PC players, how much time have you been investing in the Xbox Store/Game Pass compared to Steam?

[Deleted member 17184]

Before I begin, I want to be clear: this is not a thread about which platform is better.

It's clear that, as far as PC platforms go, Steam still has the most features: achievements, cards, family sharing, Steam Workshop, etc. I also have been looking at the advancements the Xbox team has been making on their app. Devs and pubs can publish Win32 games since last year (or 2018), Play Anywhere is a thing, Crossplay with other Xbox devices, Microsoft Rewards and Game Pass Quests can help you earn points to redeem things such as gift cards or subscriptions, mods have been starting to show up (although at very early stages), and, of course, the star of the show that is Game Pass itself - which also gives you a discount to purchase games and DLCs, as well as EA Play and the incoming Zenimax/Bethesda library.

Of course, the Xbox app is far from perfect. Some users can still see errors, Microsoft Rewards isn't part of the app, and there are not as many Game Pass Quests compared to the Xbox console. The installation folders being locked to changes can also be frustrating if you plan to mod games or .ini files in any way.

Still, when you put all those things together, it still feels the Xbox app has been the most successful "alternative" to Steam on Windows. I have been finding myself looking more into the Game Pass library than upcoming Steam/EGS/other stores' games, with a few exceptions. So I'm curious to see if something similar has been happening to any of you folx.

 

[Bigkrev]

The Microsoft store on PC hasn't worked for me ever, and I would put the Xbox app at maybe a 20% sucsess rate. I won't buy anything on it, but I'm not opposed to doing 1 month of game pass at a time and hoping it works, but the last 2 years of having gamepass was a pretty terrible experience. If Microsoft put out something I HAD to play, i'd rather spend the $60 on Steam to know that the copy I was buying was going to work

 

[thebishop]

Two things that especially suck about Xbox on PC

1. Per-game data collection popups that don't support gamepad input

2. The library of installed games is a tiny strip on the left side

If MS straight up ported the Xbox UI to Windows, they'd have a real winner on their hands

 

[PeskyToaster]

I definitely don't use steam as much anymore. My main PC games right now are Crusader Kings 3 via Game Pass and WoW Classic with Battle net.

 

[Raigor]

Steam and Origin more than any platform.

Gamepass is nice but I often buy the games instead of using GP, even Xbox games like Ori 2 and Forza Horizon 4 and MS Flight Simulator.

 

[Clear]

I'm happy with the gamepass as my main source of gaming. Good collection of games, hell i am only using steam because I have enough progress in Children of Morta that I don't want to start fresh on gamepass.

 

[Trago]

I only use the Xbox App for Game Pass, otherwise, I mainly use Steam for everything else.

And of course Battle.Net, EGS, Origin, and Uplay when I have to.

 

[sredgrin]

I buy a month or two of GP here or there if there's a game I think I will beat relatively quickly (like Ori 2) and then mess around with other stuff that I am interested in.

I prefer to own most of my games long term so I got for instance, MCC on Steam.

 

[resultant]

If I am playing games on PC, I am using Game Pass. I do play Fortnite as well, but most of what I play is through GP.

 

[Badcoo]

I'll play where the game is cheapest. But I don't like the xbox PC app. It's a hassle to install and uninstall games. But when it does work, it work fine.

It's no where as easy or intuitive as steam. I'm hoping MS has a plan to make it better.

 

[voidecker]

I've mainly been using Game Pass PC to play multiplayer games with my buds, since I don't have to convince them to buy games with a GP sub nowadays, and it's been great. We've been loving Deep Rock Galactic.

 

[JustTeaThankYou]

I use GoG Galaxy as my launcher, because then I don't have to care about how many launchers exist.

I've had Game Pass for a year and only installed the XBox app a month ago because I found out it shows you games that are leaving the service soon. So I open it once a week to check (at the same time I open EGS to get my weekly free games) and otherwise ignore it.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

None. I get pretty much everything on Steam.

 

[snausages]

Very little due to how brittle the store app is, also the fact that I use a DS4 and rely on Steam to get that working (otherwise I use DS4windows)

I am maintaining my sub for now to keep Flight Sim, but with the price of GP gone up I think I will straight up just have to buy FS.

Pity Halo got delayed.

 

[Vasto]

Xbox App with Game Pass is my main platform on PC.

 

[oneils]

I've only begun using the xbox app, recently, because it finally has a battery indicator for my controller. Other than that, I don't really use it.

I was a gamepass subscriber for over a year, but I never played any of the games. Most of the games that I wanted to play, I already had. So I've dropped the subscription.

