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[Nickolaidas]

Okay, I had downloaded Wolfenstein The New Order on PC back when I had Game Pass, and it ran like shit. Framerate issues and stuttering all over the place. It wasn't unplayable, but it seriously detracted from the experience.

Months later, I buy Wolfenstein New Order on Steam, and it runs flawlessly. No stuttering, no framerate issues, nothing. What the fuck? Does PC Game Pass offer an unoptimized, broken version of the game? Or is there something wrong with the platform itself? Other games like Gears of War 4, Ori, Killer Instinct run perfectly on my PC via the 'X-Box /Game Pass' app. But Wolfenstein ran like shit.

 

[Fredrik]

Gamepass and Steam have different versions. There can be both performance and feature differences, mostly around launch because they aren’t patched up simultaneously but some games stay broken forever. I always go with the Steam version unless I get a game for free on Gamepass.

 

[Nickolaidas]

I just bought the Evil Within on Steam as well. And THAT one is still problematic there too. Holy shit, what a horrible port. Aliasing to the max, stuttering ... it's horrible.

 

[The Cockatrice]

I just bought the Evil Within on Steam as well. And THAT one is still problematic there too. Holy shit, what a horrible port. Aliasing to the max, stuttering ... it's horrible.

I dont remember any of those issues with Evil Within. Wolfenstein also ran good at launch and post launch so there should be no difference between the stores nor have I heard the gamepass store to have that much of a performance impact. Might be something on your end considering the two.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I remember buying Sunset Overdrive on Steam and my Xbox controller wouldn't work. Got a refund and bought it off Microsoft Store. It worked just fine.

 

[Kacho]

I just bought the Evil Within on Steam as well. And THAT one is still problematic there too. Holy shit, what a horrible port. Aliasing to the max, stuttering ... it's horrible.

Yeah it’s terrible. One of the few PC games you should cap at 30fps to maintain your sanity.

 

[Skifi28]

The Windows store games are often... Unique..

 

[nkarafo]

Same happened with Forza Horizon 4.

The Windows Store version was running flawlessly for me. But the STEAM version has awful stutters during free-roaming for a long time after it was released there. They only recently fixed this issue.

 

[Patrick S.]

Bought the Microsoft exclusive title "Quantum Break" on the MS Store, and the cinematic sequences, which make up a large portion of the game, wouldn't play. After some googling, it turned out that MS had silently taken down the streaming servers for the videos, and didn't offer the option to download them as a pack, as you can on the Xbox. There's not a single mention of this on the MS Store.

Bought it on Steam some time later, because Steam is selling the complete game, with movies. I won't buy anything off the MS store again, that's for sure.

 

[kingfey]

Neir automata for gamepass pc was working fine, compared to the steam version. People had to riot to get the fix for that game.

Differences Between Nier: Automata Steam and Game Pass Versions

As controversy mounts over Nier: Automata's recent re-release, it's clear there are major differences between the Steam and Game Pass versions.

www.google.com

The issues is the developers not giving a shit.

 

[Haggard]

The issues is the developers not giving a shit.

This, though the publisher is probably the one making the decisions.

Kinda sucks that different launchers on the same friggin hardware platform nowadays actually require separately managed codeforks.

 

[playXray]

The issues is the developers not giving a shit.

It really isn’t. Do you really think the developers have any say in which games they patch and how much budget each platform gets?

 

[winjer]

Sometimes devs don't update the game at the same time.
Last year I was trying to play Call of The Sea on Gamepass. But the game ran like crap.
Bought the Steam version and it ran much better.
The reason was in part because the Steam version had an update that the Gamepass version didn't have.
But also, the Windows Store uses UWP which causes some technical issues.

 

[Rubik8]

Not to offend the “master race” but this is why I mostly avoid pc gaming and stick to consoles.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Not to offend the “master race” but this is why I mostly avoid pc gaming and stick to consoles.

Ah yea, the game out of a thousand that validates my archaic views.

 

[SlimySnake]

lol yeah the Xbox store is completely trash. Even their exclusives run at shit at launch compared to steam versions. I had a lot of issues with ascent that others weren’t having on steam.

 

[metareferential]

Not to offend the “master race” but this is why I mostly avoid pc gaming and stick to consoles.

Where you don't even have the option to try another version or search for a fix.

 

[Papacheeks]

Okay, I had downloaded Wolfenstein The New Order on PC back when I had Game Pass, and it ran like shit. Framerate issues and stuttering all over the place. It wasn't unplayable, but it seriously detracted from the experience.

Months later, I buy Wolfenstein New Order on Steam, and it runs flawlessly. No stuttering, no framerate issues, nothing. What the fuck? Does PC Game Pass offer an unoptimized, broken version of the game? Or is there something wrong with the platform itself? Other games like Gears of War 4, Ori, Killer Instinct run perfectly on my PC via the 'X-Box /Game Pass' app. But Wolfenstein ran like shit.

I remember having similar expierence with The outer Worlds on Gamepass. Crashing all the time, specifically in later part of the game. I then bought it on sale on steam recently started replaying and its like a different game in how it handles compared to Gamepass version.

