There’s been ongoing concern in the DCS World community over the relationship between third party developer RAZBAM and Eagle Dynamics after a private dispute became public back at the beginning of April. Things had quieted down but never really gone away and new developments have cropped up over the last several days that appears to have set things ablaze once again. This is what is being said at the moment.
Refunds for the F-15E?
A year ago we were very excited and hopeful for the future with the launch of RAZBAM’s long awaited DCS: F-15E Strike Eagle. The aircraft launched, as is typical for a DCS module, with core features ready and with the plan to roll out additional updates to the module over time. The F-15E looked to be on a steady path with a number of updates fixing bugs and adding functionality since then. Unfortunately, that development has now apparently stopped coinciding with clashing statements made publicly in April between RAZBAM and Eagle Dynamics.
Further to that, aside from DCS: South Atlantic, no RAZBAM product has seen any updates in the last few DCS World updates. This is a notable break from the normal state of affairs. Several developers from RAZBAM have reportedly stated in various places that they have stopped their efforts and have left or are leaving to find work elsewhere.
That has, in turn, caused many to start talking about refunds as it becomes increasingly possible that the F-15E will not develop into the module that was planned. A few have even reached out to Eagle Dynamics and have apparently even received refunds according to threads here and here on r/Hoggit. It seems likely that following those posts made on multiple Discords, forums, Facebook and Reddit groups that many more began seeking out refunds as well.
And all of that has likely prompted this message that was on the DCS support page (though I can’t see it at the time of this writing):
Dear users! Technical support is also saddened by the existence of disagreements between RAZBAM and ED, however, no refunds will be made in any form without an official statement from the ED management. Unfortunately, a large number of such requests does not allow us to provide support to other users. Thank you for understanding!
We’ve also heard from DCS World Community Manager NineLine on the issue of refunds as well as a little bit of speculation on different scenarios that may occur.
Currently, the standard refund policy is in place, as there are no refunds on any products. That said we have always taken each individual request into consideration I have even spoken to some over voice chat and determined a refund makes sense but the majority of requests will be turned down just based on our current rules on this, as well if a refund is granted it will most certainly be in the form of ED Miles. https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/faq/refund/
Now, what happens if everything goes south? I can’t say for sure, I can guess but we would make sure to do our very best to either keep the F-15E in DCS or make it easier to transfer over to another module, etc. Again, don’t hold me to anything right now because I do not know what this would all look like, and I am looking at a half-full cup and a good outcome.
NineLine, Community Manager on the DCS Forums
While it does seem that some refunds have been issued, its likely that they were done with no change to their usual refund policy in place. Or in other words, nothing has changed in how they are approaching refunds and that there is no special policy for RAZBAM modules specifically which is an inference that some seemed to be making.
Some have also attempted to get refunds through their DCS World Steam purchases without any success so success at getting a refund is varied. Steam has their own refund policy that they are following.
Mirage 2000C bugs crop up
RAZBAM’s oldest DCS World module, the DCS: M2000C, has been though quite a bit and thanks to years of ongoing development has progressed into an impressive state that has made it a popular choice among many DCS World virtual pilots. It has, unfortunately, also further added to the concern this week thanks to some new bugs that have cropped up following the latest update.
A bug causes that aircraft’s fly-by-wire G limiter to work incorrectly is one significant issue that has cropped up. If started from the ground either cold or hot the jet will reportedly refuse to leave the A-G limited mode which prevents the jet from exceeding 6G. Fine when you’ve got bombs attached but no good if you’re trying to dogfight another jet. There’s another reported bug that causes the aircraft to not have proper yaw authority during takeoff which is also highly challenging for regular use of the module. These bugs were reported here and have been corroborated by others.
The best part of a sim like DCS is its continued evolution. However, to make that model work it does require development to more or less continue all the time with older modules tended to like a garden. Occasional weeding needs to take place even on the most complete of projects. That it’s probably not being tended to right now has caused a cascade of concerns to emerge.
Are there likely to be problems with other RAZBAM modules such as the AV-8B or MiG-19? I hope not, of course, but its more than possible as time goes on.
Where do we go from here?
It’s a very uncertain and unclear time right now as we don’t know what will happen to RAZBAM’s five modules (four aircraft and one map) and core assets.
Regular readers here will know that I share the glass-half-full optimistic take on most things. It’s possible that the disputes are being worked on and that there may yet be a resolution. The turning down of the temperature by RAZBAM CEO Ron Zambrano still gives me some hope. However, I’m also a realist and situations like these can take a lengthy period of time to resolve. So, while I remain optimistic in the long run, I’m not overly optimistic that we’ll see something happen in the immediate future.
The situation may eventually resolved and veteran employees and contractors come back in a best case scenario which would be ideal. There may also be a scenario where there’s a resolution and fresh talent comes in to take up the mantle of development which would be less ideal but it may happen. The worst case scenario is more bleak with modules gradually breaking down or becoming difficult to use.
At some point too it may become necessary to pause sales of affected modules or provide disclaimers on their status. Though that is no doubt fraught with its own series of challenges and doing so would send a signal that would ripple out through the community as well.
One content creator, Casmo TV, has even elected to remove his F-15E videos to prevent someone from seeing them and buying the module without knowing about the current issues.
For now, it appears that we’re all caught between a rock and a hard place and its not the nicest place to be in for anyone.
Stormbirds 
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