It’s not so easy. Development of these things is iterative and parts of code can be reused making creation of following modules easier.
Speaking as a Developer\Maintainer of MIlitary grade Airforce Simulators here…
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Right, so if you develop a particular targeting pod for one plane you can more easily add it to others later.
Of course, right now the biggest item in the “DCS is still missing” category is AG radar. Aside from whatever it was Flanker 2 had in 1999, they’ve managed to only have planes with AA only or no radar at all.
Now we have the Hornet and soon the Viper coming in and they must work that out.
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I think that pushing past $100 would be a price point that a lot of people would balk at. Sure, the die hard players, or those with a more than average disposable income, will buy but it would not be an easy decision for many. Let’s face it, for every player with a VirPil setup, with high end pedals, you are going to have probably 3 or 4 with average level gear. I think the current $80 price point is probably about right for a high end module right now. And even then, how many sales do you think they will make? It’s a niche market, and only a percentage of that customer base are going to buy the module.
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And trust me- a radar in general is no small task.
A ground radar double so.
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I agree $60-$80 is about where you’re going to hit the edge of the envelope. $60 is a AAA release from the big studios for a console title or PC game. I can see $80+ for “special editions” as an option. I have paid $100+ for various titles over the years for the special edition case, art book, etc. I would easily do the same for a DCS title, give me a couple little trinkets I can put on the shelf and a printed color manual as a “pilots edition” for say $100 and I’d be all over it for probably 6 or 7 modules that I own.
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Even the real thing is developed like that. Look at all the SB’s and AD’s being released for aircraft, engines and components!
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Which is strange because the Viggen has a nice AG radar. I know its a different development company but…if they could do it a few years ago…and do it in Swedish? 
An important point. At the end of the day, air power is not really about shooting down the other guy’s planes in A2A combat. It is much more about putting “warheads on foreheads” (as we used to say at the JAC). A2A is what you sometimes have to do to get to the A2G part.
While, I readily concede that turning and burning with your buddies on a MP server is often more fun, there are enough customers that will want better/full A2G radar implementation.
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Doesn’t even have to be color for me but having them nicely bound or in a binder would rock.
Imo ED could and should branch out a little and sell physical product in their shop as well. T shirts, manuals and other books etc. I’d easily pay for that sort of stuff and I bet others would too.
Heck, I’d buy a DCS themed lunchbox of it were available and the money went towards the crew whose product I hold so dearly.
Nick you reading this? 
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Yea let’s get some quality T-shirts that look like flight gear. Just so we can pretend a little bit more while still being comfortable at home!
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I would DEFINITELY buy dcs official merchandise.
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I’d subscribe to DCS, if that was an option…
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Out of interest, I tallied my DCS module spend over my 5 years in the game. Includes a couple of gift purchases but mostly spent on me:
More or less equates to a typical subscription game annual spend, averaged out.
So I guess it does mean that if they churn out modules at a rate which makes me buy $100 USD of product p.a., they effectively have a subscription-like income stream from me.
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EA; cost for the customer, gain for ED to back up the cost of development, for the gain of the customer. I think it’s a good model, especially now with the hornet /viper combo. Many like me love and bought both even if just to look at them in VR so that’s twice the funds for the same (ok purists but they are practically) systems. And it’s the systems that make the tactical sim, in between all the flight sim quality, while the cost of making a 3d + flight model VS improving the actual platform is peanuts. The alternative is some subscription system like iRacing has were you pay for both the content plus monthly service cost for sim development and hosting but I’d rather have the current form as the lesser of two evils, at least I can still fully experience the purchase I made years ago with the A10 whenever I feel like it, while my lotus 49 is there somewhere in bits and bytes gathering pixel dust.
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When it comes to EA, I trust ED. Other developers…eh, not so much. The FA-18 really seems to be progressing steadily–key word, “steadily”. Not sure if if the same can be said for other mods from other developers…but…[insert shrug emoji]
I’d like to see more frequent updates to the Viggen. But then again, I’m still totally flabbergasted that someone even thought of making a DCS level Viggen…
And, updating 3rd party modules can’t be easy, considering how often ED updates the core software.
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…and not just that, but they also did it before other, far more prolific (== commercially viable) aircraft. It’s amazing.
And as much flak as Razbam are getting for their ‘unfinished’ modules, those are farkin’ awesome compared to not having a mirage or harrier at all. And really, are these huge showstopping bugs? No they are not. People are echoing themselves into believing Razbam are not performing, but they are deluding themselves.
But that’s just my opinion, and you know what those are like…
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The worst bug I know of for the Harrier are the carrier spawn and bounce issues, the latter is being patched soon anyway. Neither of those are Razbam’s fault.
The Mirage is a little demon online - and it wouldn’t be such a pain if there wasn’t someone enjoying being at the controls on the other side.
RAZBAM…yeah…I had issues with them not fixing bugs when they made a Harrier for FSX. An awesome mod (technically mods sine they did a GR and AV-8 version)…with one extremely frustrating flaw in the nav system (it kept jumping waypoints) that they never fixed because thaw had gone to DCS. Oh well; no worries.
And now I’ve got their Mig-19. An awesome mod with one extremely frustrating flaw in the nav system (trying to tune ARK radio…just give up and use a preset).
Neither flaw kept me/keeps me from flying them and really having a blast when I do… just wish they’d get around to tidying up the Mig…unless they are going to make an A-7 for DCS. They made an awesome A-7 series for FSX.
…I’m saying “awesome” too much. 
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The MiG-21 is technically still in EA, I think that’s a case where the devs should just pull the pin already and call it done.
Not speaking to any module particularly, but I see leaving the EA badge on too long as starting to look like ineptitude. Things may market better if devs could get to a stable build, then later develop feature updates like the A-10C and KA-50 later on.
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