UPDATE 21-Mar-2018 @ 20:20z:
Bill confirmed to us this has zero impact on the development of Portland. It will be released, as expected, under the FlightBeam banner.
Ex-Orbx developer now becomes current Orbx developer! Bill Womack is currently known for his stunning small airfields under the iBlueYonder banner, but before that, he worked extensively on many Orbx products. Now he’s going to be joining forces with Orbx yet again to continue delivering stunning airports for the community.
In a press release issued on both Orbx and iBlueYonder’s websites, the details of the new partnership will benefit everyone. All of Bill’s current projects will soon be available via your Orbx Direct account, along with added features using the power of ObjectFlow and PeopleFlow – free of charge. If you already own products via iBlueYonder’s website, then you will be able to do a licence transfer. However, if you wish to not do so, then you will still be able to download your iBlueYonder products from the store as usual.
This means products like Nantucket and Minute Man Plum Island XP will soon be in the Orbx catalogue as an expansion to their X-Plane portfolio.
Future projects from Bill and the iBlueYonder team will be only available via Orbx Direct, however updates and previews will continue to be shared on iBlueYonder’s website. What this means for the FlightBeam / iBlueYonder Portland airport is yet to be known. We’ve reached out to Bill to find out more.
From the press release:
Orbx CEO John Venema today said “I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Bill back into the Orbx family! He and I have remained great friends for the past decade and I was delighted when he approached me to have us publish his iconic airports he has developed under his own brand iBlueYonder in the intervening years.”
Bill Womack said “My goals have always closely tracked with those of Orbx; to create small airfields that are full of character and long on immersion. Lately though, I’ve been branching out to larger, more complex projects that require more time and energy than one person can give. It takes a team to get work of this caliber done, and Orbx certainly has the right developers for the job.”
Bill continued “I’ve also been expanding my reach to target new simulator platforms such as X-Plane 11. Here again, Orbx is on that same wavelength, not only with X-Plane, but Aerofly FS2 as well. The combination of our years of experience with the potential of these new sims is incredibly exciting.”
John Venema added “We been discussing some of his projects that are planned and I can say we are all excited at what is coming down the line. Bill is very enthusiastic about the X-Plane platform so that fits with our expansion plans for 2018/19 perfectly.”
Bill concluded with “So why rejoin the Orbx development team? In short, it’s just the best fit I could imagine. My work has always been built to fit nicely into the Orbx ecosystem, and with their support and that of the huge Orbx community, the potential for creating increasingly amazing products is unlimited. I’m so tickled to be back!”
Venema finished with “Please join me in welcoming Bill back to the team and to celebrate we will be holding a ‘Bill’s Back!’ special discount on all his airports for Orbx customers and also providing a free license transfer service for all iBlueYonder.com customers who will be able to transfer their previous purchases from iBlueYonder to OrbxDirect and also benefit from new PeopleFlow and ObjectFlow upgrades to their airports”.