Xbox Game Pass Users "Sick and Tired" of Getting "Inferior" Version of Games

Xbox Game Pass on PC has a major problem.

By Tyler Fischer

Xbox Game Pass subscribers on PC are "sick and tired" of getting the "inferior" versions of games compared to Steam. On PC, Xbox Game Pass represents considerable value, but for many PC gamers, it comes at the cost of not playing the games on Steam. Not only do many PC gamers prefer to play their games via Steam, but often PC games are updated quicker on Steam than the Microsoft Store. This means Xbox Game Pass subscribers on PC are often playing older versions of PC games compared to those on Steam. And this is starting to really frustrate subscribers. 

One of this month's big Xbox Game Pass games, at least on PC, is Frostpunk 2. This is one of the marquee releases not just on Xbox Game Pass PC this month, but one of marquee releases on PC in general. This includes Steam. And those on Steam are enjoying updates for the game at a faster rather than those not on Steam. 

"Im sick and tired of Game Pass versions of games being inferior to steam on PC," reads one of the top posts on the Xbox Game Pass Reddit page right now. "Just installed Frostpunk 2 today on my PC, and would you know it the Game Pass version of that game is an outdated build that doesn't support DLSS 3.0 frame gen unlike the versions on other platforms."

The post continues: "This wasn't my first encounter with bad Game Pass versions. The same thing has happened with Ark Survival Ascended where frame gen is basically a must because of its abysmal performance. I even remember playing Quantum Break on Game Pass full of visual artifacts to the extent of it being barely playable."

It is unclear why Microsoft is so slow to approve new updates in comparison to Steam, but it is. As a result, Xbox Game Pass PC subscribers are almost always playing an inferior version of any said game compared to Steam users. 

"This is 100% why I unsubscriubed from Xbox PC Game Pass," reads one of the comments. "The Ascent was broken on Game Pass with no DLSS/ray tracing working it. It took so long to get it synced to the working Steam version."

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Another comment adds: "I have also experienced this problem with other games. I've recently played Still Wakes the Deep and the Game Pass version didn't even support DLSS while it was supported on Steam. I think they patched it and it may support it now but I'm done with the game."

Whether Microsoft will ever fix this, remains to be seen. In the meantime, it seems to be negatively impacting business for Xbox Game Pass on PC. Until it is fixed, PC gamers may want to rethink subscribing to Game Pass.

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