I started to TRY and update FS2020 and it took me over a half hour to finally get to the place were I could do the update. I had to install the XBOX app (why?) and go back and forth between FS2020 and the Microsoft store. At one point I was getting an error message on the MS store page that lists all the updates available and had to go into “services” and change some things I had never touched. Updating should be, in my humble opinion, something that does not require a degree in computer science. Why is every update fraught with problems??? The sim has been out for a year it should be getting easier to do updates. I also think there should be a way to NOT do an update and still use the sim. Sometimes you just want to fly and not wait for over an hour to get the latest update. FWIW
Hi
I totally agree with all you points.
All I can add is once you do install the Xbox thingy, which i have no clue that I needed or wanted and get the update to install the sim appears to have been improved.
I just question MS QA process around update. Why not let us know that the XBox thingy is needed when we are directed to the store?
Best wishes
Bob
Updates fill me with dread in this game. Its like the game came with a free, unwanted real time strategy component to accompany it.
Steam = open steam “an update is available”
MS Store = nothing until you jump through 14 hoops. Even when you get in the ground textures are purple because i had to go to the store and update 6 previous components of the game (including the deluxe edition etc) which you’d think would just be updated with the game.
Why anyone needs to install an “Xbox” app on a “PC” is beyond me. I don’t even own an Xbox.
It is indeed very poor.
The Xbox app and service is needed due the game uses xbox live services for login and multiplayer. Maybe to aim for crossgame with xbox players.
It’s a Microsoft product after all, so for sure they will use their own technology where required.
XBox doesn’t just refer to the consoles these days - it is Microsoft’s primary gaming brand, of which consoles are only a part. Increasingly, many people (myself included) subscribe to their “XBox Game Pass for PC” service, which gives access to a library of games (through the XBox app) in addition to MSFS. It also offers properly family play in a way that Steam doesn’t, which allows my son and I to play simultaneously through a single account - definitely makes the £8/mo pretty good value here. This is all managed through the “XBox” PC app, so it’s pretty indispensable for us. Forza Horizon 5 is on the horizon (baddum, tsch!) and is included so my son gets to play it without badgering me to spend £50!
There is also an “XBox Console Companion” PC app which is definitely aimed at console users, but I never use this.
How on earth can a company that essentially created modern-day computing, make such an almighty mess of updating its products?
It is utterly ridiculous how much hassle and research I’ve had to go through to update this time.
Hi /
Ok, but why not advise users of the requirement to install an Xbox thingy when we attempted the update? Rather than expecting users to find this info out for themselves which I needed to do.
I feel the update is solid. However I spent several frustrating hours trying to find the update only to eventual find it after another forum advised I needed an Xbox thingy before the update became visible.
Personal, I do not feel this is a customer focused approach
Best wishes
Bob
Can’t argue with that - it’s still not 100% clear why it’s needed either and a bit of comms would have gone a long way (and I’m sure generated another pile of threads here!)
Hopefully this relatively simple solution gets everyone back up and flying again.
If XBOX app is mandatory (which it clearly is) Install should say so and ask to install it.
If an update is required, you should not need to open the game and load half of it to find out, the store should pick it up.
They should also ask when in to update core extras like the world updates and deluxe editions etc.
The current system reminds me of back in the day, where you needed to download 4 installs to update Counter-Strike
Update_Beta4-1.4.exe
Update_1.4-1.6.exe
Update_1.6-1.8.exe
etc.
My experience updating from Steam was also frustrating. The download went into constant looping as it reached the last few percent and should have been decompressing. It took several attempts over several hours to complete the task. Having previously read the experiences of forum members using the Microsoft store, I had hoped Steam would be flawless as it has been every time for me in the past.
I came very close to re-installing one of my older sims, just to have a reliable backup. I might yet. To me this Russian Roulette with every single update (new breakages guaranteed every time), indeed puts a strain on the experience of using the product.
I had to read these comments to realize this was a thing. My pc shipped with the XBOX app, but it is a bit tricky to get the updates going. They really could do a better job for those that have built their pc’s and installed the op system themselves.
And no, I’m not nearly confident enough to build my own pc lol..
Hell it took me 1.5 months to download it due to the dreaded “resetting download” bug.
I’m ripping my hair out here. Can’t use the sim until I update, have been going round and round in circles trying to find the update. Usually I stumble upon it after a few minutes. This time, all I get is the option to launch the Sim, only for the load screen to prompt to go back to Microsoft Store.
This is Microsoft we are talking about here. The creators of 99% of our PC operating systems. A very clever company indeed.
Surely we should literally be able to start our sim, be advised of the need to update and be provided with one clear and concise button to press to achieve this. Whatever goes on in the background, that is definitely microsoft’s area of expertise and I, as a user, do not care a hoot what that is.
For god sake just make it simple and user friendly. They must be capable of this.
I will guarantee you micosoft tech support line is blowing up today, No instructions on a update that is this involved to do, That’s crazy
I totally agree. The fact that I was ‘forced’ to install an app (XBOX) I have absolutely no interest in before I could start the download from the MS Store is a very worrying sign. Yet another signpost along the way, possibly, that PC users are second consideration now as far as this SIM is concerned. In the end, having jumped to all the hoops and not only having to download the XBOX app (by the way I need to remember to get rid) I also had to launch the Xbox app before the MSFS download showed up. This is totally unacceptable.
Talk about cynical.
Clearly, the store is for billing and the xbox is for inter-platform interaction.
Easy to see how conspiracies begin.
Kesselring1987; I totally disagree. Sorry. but this just doesnt wash. Things dont work like that nor do they need to. There is absolutely no reason why PC users should need to install the XBox app for singon etc. This is a bug and should be treated by all as such.
StruckZebra9;No, this is not how it needs to work. This is a bug. I do not require any ‘inter-platform’ interaction. I have no interest in XBox and never will. I run the Simulator on the PC.
This needs to be removed. Totally un-necessary and should be seen as a BUG.
Hallo, Bob,
ich habe die XBOX von Anfang an des MSFS 2020 in meinem System installiert.
ALLE vorherigen Updates wurden einwandfrei heruntergeladen und installiert.
Der MSFS 2020 läd auch jetzt einwandfrei und gibt an, daß ein Update zur Verfügung steht und, daß das zuerst aus dem Store installiert werden muß.
Im Store wird aber, trotz akkurater Suche kein Update gefunden.
Zuletzt wird angezeigt, daß für die “Premium deluxe Version” zu Zeit kein
Update zu Verfügung steht.
Ist diese Meldung richtig?
Muß ich warten bis es das Update wieder gibt?
Gibt es eine anderen Lösung.
Rudolf
Hmmmm…
I’m guessing you never owned a Microsoft phone? Have never tried uninstalling the edge browser thats so good they now won’t let you chose whether you have it installed or not and have never had that moment where you get off a plane and discover that your laptop never actually went to sleep and is red hot in your bag because Microsoft still don’t actually appear to understand how mobile devices should work and that sleep ought to mean sleep not…“hey I wanted to do this thing that you said no to already when the flight was called but I’m just going to do it anyway.”
Microsoft has been a slow moving corporate dinosaur for a long time.