when buying the Flight Simulator Premium Deluxe Edition - is it better to buy this sim on Steam or on the XBox App?
(The Disk version would of course be the nicest option like all flight sims before since FS2000 - but unfortunately my PC case has no option to install an internal optical drive.)
Sometimes when I want to save money for high-expensive apartment-related things for example when saving up for buying furniture into a room I stop all other expenses as good as possible which includes all paid services like Netflix Prime (with extra channels) Plus and others for one month, sometimes even three or four months before reactivating these services.
Is the Flight Simulator still fully usable while not having the XBox App Gamepass active, or is this program somehow bound or connected to this App and has limitations when having this service sporadic not active one or two times every year for about a month?
There’s no real difference between the MS Store and Steam versions, other than if you purchase through MS Store you will automatically have access to the xbox console version without having to purchase it separately.
If you play through a xbox gamepass subscription, it must be active in order to use the sim. As soon as your subscription ends, you will no longer be able to use MSFS without purchasing it.
If you’re planning to buy the game outright. I find that the steam edition has less hassle than the Windows store version. It has an easier installation process, as well as the folder structure for installing addons are simpler to go to.
The Disk version is probably not a good idea at this stage. It’s good if you are buying it for collectible purposes, but using it as the main source of installation is no longer practical since we’re already almost one year in, and it has gone through so many Sim and World update patches. Since the Disk version is made with the first version of the game. By the time you finished Disk swapping all 10 disks to install the game. When you run it the first time and the game detects it’s on a really old version. It will start to download the cumulative updates which can go up to the same size of the initial install anyway. Which just makes it practically the same as just installing the entire game from either online stores.
I guess either store is okay. You don’t need Xbox Gamepass active if you already purchased a full copy of the Premium Deluxe edition. But I’m trying to avoid any bias or anything, I have my copy coming from Steam, and I don’t experience the same issues as some other users who bought the game from the Microsoft Store does.
Unless of course, if you’re planning to play MSFS on XBox. Then you need to get the one from the Windows Store or Xbox Store regardless.
There are ways to buy it as a once and done, and you retain ownership (as much as that characteristic exists with digital download only software). Steam definitely meets that definition. A direct purchase through MS-Store would also qualify.
I can’t speak to Gamepass other than it would mean a recurring expense since that’s technically a subscription, and there are implications for accessing the program if you let the subscription lapse. There are many GamePass users here who can elaborate.
I purchased the simulator on Steam, and have a copy through the marketplace for pre-release testing. From my experience, Steam is the better store, for a few reasons but mainly because:
The UI is cleaner
Downloading and updating the launcher is easier - I’ve had problems updating through the MS Store, never Steam.
The MS Store locks you out of a portion of your hard drive, Steam doesn’t.
But… there are a few downsides to buying through Steam:
MSFS if purchased through Steam is not an “Xbox Play Anywhere” title. That means you’d have to buy a second copy should you wish to play it on Xbox. Whereas if you purchase it through the MS Store, you get to use it on Windows and Xbox.
You cannot get a discount when buying the sim outright on Steam if you have an active Game Pass subscription. - I don’t remember what the discount is, but I remember it being fairly decent
Any DLC purchased through Steam doesn’t seem to carry over to a Micorosft Store Licence. So if you did buy an Xbox in the future, with the goal of playing Flight Sim on both, you’d possibly have to buy the DLCs twice.
BUT… If you only want to use the Sim on Windows, and not on the console, then Steam is definitely the way to go.
One final thing about Game Pass. When you have Game Pass you don’t buy or get given ownership of any games (MSFS included), what you get is a temporary licence to use the game library. That licence expires when your subscription ends.
Any DLC you buy through the in-sim marketplace continues to be yours if your game pass subscription expires, but as you no longer have the licence to use the simulator you can’t make use of your addons. You can of cause re-subscribe at any time, and get full access to the simulator & addons that you purchased in the past.
It just depends on whether you own (or planning to own) an Xbox. And want to play them interchangeably. I myself am not really a console person, so I as long as I have my gaming PC, I never see the appeal of owning an Xbox or any other consoles. I even use Xbox controller on my PC for that console feel from a PC gaming. So for me, Steam is the better store to go for all the reasons I posted above. Besides, I don’t see the reason why I should have two separate gaming systems if I can only use them one at a time.
Same reason why I use my PC as my living room gaming machine. I don’t see the reason why I need the PC to have its own monitor, while having a TV in my living room if I can only use them one at a time. Might as well combine them together since I live alone in a single bedroom apartment.
But if you have Xbox console or planning to own one and have MSFS usable on both machines or that you have multiple people in your household sharing gaming devices, then yeah, get the Microsoft Store version.
Well I have made my decision and will buy the Flight Sim Deluxe Premium on Steam, which is perfect for modding purposes.
Otherwise all game folders are encrypted and DRM-blocked, but Steam games are really mine and can be modded without any hassle or DRM-blocks which is especially important for open-world-RPGs (like The Witcher 3 or Final Fantasy XV) and of course for the precious Flight Sim 20.
I don´t need the flight sim on other gaming machines or shared licenses or so because I don´t play games when I cannot have games in the best graphics possible.
Everything on ultrahighest graphics settings plus modding the graphic settings even higher is the most important thing and it is not possible for the user to manually choose an own personalized graphics configuration or use mods in console games.
That`s why I rarely play on consoles (and if I play, only special exclusive titles like Last of Us or Bloodborne or Alan Wake or so, but many of these games will arrive on PC soon or are already available, and for collection porposes I have almost all my games also in the shelf as nice Steelbook editions if possible.)
The Gamepass subscription will continue soon, but the Flight Sim will be bought on Steam.
Now the sim becomes more and more interesting because of the gorgeous new oncoming ultradetailed Fenix Software Airbus, the PMDG DC6 Cloud-Mazda, and I am sure the PMDG 747 Queen of the Skies and a Study-Level 777 and 787 will follow soon… maybe some classics from the eighties like the Fly-the-Maddog MD80 and an older 737, combined with “the Matrix” (the Flight Sim that gave us the whole planet virtualized) and wow we will have the best Flight Sim mankind has ever seen for the next ten years!
It was worth a try