 

[Morten88]

Ive been subbed to Gamepass for pc a few times, its very cheap and pretty good service, but Steam is still my main platform, all my friends plays there and i use family sharing with my gf

 

[Zoon]

I've subbed to gamepass for a single month when the Outer Worlds launched. Finished it along with Gears 5 and unsubbed. I wasn't really a fan of it. Besides the technical issues, with this subscription model I felt pressured to finish the games which reduced my enjoyment of both of them. Honestly, I'd rather pay more or wait for the games to release on Steam and have them sit on my backlog.

 

[elyetis]

I use UWPHook to add Game Pass games ( mostly Flight simulator and crusader king 3 ) to Steam. But even ignoring that, 95% of the time would be steam, the gamepass offer is very nice and all, but ultimately it's still limited.

 

[Deleted member 4212]

Depends on the time frame. Over the past few months I've mostly been playing Forza Horizon and Final Fantasy XV, so all of my time has been on the Xbox app lately.

 

[Sanguine]

None, I'm on Steam full time (moving to Linux and taking advantage of Steam Proton). I don't think I've even given anything Microsoft a second thought.

 

[Hamster Plugin]

I would be already gone from Game Pass if I hadn't locked myself into that shitty terrible service for two years. Microsoft's store on PC is an embarrassment and should have been overhauled ages ago to get rid of the stupid folder lock.

I can't wait for May 2022 when I can finally delete all traces of this shit and just use Steam again.

 

[Rosebud]

I own more than 1000 Steam games, so...

I use GP for some indies like Hypnospace Outlaw, but it just makes me want to buy it at Steam.

 

[Roshin]

I think the only game I've bought in the MS Store is Minecraft. I've glanced at GamePass and the other stores, but I'm not really interested. Not because of any particular bias. It's just that free time is a rare currency these days (I'm an essential worker, yo) and I don't have time for all the games I already have on Steam and GOG, which are the two stores I use.

 

[Ionic]

For some reason when I was subscribed to Gamepass for a few months I was never interested in opening it to install a game. I unsubscribed, but I may come back sporadically when they put out some AAA game I want to play and have it launch day one.

 

[Herne]

I used it purely to play Sea of Thieves for a few months but we've stopped playing that back in August and I haven't touched it since.

 

[.exe]

Barely use GP other than try something I'm unsure about once in a blue moon or play Forza. The app is unpleasant to use and I keep encountering friction at the install/download process.

 

[MrBob]

Gamepass app is good to play games I don't want to buy. If I'm going to buy a game, it will be on Steam. Even microsoft titles. MS needs to fix the file system on gamepass so you can easily find your install.

 

[Neo_MG90]

I used the Xbox app to buy Killer Instinct back in the day, played for some time and then never used it again.

And at least for now GP doesn't have anything that interest me so I won't get it anytime soon.

 

[Richietto]

Mostly Steam but I use the Xbox app far more than anything other than Steam.

 

[Sarcastico]

The only thing stopping me from subscribing to Gamepass is their Xbox App.

 

[Chackan]

As long as games are available on the MS store.

I hate all the different launchers and shit.

 

[Mukrab]

It really depends what im currently playing, i play SoT so its gonna be the Xbox App. If i was playing a multiplayer game on steam then it would be steam. I came from xbox so i prefer to buy games on the xbox app over steam because of achievements. Fortunatelly i never had any issues with downloading or playing games on the App, and neither had any of my friends.

 

[TradedHats]

Never use it. Played Outer Worlds and unsubbed. Most of my games run through Steam but I use Playnite for everything.

 

[R dott B]

I use it from time to time but my main platform is EGS and Steam.

 

[empo]

I just buy games wherever they are the cheapest, I barely use any features so price is king. If it's the same I default to Steam because that's my largest library.
Usually a month subscription is hard to beat so that's how I play GP/Origin/Ubi games.

 

[Bede-x]

It can vary depending on releases, but I think I'm using the Xbox app more than Steam at this point. I also have the Game Bar on the guide button, instead of it bring up the Steam overlay.

Game Pass is just great and fits my usage very well, even if the Xbox app itself is poor.

 

[Gelf]

I've subbed to Gamepass once when it had that dirt cheap trial but thats expired now. I also since bought Forza Horizon 3 on the store. Still the majority of my time is spent on Steam and I added FH3 to the Steam launcher anyway.

