Flightsim.to announced Premium and Creators Programs yesterday in a post on their home page. As many already know, Flightsim.to is the leading resource for free addons and mods for Microsoft Flight Simulator. In their announcement, they highlighted their success with some statistics noting a total of 450,000 members and 33 Million downloads per year.
Flightsim.to aim to provide more support to creators by allowing developers to earn money directly through downloads. For users, Premium Members will be able to access the website ad-free and reap higher download speeds with no pesky countdowns. Flightsim.to state that the primary purpose of including a premium membership option is to reduce server hosting costs. It’s no surprise that server hosting costs are sizeable given the popularity of the website and the stated number of yearly downloads.
Expanding on the Creators Program, Flightsim.to argue that implementing a Creators Program will motivate creators to produce higher-quality content due to the financial incentive, which would benefit the community as a whole. There are three income streams available to creators; income through updates and maintenance, bonuses for good ratings, and of course unique downloads per creation. To streamline this process, Flightsim.to will include a payment system that’s in-house rather than through third-party platforms like PayPal. Finally, to ensure a standard of quality and legality, the Creators Program will be subject to specific requirements.
As for the Premium Membership, aside from fast download speeds, ad-free browsing, and no more countdowns, Flightsim.to mention that additional benefits include supporting Flightsim.to’s ability to provide “the best possible experience for users” and allowing creators to earn more through the platform. Additionally, premium members will receive faster support and access to the Discord channel. Lastly, those that are active and high-performing creators will be automatically included as a premium member with no additional fees.
It’s important to note that Flightsim.to will continue to be free to regular users of the site, which much of the community would agree is important to the hobby as affordability and access to content allows for more users to enjoy a diversity of experience in our shared, virtual skies.
