Ramblings of a xBox Game Pass Ultimate MSFS Customer regarding MSFS-2024

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I have been reading the postings on this platform daily since the launch of MSFS 2024. Before then I didn’t even know it existed. I just thought I would share my thoughts in payment for all the information and support others have freely given and continue to give to this MSFS community regarding the MSFS 2024 situation.

I have been using MSFS for decades, off and on. Until recently via a PC. Then last Christmas my kids and grandkids gave me an xBox Series X with a Game Pass Ultimate subscription purely so that I could play MSFS 2020 while I waited for the arrival of MSFS 2024.

The Game Pass Ultimate was a means to an end as I intended to purchase the full version of MSFS 2024 when it became available.

My business background involves leading teams that develop, market, deliver, and support enterprise products and services to senior level business decision makers. I was an senior executive in the telecommunications, financial services, and business management consulting industries for 45 years. Many of the products and services my teams developed involved Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft enterprise software based services. From my experience, Microsoft is rather good at this and have the necessary expertise and resources required to deliver on the expectations they create in the minds of their customers.

I have high expectations for any product or service which wears the Microsoft brand. These expectations are based upon my detailed interaction over many years with numerous teams and leaders at Microsoft.

So, I am rather surprised by the present state of affairs given that this is a Microsoft cloud based software system.

It would appear that there has been little or no user acceptance testing for any of the platforms, including the xBox platform I use. The number of individual bugs the user community has posted, and the number of users experiencing the same bug is surprising.

It would appear that the cloud services and systems had not be fully load tested. And frankly 200,000 concurrent users (a number referenced in the MSFS team’s initial response) is not that many given that this is a legacy product that has developed an international customer base over decades.

This is going to cost the parties involved a great deal. Time and money may be the most obvious cost, but not the most damaging one.

The reputational impact, the loss of trust, will be the greatest and the longest damage. The loss of trust with their customers, their business partners, and the ecosystem of companies who make a living selling products to be used with MSFS. Not just with the MSFS 2024 marketplace, but with all the companies that have evolved in the MSFS ecosystem over time.

Take myself for example. I was preparing to buy the MSFS 2024 Aviator Edition which costs $259.99 after Christmas if I didn’t receive it as a gift at Christmas.

No longer. I have had to warn off my family not to buy it.

I was also looking at buying airplane, and airport add-ons from a number of vendors. However, the base MSFS 2024 Game Pass xbox version is as you know totally unplayable. So those other firms will now likely never see any revenue from me.

And I doubt that I am alone. And I am only an xBox user. Think of the larger PC based user community and the hundreds, may be thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands that they have invested into their MSFS systems. Hundreds of companies have made a living developing peripherals and accessories for the MSFS PC user community. They now not only face lower sales as people defer buying until MSFS 2024 meets expectations, they are having to cope with increase support demand related to MSFS 2024 user issues. And worse case, they are having to issue refunds. They must also be reevaluating their business arrangements related to MSFS.

And the timing couldn’t be worse as many families of MSFS fans purchase MSFS related products or gift cards at Christmas in addition to the MSFS user purchases.

The only structure that makes sense and that could lead to this situation is that this is a Microsoft branded offering developed and delivered by others. Those who have been involved with the evolution of MSFS 2020 and 2024 know this is the exact arrangement.

But the larger community of buyers doesn’t. They assume that this is a Microsoft product. Even the coverage in the general news community has not mentioned that other firms are actually developing the product for Microsoft. They may not even know that MSFS existed. But they do know that a Microsoft product launch just before the Christmas buying season was a disaster.

So this leads me to my last thought in this ramble. Microsoft will protect their brand and reputation. I have worked with them for decades as a partner and as a client. They will either provide the necessary expertise and systems to fix this, or, they will exit from the marketplace and their relationship with the present developer firms and take MSFS 2024 with them once this issue is no longer in the general news.

At the end of the day, a great deal of trust and business is at risk.

