Xbox Simmers: We are Tired of Being Second-Class Pilots

Discussion Hub General Discussion
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1

Hi all.

I’m going straight to the point because my patience with the state of this “simulator” on console has officially run out. We’ve been hearing the same corporate talk since the launch of Flight Simulator 2020: “feature parity,” “the power of Azure cloud,” “the future of aviation in your living room.” But what’s the reality? Whether you’re flying on FS2020—which is now a mature platform still receiving updates—or moving into FS2024 with the upcoming Sim Update 5 (SU5), you’re still being treated like a second-class citizen who only cares about pretty scenery. It’s frustrating, it’s demoralizing, and honestly, it’s becoming impossible to justify the time and money we spend on this platform.

I know some smart-aleck in the comments will say, “It’s a console, if you want to be hardcore, go buy a PC.” Look, keep that lazy argument to yourself. Most of us here have the money to build a high-end PC, but we chose the Xbox. We chose it for the convenience, the stability, and for not having to deal with GPU drivers crashing or Windows updating in the middle of a short final. We want “plug-and-play,” but that doesn’t mean we want a “toy simulator.” When I drop $70 or $80 on a PMDG 737 or high-fidelity birds from BlackSquare and JustFlight, I’m not playing a little airplane game to pass the time. I’m studying systems, following charts, and planning real-world routes. And then, the sim reminds me that I’m in a “cage” restricted by ridiculous marketing and licensing decisions.

The biggest sting is the ATC. It’s 2026. Microsoft literally owns the entire game when it comes to AI and Cloud tech. You guys own Azure! How is it possible that the native ATC in FS2020 and now FS2024—even with SU5—is still this robotic, brain-dead, scripted mess from twenty years ago? It’s embarrassing. While the PC guys are flying with tools like SayIntentions.AI, talking into a real mic, getting logical vectors, and feeling the pressure of a human-like controller, we on Xbox are sitting here… clicking a radial menu. Clicking on pre-programmed text. Are you serious?

Immersion dies instantly. You can’t take a complex IFR flight seriously when you have to take your hand off the yoke to navigate a stupid text menu instead of just keying the mic and saying what you need. The Series X hardware can handle it, the internet connection can handle it, and Microsoft HAS the tech in-house. Why won’t you release it for us? Why don’t we have a voice-interactive ATC using the same AI you sell to the rest of the world? If FS2024 with SU5 is supposed to be the “state of the art,” where is the actual innovation for console? Flying a “study-level” plane without being able to talk on the radio is the loneliest, most boring experience imaginable. The world feels dead.

And then there’s the hardware. This “licensed peripheral” lock is one of the biggest barriers we face. We want to be able to build a decent cockpit in our living rooms. We want to plug in any throttle quadrant, radio panel, or force-feedback system via USB and just have it work. The console is a powerful PC in a box; there is zero technical reason for this lockdown other than licensing contracts designed to squeeze more money out of us.

The reality is that flying “alone” in this vacuum of interactivity is killing the hobby on console. We spend a fortune in the Marketplace, we support the developers of complex aircraft, and at the end of the day, it feels like Microsoft itself doesn’t believe in the potential of its own console community. We don’t want “Flight Simulator Lite.” We want the full simulator we were promised. FS2020 is a solid platform and FS2024 is evolving with SU5; there is no excuse for not implementing an intelligent voice ATC right now.

If Microsoft and Asobo don’t wake up and deliver real AI voice integration for the ATC and open up the hardware ecosystem, you’re going to lose the user base that pours the most money into this project. I’m done being a “second-class pilot.” We want real parity. We want the microphones we already have on our headsets to actually mean something in the sim, not just in a party chat.

Stop treating the Xbox like a toy. We take this seriously. It’s time you start taking us seriously, too.

2

You bring up some good points but they all seem to be cases where third parties need to work with MS to bring these functions and features to Xbox.

More of a concern for me is default features that are fully under MS/Asobo control and that are available on PC but aren’t on Xbox. The main feature we’re missing is Wake Turbulence. It’s been improved in SU5 for PC users and Xbox can even call up the Wake Turbulence menu but it doesn’t function on Xbox. There’s no visible wake turbulence and no effect.

The other major concern is lack of settings sliders. Our settings are dictated to us. We can’t even choose if we have a preference for performance or graphics quality.

Both of these can be addressed by MS/Asobo without any outside involvement.

Despite this I’m very satisfied with the state of the simulator on Xbox. Performance is very good for the type of flying I do. The scenery and live weather are impressive. We’re getting access to an increasing fleet of great a/c. There is some good hardware available. I feel that our ratio of flight hours to hardware tweaking is much better as well. But, yes, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

3

Several good points, and yes ATC is awful :joy:, but as a long time Xbox user, I also understood that my Xbox had real fundamental limitations compared to a PC. When I finally decided to move to a PC (not for flight sim at that time), I expected I should have a better experience. More memory, dedicated GPU and VRAM, nearly unlimited storage, an “open” system for development/mods…

If you choose a console, there has to be the acknowledgement of the existing limitations that are real, not imagined.