The app left a sour taste in the mouth when I was playing I think Thimbleweed Park and wanted to remap some keys. Support suggested you had to edit a file to do that but on this version access to said file was blocked. Just knowing that kind of thing can happen makes that store the absolute last resort for my purchases.

 

[Deleted member 17184]

I obviously expected Steam to be leading the poll, but the amount of you using the Xbox app is higher than I expected. If Microsoft continues to improve and change based on feedback, I wonder what will be the results in one or two years from now.

 

[Uhtred]

I've been using game pass a lot more than I thought I would, but Steam still king for me at the moment.

However, I'm not seeing a time when I wouldn't be subscribed to game pass PC, it's kind of a no brainer for me right now.

We just need some improvements with the app and the functionality. I want it to be easier to use, more reliable when it comes to managing your games, and easier to do multiplayer and coop.

 

[cowbanana]

I played/tried various games while the PC beta for Game Pass was ongoing. The only games I actually finished were the bland Gears 5 and the fantastic Ori and the Will of the Wisps. I played some Minecraft Dungeons with my son, but we got bored with it shortly after finishing the first run through the game. When the PC beta ended and the price went up, I cancelled my Game Pass for PC subscription. I didn't use it enough to keep paying. I'm mostly always finding myself playing games on Steam, PS4 and Switch that are not on Game Pass. In the case of Wasteland 3, I even bought the Steam version as I wanted to play it on Steam even though I had Game Pass still going at the time. W3 on Steam received patches faster, so that was an unforeseen bonus.

If they had kept the low price I'd probably have kept the sub idling to try out some things. It was worth a couple cups of coffees a month, but not a whole four cups of coffee.

Edit: The Windows Store and file handling is also all kinds of embarrassing and shitty. At the final stretch of my GP sub, the GP game icons on my start menu would randomly be ghosted out with small exclamation marks on them. To this day I still don't know what that shit meant or why it happened. The games worked regardless of the messed up icons. Now everything is uninstalled and I'm not sure I'll ever be back.

 

[bmdubya]

I selected the first option, but I would say I split my time equally between playing games on Game Pass PC and Steam.

 

[catswaller]

I'm not primarily a pc gamer but i do have a good pc, and i want to echo that the ms store for games is just shockingly embarrassingly bad.

By far the worst games launcher, no control over your games and frequently just doesnt work. Not even close to steam/epic/gog or even origin/uplay.

 

[B4mv]

If something I want is free on Gamepass, I'm playing it there. If something is only available on EGS, I'm playing it there. Otherwise, Steam.
I've also literally never had a problem with the MS store/Xbox app. I find it so odd that people do so often. Time to do a fresh install of WIndows yall, something is obviously wrong with it.

 

[Mechaplum]

I feel like the polls could be better worded.

Anyway, Steam 90% Xbox 1%? Rest divided amongst other portals.

I obviously expected Steam to be leading the poll, but the amount of you using the Xbox app is higher than I expected. If Microsoft continues to improve and change based on feedback, I wonder what will be the results in one or two years from now.

Click to shrink...

Only have it because of the $1 betas. Now that it's $15 dollaroos, no way in hell.

 

[Rosebud]

I obviously expected Steam to be leading the poll, but the amount of you using the Xbox app is higher than I expected. If Microsoft continues to improve and change based on feedback, I wonder what will be the results in one or two years from now.

Click to shrink...

I think PC GP main competitor are EGS free games tbh

 

[SuikerBrood]

I use Game Pass the most, as Game Pass is my primary way to play with friends. We play cross-play games such as Sea of Thieves, Grounded and Deep Rock Galactic together one or two times per week. Besides that, I try a couple of Game Pass games each week. Currently playing Carto, Age of Empires III:DE and more.

Obviously, I also buy Steam games. And in overall time played the Steam games still win, as I can sink many hours into games such as F1 2020 and Planet Zoo. But installing new games, browsing the library and being interested in new games is mostly the Xbox app for me.

Oh, and I also use EGS and Battle.net quite a lot. Only for Fortnite and Warcraft 3 though.

 

[RedShift]

I subbed to play Sea of Thieves with friends before it was on Steam, and have since started playing through the MCC and Ori 2.

I'd probably have been better off just buying the games on Steam tbh, but it is useful to have the option to pick a new coop game for us all to play from a library we all have. Will probably stay subbed for a bit longer at least.

 

[Unkindled]

I used it for Gears 5 and PS02. But since PSO2 came out on Steam I havn't used it.

 

[JudgmentJay]

I've used the MS store to buy and play 1 game: Forza Horizon 4. It worked fine.