doing Southern Alaska (including upper SE panhandle, I assume? ). If you ever have any plans, ambitions, thoughts to do Juneau Intl. PAJN, I would be glad to help out in any way possible, photos, coordinates, whatever you guys need.

[IanF]

I wish your family the best of health for the future. I have an image in my mind of 3rd party developers, and that is a few guys working away at home in the basement . But I must say your new facility looks amazing. You guys must be, and should be very proud of what you have accomplished. It must be nice to wake up in the morning and go do something your passionate about. Congratulations.

[marshkop]

[kevinfirth]

I'm very much looking forward to Orbx bringing UK airports to market as I only fly around the UK. At the moment, there is only really Gary Summons UK2000 offerings at present, which is great as it covers all UK airfields, but it can't do that to Orbx quality and I'd very much like to give you my money for as many airfields as you produce for the UK!

However, I can think of two potential problems that would prevent me from being a customer of yours when your UK airfields are released, and I wonder if you would consider them in case they can be overcome?

1. I am a long standing user of uk photoscenery, I like to see my UK as it is in the real world, not a landclass representation. Will your airfields be made compatible with the Horizon GenX photoscenery please? If not, I cannot see myself binning my investment in photoscenery sorry

2. I also have a lot of sceneries from Earth Simulations (Scilly Isles, Channel Isles, Shawbury Fields, Treescapes). I know that other Orbx regions have had major compatibility issues with Earth Simulations sceneries, to the extent that they don't appear to be usable together without switching settings. See http://www.earthsimulations.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1385&hilit=Orbx for an example.. Up to now, I suppose this may not have been a huge issue because there were no Orbx sceneries in the same geographical area! However, now that you're producing the UK scenery, could you please try to liaise with other existing scenery designers in the UK (UK2000 and ES especially ) to, if possible, ensure us numpty end users are able to install and fly without unnecessary conflicts or compatibility problems?

It may be a bit awkward to pull off, but in the end maximum compatibility can only be good for sales, and if there is doubt as to whether products will work with existing purchases, I'm afraid I will probably have to do without Orbx - I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one, however fetching the ground eye-candy is.

I'd be very grateful if you could give these small points a little bit of consideration Thanks for reading...

k

[simulatorflyer]

Thank you for this exciting and informative update JV. Best of luck and health to you and your family. I honestly don't fly anything other than Orbx scenery anymore - nothing else comes close in my mind.

[Wolf2grey]

John,

Always First and foremost; continued good fortune and health for your family and their well being. And then secondly, thanks for all ORBX. It has been a wonderful jounrney. The add on's just keep getting better and better. And the new 2cm/pixel scenery is totally incredible. I cannot wait.

Cheers!!

[jordancollins]

When you say FTX England, do u mean ONE release will cover all of the Uk?

[BeesAndButterflies]

The aim is for the UK office to be releasing at least six or more new regions per year and 24+ new airports per year.

Man ... this is flooding (the kind I love ).

Congratulations for the ambitious plans, and of course all the best for you and your family.

[flyingleaf]

Agreed with all coments. Thanks for making FSX ultra enjoiable and all the very best.

[derxtreme]

Thnak you very much for that big update

[A.B.]

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to Alaska!

[FieryBiscuits]

Everything in my sig below was bought in the sale, in fact I've only been 'simming'(?) since Flight's release back at the beginning of March. It has been a crazy couple of months - consider the amount of money paid, data downloaded and patches installed in the past few weeks. But it's been worth every penny, every byte, every second: I have a brand new hobby, and ORBX is a huge part of that. I cannot wait for the UK later in the year, and I know you chaps will knock it out of the park again.

Keep up the great work, I love you guys!

Ed

[5055100597]

I saw Northern California! I think I may be complete!!

[boxcar]

.

Family is so vastly important. You have your priorities straight, sir. The insight & glimpses of

the present & future are sincerely respected & appreciated. The future looks bright indeed.

Wonderful video too, thank you. The music & vocals reminded me of Cameron's "Avatar".

To use the poker phrase: Am all in.

.

[lthendrix]

thanks for the update JV looking forward to the future!!!

[Tassie]

Looking forward to all the new releases, espesially the UK.

[mra]

First and foremost, the the family JV, we all appreiate that. All I can do is add my my wholehearted support to all of the above posts in that regard. Perhaps, you can see that your many supporters are with you and now understand your absence from the forum. None of us wish to impose at such a sensitive time. We all hope and pray that the family has turned the corner in a positive way. Our prayers are with you.

As an Australian the only problem I have with your post is simply that a great Aussie corporation will now have it's HQ in the UK. Saint's preserve us.