I’m going to step away from all of this over Christmas as will most of us. I may return in 2025 to see if MSFS 2024 delivers everything they have promised for xbox series X clients like me. If not, I will stay with MSFS 2020. And the developers who leveraged the Microsoft brand, their business partners, and the ecosystem of firms that sell MSFS 2024 related offerings will not see any additional revenue for the foreseeable future, if at all from me.

So what you say?

Well, I do not think I am alone. I am part of that larger international customer base that took decades to develop under the Microsoft brand. If my decision and actions are the norm this could not just cost them their right to sell using the Microsoft brand, it could cost them their business.

See you in the new year. I wish all the best of the holidays to you and your families. Stay safe.

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I can appreciate your long experience in all aspects of enterprise products, but I think your thoughts are a bit premature and alarmist.

The 2024 version of the sim is in its infancy and just like with 2020, it’s having its growing pains.
It has to be one of the most complex pieces of gaming software ever afterall.
Things will improve just like they did with 2020 over the years.

I have to disagree with your opinion that 2024 is unplayable in Series X. It’s been imminently playable for me as a bush flyer.

I also don’t think Asobo has anything to worry about. Don’t think there’s another development house that could deliver such a complex piece of software.

You mention the 200,000 simulated users but we don’t have enough information to tell how hard that many users pushed their server setup.
It could be that it didn’t even come close to stressing the servers so they figured they could handle many more users trying to install and play at launch.

I expect many that may have already refunded will be back at a later date when the sim is more mature and 3rd party peripheral manufacturers and marketplace addon developers will be just fine over the coming years.

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I am playing Xbox X on Game Pass, and have been a simmer since the sublogic days. I primarily fly in Adelaide Australia and do a lot of regional stuff, so it is a given that the system demand isn’t high and I agree that roads and runways do look blurry when flying over them and some aircraft vastly need improvement, but have clocked up 20 hours and have had a reasonably positive experience. Setting the controllers up was frustrating, but now that is pretty much sorted, it’s now just plug and play. I’ll probably pay for the sim around Christmas time.

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We should not have been sold a product in its infancy. We paid for and expected a more mature product, say, in its late teens.

We did not expect a bug free product, but we also didn’t expect the minefield of bugs that still exist. Even in free flight mode. The colossal mess of the initial launch not withstanding.

Users are also not the ones who should have learned from MS2020. MS and Asobo are the ones who should have learned.

Many of us are tired of spending our hard-earned money and having to wait weeks, months, and even years to get what we paid for. Not to mention having to be unpaid beta testers in the hope that some of the reported bugs will be fixed.

And because of the vast amount of bugs, the experience killing but non-crashing bugs will most likely never be fixed.

I think the original OP has too much faith in MS. This is their M.O. They cozy up to the community before a launch but then after, do whatever they feel like in fixing, or not fixing bugs.

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I bought 2020 in 2022 and had never heard of this forum until months after purchase. I was blown away by the amount of bugs that the game had.

MSFS2024 - It beggars belief that they didn’t have at least two random members of the team (Xbox and PC) spend at least a week testing the game prior to release. That would give them the requirement to set up controllers, set up a flight and test what would be deemed the most popular aircraft in their selected genre. A few GA, a few heavies and a few fast jets to say the least. If this was done, then they have turned a blind eye to the feed back that was offered.
What was the feed back like from the Alpha testers?

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It’s not like they just took 2020 and added a career and walkaround mode. I won’t pretend to know much about game development, but I have to imagine the code took an extensive rewrite.

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Hi there! I read many times that people like yourself have been playing on Gamepass and are planning to buy the game. Is there a difference in terms of performance since the game is played from the cloud? If you purchase it will you have more stable performances? Sorry if it’s a stupid question. :slight_smile:

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It’s not a stupid question. It’s one I have and haven’t been able to find the answer.

I have noticed that the Game Pass version draws down 1,110 “sim objects” as it starts. When I watch some of the more advanced YouTube content makers, such as the A300 Pilot, his sim object count is over 3,000.

I assume that when you purchase a more involved package it just increases the number of sim objects In your start up library which are required to access more streamed content.

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By launch, I mean product launch. For any brand each product launch must be managed to build on the brand and create demand. Most of that is marketing. However, the actual delivery of the product must also be planed to meet that demand. If it does everyone is happy and the momentum builds.

