Silent Hunter might or might not be dead but I don't think sims are. What I think will happen more and more is that simulation titles will move to smaller, specialist developers and publishers who sell entirely on-line and charge higher prices than a standard triple A title would cost. Look at Steal Beasts for a good example. I expect far more of that type of business plan in the future. I think developers like Battlefront, Matrix and others will move in to fill the void left by the major labels and we will get some great sims out of all the changes. I am actually quite optimistic about the way things might go and I suspect we might see a new 'golden age' of hard core study sims somewhere along the line.
I think Oleg's 'Storm of War: Battle of Britain,' might be the last sim we see done the way it is currently. I have a real feeling that this is less the beginning of the end and more the end of the beginning. The likely higher prices is a trade off I'm willing to live with. beside, I only buy a title or two a year now and have no problem with spending the money on a sim I know I'm going to get years of play out of.
As for sub sims, well, I just don't know. I am willing, however, to get Aces of the Deep 2 into production. All I need is about a million bucks and 12 good men.....