4

With respect to ATC, the point you make is just as valid for PC users as it is for Xbox users. Why should anyone have to spend money on a third party product to have decent ATC. Do any of you remember Editvoicepack from FS9, FSX etc? you could get that to sound better than FS24 (albeit still scripted).

My point is that with respect to ATC, its terible for all platforms and as you quite rightly point out, there’s no excuse for it to be. The fact that PC users have a workaround by using a third party product is irrelevant, they shouldn’t have to either.

6

Wow man. You forgot the obligatory ‘rant over’ at the end of your post.

There’s nothing, literally nothing in your post that you couldn’t have known before you started using Xbox for simming. Everyone knows that it is a closed platform that’s not expandable except for some peripherals that one can use through a hub.
And also casually you talk in the we-form, when there’s loads of posts from very happy Xbox simmers here. And then you are calling people who might react to your post lazy upfront?

I don’t know what the aim of your post is except spreading personal negativity in a we-form.
And finally: you are posting in the wrong forum, because there’s nothing the MSobo flight sim team can do about the xbox design.

To me it sounds like that you did not inform yourself about the limitations of xbox before you bought the sim and the most expensive add-on available, feel that you have bumped your nose, and now start blaming the rest of the world for your own error.

7

Perhaps they’re using the royal we pronoun. :rofl:

8

To those simply saying ‘get a PC’: that completely misses the core of the issue.

Microsoft is more than happy to take our money when we purchase high-fidelity, study-level aircraft—like those from PMDG, JustFlight, and BlackSquare—on the Xbox Marketplace. If the platform is considered ‘mature’ and ‘professional’ enough to sell these $70+ complex software add-ons, then Microsoft has a responsibility to provide the basic simulation infrastructure required to operate them realistically.

Simulation isn’t just about visuals; it’s about workload. Flying a top-tier jet in FS2020 or FS2024 (even with SU5) and being forced to use a 20-year-old scripted text menu is a massive waste of the Azure technology that Microsoft already dominates. We aren’t asking for a PC; we are asking for Microsoft to leverage its own AI tools so that the ‘Simulator’ part of the title is respected on console as well. If the aircraft software has evolved to a ‘study-level’ standard, the environment surrounding it , specifically the ATC and hardware support cannot remain frozen in time.

9

It’s funny you mention that Xbox is a ‘closed platform’ and that I ‘should have known’ the limitations before buying the sim and the most expensive add-ons.

If Xbox is really that limited, why does Microsoft allow PMDG, JustFlight, and BlackSquare to sell $70 study-level aircraft on our Marketplace? If the console is ‘just a closed gaming box’ and not a serious simulator, then selling those professional products there is, at the very least, bad faith on Microsoft’s part.

The truth hurts: if the platform is ‘pro’ enough to take my money for study-level aircraft, it has a technical obligation to evolve the environment around them. Saying ‘it’s always been this way’ is the ultimate excuse for mediocrity. I don’t accept it. Microsoft owns the AI and the Azure tech; not releasing voice-interactive ATC in FS2020 or FS2024 (even with SU5) is a choice of technical laziness, not a ‘design limitation.’

If you’re happy clicking a 20-year-old radial menu while flying a top-tier jet, that’s your call. But I, and many others here (‘we’), want the actual technology that Microsoft spends millions advertising but refuses to deliver to the very people sustaining their console Marketplace.

10

Funny, but the ‘we’ I’m using isn’t the ‘royal’ one—it’s the ‘we’ of thousands of console users who sustain the Marketplace by buying expensive add-ons and are tired of seeing the platform’s potential wasted. If you’d rather focus on my grammar than explain why Microsoft sells $70 study-level aircraft on a platform you claim is ‘limited,’ then I think we both know who’s actually out of arguments here.

11

Literally no one above this post said that.

If your point is just to vent, fine, I will choose to move on to something constructive. If your point is to raise concerns and have a discussion, don’t invent being aggrieved.

12

It’s funny that you talk about ‘inventing’ issues when I’ve pointed out clear facts regarding the Marketplace and the stagnation of the Xbox ATC in 2026.

If you want something ‘constructive,’ then answer just one thing: How do you justify Microsoft selling $70 study-level aircraft (PMDG, JustFlight, BlackSquare) on console.

This isn’t just ‘venting’ or ‘negativity’—it’s a massive product flaw. If you don’t have a technical answer for that blatant contradiction, then ‘moving on’ is indeed your only option, because the ‘Xbox is just a limited box’ argument died the second Microsoft started charging professional simulator prices in our store.

13

You’re not reading my posts with clear eyes. I’m moving on. Good luck to you.

14

you’ve hit on some excellent points, and that’s exactly the core of my argument. The lack of functional Wake Turbulence on Xbox, even though the menu is right there ‘for show,’ is a perfect example of this lack of attention toward the console. The same goes for performance sliders—the Series X has more than enough hardware for us to choose between fidelity and FPS, yet that choice is denied to us.

