Currently MSFS on Xbox consists of the following installed items:
- MSFS (As of this writing. Future patches and changes will alter these values):
• Base game | 65.5 GB (this is the sim without anything else installed — no Marketplace content including no Deluxe or Premium content)
• World – Offline mode | 59.8 GB
• Add-on Support | 299.9 MB (WASM support)
• Digital Ownership | Doesn’t need to be installed - Saved Data:
• your gamertag | 11.9 MB (your game save file that’s synced to the cloud)
• Reserved Space | size depends on user (Marketplace content & Rolling Cache Size, also stores custom camera views and minor settings such as Traffic slider settings)
For reference I will refer to item 1 above as “MSFS” and item 2 as “Saved Data”.
My research has determined the following two scenarios if you have an Xbox with a Storage Expansion Card:
- If “MSFS” is installed on Internal Storage — “Saved Data” is also installed on Internal Storage
- If “MSFS” is installed on External Storage — “Saved Data” is still installed on Internal Storage
There is currently no way to install both MSFS and “Saved Data” on the External Storage Card. Therein lies the rub, because the “Saved Data” is what can grow and grow and grow due to both being able to set whatever size Rolling Cache you desire, but mainly because of Marketplace Content installations.
Basically:
• If you use your Xbox for more than MSFS, as it stands currently, it makes sense to install all your other games and apps on your Storage Expansion Card. That leaves the Internal Storage with as much room for the sim and Marketplace Content as possible (barring the major bug’s limitations I linked in an earlier post)
• If you use your Xbox only for MSFS an expensive Storage Expansion Card is only going to be useful for storing “MSFS” (65.5 GB + 59.8 GB + 299.9 MB worth of data) on it.