I totally agree that LR seem to have rested on the merits. FS2020 clearly shocked them as well. I think LR will not be able to compete with FS2020 on ortophoto-AI-autogen-3D-scanned-city level. Austin seems to see that as well even if disappointing for us.
But I think with Vulkan they have the technological basis to vastly improve the look of X-Plane. IMHO if they would do the following points with XP12 then they would be able to be competitive:
* volumetric clouds
* better water visuals
* UHD mesh
* Regional autogen
* improved ground textures
Especially with the great planes like MD-11, A300, Dash8 Q400, etc that are in the pipeline for this year or starting next year.