My frustration with the ATC and AI follows the same logic: if Microsoft/Asobo controls the closed Xbox ecosystem, they should be the first to ensure that ‘default’ features (like radio, turbulence, and settings) are top-tier.

This isn’t about ‘personal negativity’; it’s about pointing out that in 2026, with FS2024 and SU5, Xbox should no longer have these technical gaps—especially when the Marketplace is full of complex aircraft that require these systems to work. Let’s focus on what matters: real technical parity and an end to these artificial limitations.

15

Personal Comments and Observations

How do you justify Microsoft selling $70 study-level aircraft (PMDG, JustFlight, BlackSquare) on console.

Microsoft isn’t setting those rates. The individual studios and Devs are. One of my other hats is working for an MSFS Dev Partner - we built some of the commissioned stock aircraft for MSFS 2024. We also create and sell products of our own. And we do have console testers on our primary and Beta Teams.

As a third party selling on Marketplace, you as an operating entity are responsible for price establishment. Those firms you named decided those prices, not Redmond.

16

But you can. I just sat here on FSWeekend, playing an Xbox X with the 737 with a whole shebang of peripherals. So you can expand, but within the set boundaries of the xbox ecosystem.

And ‘we’ should actually marvel at the fact that Mathijs Kok and his companions at PMGD pulled it off to bring this study level aircraft to xbox in the first place!

17

You’re focusing on a technicality while ignoring the elephant in the room. It doesn’t matter if it’s PMDG or Microsoft setting the $70 price tag; what matters is that Microsoft authorizes and profits from the sale of these elite products on its official storefront.

By allowing ‘study-level’ aircraft to be sold on Xbox, Microsoft is validating the console as a serious simulation platform. If they accept the commission from these sales, they have a responsibility to provide the necessary infrastructure—like voice-interactive ATC via Azure and proper peripheral support—so these products can function as intended.

Claiming ‘it’s the developer’s price’ is just an excuse to avoid admitting that Microsoft is neglecting the simulation environment on console. If Xbox is truly ‘too limited’ for a modern ATC or performance sliders, then why does Microsoft allow software that requires those very features to be sold there? It’s a blatant market contradiction.

18

No one here is taking anything away from Mathijs Kok or the PMDG team. On the contrary: the fact they managed to bring the 737 to Xbox is a technical marvel that proves the console has plenty of processing power. My point is exactly that: if third-party developers are doing the heavy lifting, why isn’t Microsoft doing its part?

Saying we can expand ‘within the set boundaries of the Xbox ecosystem’ is just accepting crumbs. On PC, you plug in any USB peripheral and it works. On Xbox, we’re locked behind licensing contracts that drive up hardware costs and limit our choices.

And regarding the ATC: seeing the 737 running at FSWeekend is great, but flying it daily using a 20-year-old text menu kills the ‘study-level’ immersion PMDG worked so hard to create. We shouldn’t just ‘marvel’ that something basic works; we should demand that the platform owner (Microsoft) leverages its own Azure AI so the flight environment is as professional as the aircraft we’re buying. PMDG’s success on Xbox only proves that the console community wants serious simulation—now it’s time for Microsoft to deliver the infrastructure to match it.

19

Worse thing that MS ever did was move Flight Simulator to consoles. This action now requires the product as a whole to be hamstung for years to non-upgradeable platforms that were already years out of date the day they hit the shelves. I’m sure you have a different opinion, but I stand by mine.

20

That is perhaps the most short-sighted take on the MSFS ecosystem.

Claiming that Xbox ‘handicaps’ the sim ignores the fact that the monumental scale of Game Pass and millions of console users provided the massive capital injection needed for Microsoft and Asobo to sustain the constant development we see today. Without the Xbox Marketplace revenue, MSFS 2024 likely wouldn’t even exist, and the franchise would have remained a stagnant niche for another decade.

The Series X hardware is equivalent to a high-mid-range PC that a large portion of the PC player base doesn’t even own. The bottleneck isn’t the hardware being ‘out of date’—the bottleneck is Microsoft’s refusal to unlock the power of Azure AI for native voice ATC and open up the peripheral ecosystem.

If you prefer a niche simulator with a shrinking user base and slow development cycles, that’s your opinion. But the reality is that Xbox saved this franchise, and those of us funding a huge part of this project through the Marketplace have every right to demand that the infrastructure (ATC, AI, and hardware support) matches the high-level aircraft we are buying. We aren’t dragging the sim down; we are the ones making its future financially viable.

21

All completely false assertions and well done for using ChatGPT to form them. Flight Simulator existed for decades before it came to consoles. Series X is borderline entry level hardware and if you want to move everything to Azure who is go to pay the monthly subscriptions. Consoles don’t make MSFS financially viable, that just isn’t true. Anyway, no one is going to change your opinion as it is just that… your opinion. You’ve voiced it, I don’t agree with it.