Hi, and welcome to the forums. There are a few of us here — among the thousands of users — who like to check in daily and have a good nosy around. You’ll likely get used to the same names cropping up time and again…
I was in your shoes almost exactly a year ago, and while I’m about to buy a gaming PC next week, I started with an Xbox Series X. Before I make any recommendations, it would help if you could specify whether you have the S or X? The S is significantly more disadvantaged when it comes to MSFS but will still run the vanilla sim and a few light add-ons.
First one to get I think would have to be LVFR’s Airport Static Traffic pack, which is about £12 full price. There are frequent mini-sales in the in-sim Marketplace, normally beginning on a Friday and lasting a week. Most of what’s constantly discounted isn’t really worth looking at (without mentioning any developer names). The LVFR pack can be had for as little as £7 in one of the many sales, which LVFR often take part in. There are four major sales per year (one for each season), when over 1,400 products go on sale (next one will be Easter so not long to wait!).
The LVFR pack adds static (i.e. non-moving) airliners to the gates of major airports worldwide (420 at the last count). It’s tailored towards default and hand-crafted Asobo airports and their own product line, but it does function very well with almost any third-party airport scenery. There’s practically zero hit on performance (unlike the sim’s unrealistic live traffic) and you’ll see the correct airlines at the correct airports (and even some airlines at the correct gates!).
I’ve detailed below a few more you should consider if you want to see what the sim’s capable of.
1) Bijan Habashi’s Seasons packs
As its name suggests, these colour the trees appropriately based on the current season. It’s a bit clunky as you need to install and uninstall each (there are four separate packages, one for each season) as you go, basically. But all packs cover both northern and southern hemispheres, so think of it as a sort of 2-4-1 offer. The PC versions are more realistic but the Xbox versions are being patched currently to the same standard.
2) Pyreegue’s UK airports
Pyreegue’s EGAA, EGPF, EGPH and EGNX are renowned for being among the very best airports for Xbox, both for detail and stability. They’re pricey (over £18 each) but can normally be had for around £11 in sales.
3) MK Studios’ LEMG
This little gem surprised everyone when released by being a tiny download size, yet brimming with tasty detail and offering unrivalled stability. The default photogrammetry in Spain is probably the best in the sim so the quality of any mainland Spanish airport is always bolstered by its surroundings.
4) PMDG 737
These aircraft have not been without their troubles on Xbox but they’re arguably the best airliners in the sim. Again, pricey at £59 each (liveries are extra) but each feels solid and peforms just as it should. Unfortunately they are NEVER discounted.
5) Asobo ATR 42/72
While not what we’d call a ‘study-level’ airliner, it’s not too far off and has a price typical of something of much lower quality. It’s very rarely in sales (only once that I’ve seen) but is less than £17 full price.
6) Black Box BN-2 Islander
One of the sim’s most fun aircraft to fly and like the ATR, not too far off study-level. A lower-resolution cockpit than many aircraft in 2024 but it’s a real joy to fly and is currently less than £9, complete with liveries!
7) Just Flight BAe 146
The PMDG 737’s main rival for the title of ‘best airliner in the sim’. Price is the same but you get more variants and liveries as standard. Sometimes goes on sale.
8) IniBuilds’ global airports
These guys have a few turkeys on Xbox, that don’t run well (KSAT, KJFK, EGSS), but the majority of their stuff is sublime. Probably the most improved developer of the last 12 months. EGHI and KPSP in particular are absolute masterpieces and 100% stable on Series X.
9) Orbx city packs
Orbx have been falling by the wayside just lately but their city packs really are good. They offer London, Sydney, Dublin, Singapore, Dubai, Paris, Brisbane, Melbourne and Auckland, plus the entire UK in three packs. Frequently on sale, often with big discounts.
10) South Oak Real Effects
These packs cover a handful of airliners in the sim: the default 310, 32N, 781 and 748, and the LVFR 320 (with more on the way). They add some really neat effects such as improved contrails, engine thrust spray (in wet conditions), wingtip/strake vortices, wing fogging, St. Elmo’s fire, etc. Some effects are better than others but most look convincing enough.
Hope this helps, for starters. There’s a thread that deals specifically with Xbox add-ons here:
It’s a LONG read as it’s been going a while, but a lot of Xbox users have detailed their experiences with a huge range of third-party products.
My advice with add-ons is to wait for the frequent sales (check every week) as most items end up being discounted at some stage. I only buy add-ons now if I really want them (i.e. if someone releases an airport either local to otherwise very familiar to me) or if they’re very reasonably priced on release. I’d say the developer with the most reasonable release prices is IniBuilds, so I tend not to mind buying their stuff at full whack.
Finally, there are devs to avoid but I’m sure you’ll learn which quite quickly, if you do your research before buying anything. Some scenery is converted or ported from other sims (previous iterations of MSFS or XP/P3D) and doesn’t work well at all.