If it falters or fails, that becomes the news and even those who weren’t interested in the product launch hear about the failure.

That’s about as bad as it gets. I’ve been involved in a few of those and it’s not a pleasant experience.

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You are confusing Gamepass and Cloud Gaming. Gamepass is just a monthly subscription like Netflix that gives you a license to install and play the sim on your local console. It’s no different than if you bought the game outright. Some people may try it out with Gamepass because you can get your first month for $1. Then if they like it, they may then purchase the game and discontinue the monthly subscription.

Cloud Gaming allows you to stream the game from the cloud on other devices, including phones, PC’s and older Xbox Ones. But the performance is nowhere near what you get by running the game locally and you are limited to using the Xbox controller - no other peripherals are available.

You must have a Gamepass subscription to access Cloud Gaming, and I think that’s where a lot of people get confused.

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Thank you for that clarification. So when I play MSFS 2024 on my xBox via Game Pass, am I using Cloud Gaming? What difference would I see if I purchased the game? Could that be the issue myself and many other xBox users are experiencing?

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No, if you installed it on an Xbox Series X or S with Gamepass you are playing the exact same game as you would be if you purchased it outright. This has nothing to do with Cloud Gaming.

However, if you are on a Xbox One, you are using Cloud Gaming, as that is the only way to play it on the older console. In this case, the performance is not very good, but the only way to improve it is to buy a newer Series S or X and run it locally. MSFS does not run natively on the Xbox One.

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Thanks again. I was wondering if when you buy the game you are merely buying the rights to access additional content which would be streamed to you. I have a Xbox Series X which I received for Christmas last year.

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This. I am an Xbox GamePass subscriber but I wouldn’t touch the Cloud version due to its limitations.

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You can download additional content regardless of how you get the sim. And you have to pay for most of that content either way.

The only reason to buy the game is if you don’t care about any of the other 200 or so games available on Gamepass. If all you want is MSFS, but it once for $70 or more for the upgraded versions and you have it forever.

If you subscribe to Gamepass, you’ll pay $16/mo which gives you access to the standard version of MFSF, but you also have 200 other titles available plus Xbox Live Gold. But if you ever cancel your subscription, you’ll lose access to MSFS.

I don’t think Xbox Live Gold is required to play MSFS, but it might be if you want to fly in a party with other people. I’ve always had Gold, so maybe someone else can confirm.

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Thanks guys for the insights. What I understand now is that there is no differences. Which is a bit worrying because on console I don’t think the graphics are that good and I have a very strong internet connection as I work remote. Asobo devs did say we would be able to download some region packs which will help graphics hopefully. I’ll put my hopes on that. Cheers

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Probably not on console, just like MFS 2020.

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It will be interesting to see if Microsoft and friends deal with this disparity between PC and console.

They sell the consoles which are pretty much a one time source of revenue for them as the
console platform is limited to improvement. They earn developer license fees which are recurring from the PC and accessories ecosystem.

Many of the YouTube content makers who are showing wonderful images of MSFS 2024 are using serious PC based kit. When I watch them I launch the console to try and replicate their experience.

I don’t feel that is unreasonable. But my experience is not just not as good as theirs, the performance of the console experience is flaky and inconsistent.

So, as I said, it will be interesting to see if Microsoft and friends do anything to address this disparity.

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You don’t see many console content creators because Microsoft doesn’t understand how to build on top of a comunity. On Youtube people constantly search for new stuff in the sim but on Xbox you need to pay for everything throught the marketplace. Mods are not allowed. A content creator can’t simply grow ( and so his comunity ) at this conditions. One of the most famous Farming Simulator content creator is MrSealeyP and he plays on console ( PS5 ). He does video on a daily basis because he can review and bring in his channel tons of freeware mods. So people is engaged, watch his videos and then play the game. You can bring ton of new players in the sim just doing that, using content creators to advertise your game. They’re basically working for you.

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I’m not sure why you’d expect to replicate their experience on a $500 console when their PC hardware likely cost between $1000 or $2000.