Just saw in the Microsoft Store that the game is on sale:
Steam is listing them at the ‘normal’ price of $59.99, $89.99 & $119.99
All 3 are listed at being a 157 GB download, which is a bit odd - surely the standard version would be smaller than the Premium Deluxe version?
I would wait for next year…
And if you wait for next year, you’ll be missing out on at least 2 weeks of enjoyment which is… definitely worth a good part of that price.
I was reffering to msfs 2024, the new game. I am actually doing that…use gamepass meanwhile
you’d likely be waiting for the end of 2024 in that case.
No, the base game is 150-160 GB. You will pull down more as you move up the license tier. That’s a minimum number.
True, 2024 may be available (hopefully) by this time next year, as per the Nov Dev Stream. I generally fly VFR in props, so won’t miss the additional jets & major airports that are in the Deluxe & Premium editions.
So, $40 for the standard edition for a year’s flying - even with all the various issues reported in these forums - seems a good deal when a single nice meal at a restaurant costs more than that these days.
It would be great if I got invited to participate in the 2024 alpha/beta, so one might think that I could cross my fingers & wait for that, but having participated in betas before, I’ll be installing the beta on it’s own SSD within a separate Win 11 OS, so that, if needed, I can flatten & rebuild both the OS & game without in any way affecting my current apps & games under my “main” Win 11 OS. It will also allow me to compare the two versions, with the only difference being the SSD that the OS & game are installed on, plus continue to fly if the current build of the alpha/beta 2024 is broken & I’m waiting for the next build.
And, for those buying the game for their children or grandchildren, we know that neither will be willing to wait until Xmas 2024 for this year’s presents! 
Thanks for that clarification - appreciated!
so I was going to buy the premium addition from the MS Store. But after reading posts I think I would rather use Steam. But, it costs a lot more as the store version is on massive discount right now. Is it worth paying 120 for the steam version?
Can a run a second copy on another PC? I’m a developer and would like to test my app on a low end system to see how it runs and if I need to make adjustments? I have the Ultimate Premium Deluxe Version.
I figured you were, but that won’t be out till late next year. If you use Gamepass for many other games, that may make sense. If not, it’s cheaper to buy MSFS now. Plus, if you buy it, you’ll always own it and not be stuck paying monthly to use any dlc you end up buying.
@ RedRaven4231965:
FYI, I bought the standard edition earlier this morning. Purchase was easy. Install, not so much. 7 hours later, the install is only at 146 MB! Basically, the install started, downloaded about 1 MB at 12 Mbps, then froze. If I pause & restart the download, another 10 seconds of data is downloaded, then it freezes again. Prior to starting the install, I checked my download speed at sppedtest (~13 Mbps), then followed the recommended guidelines suggested to avoid install problems:
It’s not my PC or the network (Windows Updates were downloading just fine at ~ 3-12 Mbps), so I’ve pretty well resigned myself to having to pause / resume the install for the next couple of days. Perhaps when this initial 2.06 GB has downloaded the remaining install will be a bit faster! 
I would not expect it to be any different.
And that will be over 200 GB.
Run Speedtest.net to see what your download speed is.
Your download speed should be something around that, say 3/4 or so.
Might be the MS servers running slow.
Personal Comments and Observations
Yes, because a LOT of complications - install/re-install/authentication chain/updating supporting applications - comes with the MS-Store Version. I’m on Steam, it’s literally a one-time process to link your XBox for Windows Gaming Account to your Steam Account, and away you go.
@ MSFSRonS: Speedtests can vary between 5 - 13 Mbps (13 this morning). Windows updates ran at around 3 - 12 Mbps this morning. I thought latency might be the culprit, but round-trip ping times to the MS servers such as a259.dspw65.akamai.net are between 50-75 ms. What I am seeing in wireshark before the download stops are large numbers of TCP resets, such as this one, the first of 62 consecutive RST/ACK packets:
3097 18.003653 2607:fb90:8b14:9a2e:cd16:7266:338e:71bb cs614.wpc.edgecastcdn.net TCP 74 51281 → http(80) [RST, ACK] Seq=772 Ack=5356 Win=0 Len=0
It is clearly a server-side issue - for example, the trailer movie on the MSFS shopping page for the Standard edition plays OK, & I can watch the video data happily streaming in in task manager’s wi-fi performance chart.
Right now I’m only at 150 MB after 14 hours, so am calling it quits for the day & will try again tomorrow.
@ CasualClick: true, but steam was not on sale, & I was unwilling to pay full price for a game that might not work, even when installed, due to poor over-the-network performance. 
They’ve probably noticed sales drop off since 2024 was announced, and are looking to enrice those sitting on their hands with this new price.
I still don’t see why someone that owns the level one or two edition should have to pay full price to get the level three edition. It means that I have to repurchase everything I already own just to get five more planes and airports.
It’s encouragement to buy the bigger one to start with. That’s a good part of the reason why I bought it.
A technique called nudging. It’s seen in many business sectors. Yes, I could buy the not quite top tier broadband package for £59, but the top tier with twice the speed is only £60…..knowing full well they will put all their prices up in 6 months time when you are locked into an 18 month contract.
I wouldn’t use an ISP that required a contract (in which they could change the price)! But aside from that, usually as soon as they raise prices, you can just catch the next deal as there always is one… that’ll lock your price low for another year or w/e.
Yikes ! I judt bought the 40th anniversary addition ( Premium edition) on steam. It was on sale for 40% off till January 4th. Same as from the MS store which I heard has too many issues. So I went with Steam. But im stuck on the Installation manager page 1 as its saying I dont have enough room on my disc. I assume they mean harddrive? Well it says I have 156 GB, gee wiss one would think that is enough !
Since ive never put any games on my MSI gaming laptop… I use it for photography. Im transfering like 150 GB of photos to a 1 TB back up SD I just bought. I also back them up on a sandisc back up drive. Im scared to take them off. Its decades of work. But it seems MSFS is a HUGE AF program !!! Jeese Louise. So… I am looking at decktop CPUs.. ( GPU?) whatever that is. I struggle with this ■■■■ as I am a Artist and not left brained at all. But I am making some pretty cool oil and acrylic paintings of planes now though lol.
If I ever can afford my own real plane it will have a super cool paint job. I used to paint real boats too. Theme paint jobs etc.
So does this program really take 200 GB of space? Looks like its going to take years to get this thing loaded and me flying a plane. If I ever do, Im be happier than a buzzard on a shitwagon. For now.. NOT happy . 