Wow, just saw this today.
Big big news. Tons of speculation about what this means for the future of this franchise but it is all baseless at this time.

Yes, a huge turning point for sure.

Very sad to see this.

S! Jason.

, without Jason, I’m 100% sure NeoQb would pull out the plug, for this a big thank U.
On the other hand guess the official forum is now a bit nicer as his behavior was not always subtle towards members.

He is not very clear on his movement, is it the boycotting because of the war.

Hmm . . . well, this does not sound like a good thing for the franchise. Based on experiance I have had with Russian/Eastern European games before (including the original IL-2), I always sort of felt most the the good things about IL-2: Great Battles were due to inlfuence of Jason Williams.

I can definitely say that the level of discontent with the sim & publisher in this sub-forum dropped precipitously after Jason took the reins there.

Wasn't Jason part of that developer team for close to 15 years? I can't blame him for wanting to move on to other things. I wish him the best!

I doubt that. Most people just want to move on and try different things with their professional life after so many years with one company.

Mmmm, Strange, I would first find an alternative, before quitting a job. Keep in your mind the 777 was already sold a couple of years ago according Linkedin.
For IL2 I’m afraid they are now without any leadership that has an clear forecast for the game future. The problem with those Russian is that they are prone by focusing on minor aspects and not the major ones. So its burning limited budgets on implementing obscure planes like the IAR, while the big market is the US/UK/Can site of the war.

Edit: Who knows he is involved into that Microprose flysim. https://www.microprose.com/games/b-17-flying-fortress-the-mighty-8th-vr

Wardog5711 the new community manager is actually the new user account for jason.


It was mentioned a few years ago that the contract jason had made his "figure head spot" unchangeable.


And notice the day jason account is stopped being used,, the Wardog5711 account comes up. Also the following to note

1. this wardog is the only one who has any knowledge of "jason" using his account to just do messages, etc.
2. is an account that was created right when jason "left"
3. There has been YEARS of hate and resentment on the il2 forums against jason for how things have been going with german planes and weapons.

ill stand with my reasoning.

Not sure if it will shed any more light on the subject but ShamrockOneFive, formerly Icefire, interviewed Jason a few days ago. He posted the interview on his Stormbirds website.
Community Q&A: Catching up with Jason Williams https://stormbirds.blog/2022/12/22/community-qa-catching-up-with-jason-williams/


Wheels

Doesn't bode well

Just read the interview. I wish Jason the best and completely understand why he left 1C.


I hate to be the pessimist here but I have to agree with F4U that these major corporate upheavals and especially Tencent gaining a large stake will most likely mean that the IL-2 series will be "dumbed down" and made more like a console type game along the lines of World of Warplanes.

I don't know the future so the next project they do very well could be dumbed down, but Tencent has nothing to do with 1CGS. They bought 1C Entertainment, 1CGS is still a separate entity.

Does this video hint that Jason Williams went to work on a new Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator ? or is he speaking of somebody else ? (18:15)

https://youtu.be/bvmhJth4_3A?t=1083

He's talking about AnPetrovich, who will work on MSFS 2020. So far I've seen no information that a new MS Combat Flight Simulator is planned.

Thanks for clarifying.

Williams is now an executive producer for Microprose, working on an undisclosed project

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonvwil/

Congrats for Jason!! I wish him the best of success. Thanks for sharing that info F4U.

Now that IS some big news as well!

Now that is something to get excited about ! Here's hoping we get a hint soon.

Oeps my crystal ball was right, see my message above.

He is involved in a as yet unannounced project... as the B-17 series has been announced I doubt it will be that.

And you would be correct.
https://combatpilot.com/

COMBAT PILOT: A new Pacific WWII sim coming from Jason Williams and Barbedwire Studios!


Wheels

100% procent sure at his Linkedin profile it was a project at Microprose. Any relation to Microprose with this new project of Jason?

But besides this confusion, its great news.

Nothing on the Microsoft front... who knows, that could have been a smoke screen to disguise the real main effort.