I suspect this has been discussed ad nauseum here but I now have four very recently purchased products that have updates available, yet I can’t get hold of these updates under the current MP arrangement. I’m reluctant to report this as a bug or in the Wishlist category since it should really be a prerequisite.
I can understand the need to properly vet new products but updates for products already available should surely be a priority, particularly since us Xbox users have limited buying options? There’s also the issue of the product not being sold as seen, because many of the updates are actually featured in the sales bumf / images on the MP.
In short, waiting for new products is one thing, but having to wait similarly just to get a finished product is getting a bit frustrating.
There are multitudes of existing threads about this issue across this forum. That’s the way the marketplace works, for better or for worse. Both releases and updates to existing products can be weeks to months behind their release from the 3rd party devs directly or other 3rd party resellers. It’s been like that since launch. It’s improved slightly over the past 2.5 years, but really not enough to make a noticeable difference for end users. Hopefully for marketplace users, this can improve, but for the time being, that’s the way it is.
If you’re on PC, you have 2 options:
wait patiently for the products and / or updates to come to the marketplace, and deal with the utterly glacial pace at which updates are released
Buy from another source where you know you’ll have Day 0 access to the product and any updates that follow.
Unfortunately for Xbox users, only Option 1 is available to them.
I hear what you’re saying, however this is an issue that could improve the situation for everyone: end users, Asobo/Microsoft, AND devs.
Just shrugging it off as something that will never change isn’t a prudent way of advocating for change. As I asked previously, surely it’s no big deal to fast-track simple updates to the MP? Surely making the user experience smoother and more refined would be a prudent move for Asobo/Microsoft?
I hear a lot of complaints re the MP but this one for me is the one with the most validity.
I’m not shrugging it off. Just stating that this is the state of affairs at the present, and it’s pretty much the same as it’s been since launch.
Bottom line is there’s just nothing we can do about it other than voice our concerns and displeasure with it, which we have. Microsoft (who handle the marketplace) are 100% aware. The topic has been brought up in multiple Q&As over the last couple of years. Microsoft admit they’re behind. Several times they announced plans to clear up the backlog (often by hiring more people), and it’s so far never really worked. Things improve marginally, but not enough to make a notable difference.
This topic was brought up during last Dev Q&A. They’re now looking to offload a bunch of the QA process to the devs themselves before they submit their wares and changing some processes for marketplace submission to hopefully streamline the process. When this will be implemented and how well it works is unknown. Hopefully it helps.
In any case, this topic has been beaten to death. Microsoft know it’s an issue. We know it’s an issue. Third party devs know it’s an issue. Microsoft are the only ones that can fix this.
But for the time being, it’s the status quo for the marketplace. I don’t think anyone likes it. It just is.
They’ve had pressure for 2.5 years. They’ve certainly tried to fix the issue, but unsuccessfully so far. It would seem that the amount of add-ons being built for the sim grossly outnumbered even their most optimistic expectations and they just can’t keep up. Good for them (more $$$), but bad for us as end users.
You get a notification in game that tells you updates are available. Then you go manually update from your content manager.