A replacement for FSX?

I am intending to do a post on FSX, which will include a rant about Micro$oft's apparent decision to discontinue the Flight Simulator franchise, and not release the code to any other potential developer. However, before I got around to doing the post I came across this intriguing thread in the Aerosoft forum. Could it be true that Aerosoft are to create a replacement for FSX? I sincerely hope that it is. Imagine how good a flight sim developed by a company with a real passion for the genre, rather than just for how much it can make them, could be? (OK, I'm sure Austin Meyer at X-Plane shares the passion, but I've never been able to get into that sim - more about which in another post, no doubt.)


It all started when Mathijs Kok of Aerosoft began the thread with the above picture and the cryptic line: "Just posting an image. No comment, don't ask." Naturally, other posters did start asking questions, and eventually Kok admitted: "It is indeed a new simulator (but with roots as far back as FS1) we will discuss later in much more detail. It is NOT however a direct replacement of FSX but a simulator dedicated to a specific role (that of the pilot flying) [what else?] in specific aircraft (several airliners) ... I can however also say that we are at this moment testing game engines to see which would be suitable to make a complete new 'SDK open' simulator that will be intended as a replacement for FSX."

So, the intention is clearly there, although Kok acknowledges that creating a new sim would be "a huge multi million dollar project", so we mustn't get our hopes up too much. Still, just imagine...