Future of Microsoft's ESP platform uncertain

27.02.2009
Users of Microsoft's 3D simulation platform have been rocked by news that the company has laid off or reassigned most of the platform's developers. However, Microsoft is refusing to comment on the future of the software.

The announcement that Microsoft's flight simulator studio, called ACES, has left Microsoft ESP developers in a lurch. ESP, which is part of ACES, is Microsoft's platform to build in-house simulation tools for businesses.

"As a commercial developer who is currently working on two major ESP projects I can't begin to express the concern I have hearing this news. I look forward to hearing from Microsoft as to the future plans for ESP," Christian Menge wrote on a .

The news of the layoffs also casts doubt on the next version of the software. In December, on the high expectations for Microsoft ESP's second version, which was to be released in a few years.

"Having seen a glimpse of what was to come in ESPv2 at the developer conference, I'm gutted that this is probably no longer going to see the light of day. It looks like there were a lot of people working really hard to build a revolutionary product. It must be totally crushing for them to see all that work go to waste," a user named Simon853 wrote on the MSDN thread.

A developer from the ESP team indicated on the forum that ESP Version 2.0 will indeed be terminated.