Not sure if its the game on Windows store platform or has more to do with how the file structure is on Windows Store install wise? I don't know.

Smaller titles like indie releases seem fine. But AAA stuff where performance is a thing for HDD or SSD, it seems possible that the locked file system Windows has for installs and encryption might have been the issue they corrected with Windows 11?

Anyone notice a difference in performance on windows 11 with PC Gamepass?

 

[FromDuskTillGameOver]

Agree i got the same thing with Sea of Thieves. It was a stutterfest with the windows store version. Wit Steam stable 120 fps.

 

[Fredrik]

Not to offend the “master race” but this is why I mostly avoid pc gaming and stick to consoles.

No offense but having no way what so ever to fix a bad version besides hoping devs hear the cries on Twitter and patch it is not a good thing.

 

[Kenpachii]

That's windows store for you. its a janky shop.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

This is why I ended my Game Pass subscription. It felt like going back to the 90s in terms of bugs and performance problems. The worst was controller support, which would work flawlessly on Steam but somehow gave me problems on and off with most Game Pass games. PC Game Pass is clearly a second class citizen for Microsoft and it shows.

 

[The Janitor]

If you have a monitor that goes above 60Hz I recommend installing id5 Tweaker, it unlocks the frame rate. Game feels way better at higher refresh rates especially with G-sync.

id5 Tweaker

What is this? The id5Tweaker is a small mod that allows additional configuration of id Tech 5 games. Its features include the option to change the FPS limit, force the value of CVars and additional game specific settings. Overview Description Although the id Tech 5 engine offers a surprising amou...

community.pcgamingwiki.com

 

[DeepEnigma]

I guess the whole, “it’s just a launcher, bro” has a level of ignorance to it.

 

[isoRhythm]

The Xbox/Uplay launchers are atrocious. On the other hand, the new EA launcher (Just called EA) feels like an extension to Steam/Gamepass which is a major improvement over origin IMO.

 

[EverydayBeast]

You see what happens on PC? This is me taking a big swing at the PC crowd, games performing differently between "PC Platforms" happens more often than not. I'd rather not have a choice on consoles and have games perform as they're supposed too than that, so I'm not surprised. The bottom line is PC has too many "Platforms" EA Origin, Gamepass, Steam, Epic game store, own game launches, private servers etc. etc. etc. I know that's the way PC gaming is but when you're working 9-5 you can't expect someone to come home and deal with all that PC nonsense.

 

[Excess]

I'm pretty sure that most of the games on the Microsoft Store are UWP as opposed to Win32. This had some effect on games in the beginning, but Microsoft has done a good job ironing out the kinks. However, there's still that possibility of having differences in performance or stability.

 

[kingfey]

It really isn’t. Do you really think the developers have any say in which games they patch and how much budget each platform gets?

That is their job. If they are putting in each platform, they need to make sure they work in all platforms. The fact that they patched the windows one, but didnt bother fixing the steam, shows you that. They let the steam version for years, and provided a good fix for windows.

 

[winjer]

I'm pretty sure that most of the games on the Microsoft Store are UWP as opposed to Win32. This had some effect on games in the beginning, but Microsoft has done a good job ironing out the kinks. However, there's still that possibility of having differences in performance or stability.

There is also another big issue with UWP.
Because it locks out most files in the game, it makes most tweaks, mods and fixes for a game, useless.
Many times it's possible to fix problems in a game on every store, except on the Windows Store, if that game uses UWP.

 

[Patrick S.]

UWP is going to be phased out, anyway. Let's see if for better or worse...

 

[Fredrik]

You see what happens on PC? This is me taking a big swing at the PC crowd, games performing differently between "PC Platforms" happens more often than not. I'd rather not have a choice on consoles and have games perform as they're supposed too than that, so I'm not surprised. The bottom line is PC has too many "Platforms" EA Origin, Gamepass, Steam, Epic game store, own game launches, private servers etc. etc. etc. I know that's the way PC gaming is but when you're working 9-5 you can't expect someone to come home and deal with all that PC nonsense.

It’s essentially the same on consoles but you don’t know it, and if you do know it thanks to DF/NX you don’t know if the differences in the versions are there because of coding or hardware and you can’t choose another version without having all hardwares.

I mostly use Steam and in 99% of the games I play there are no issues, I just get better graphics and framerates compared to consoles and can use mods. The downside for me comes from my own doing, I don’t have a PC in the living room.

 

[nani17]

This is why MS tried recently to remind PC players that game pass was on PC. Unfortunately, the windows store doesn't do the service any favors

 

[JMarcell]

That's most likely because gamepass games runs under UWP (Universal Windows Platform), and UWP can't run games in Exclusive Fullscreen mode, just Borderless Fullscreen and some games have serious problems if not being run in Exclusive Fullscreen. While Steam is a regular Win32 application and does not have this problem.

That's the main reason I don't sign up for GamePass on PC.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Microsoft has been mentioning lately they're planning on making Windows store games back into regular game files like I would download from other stores.

The great thing about PC gaming is even if a game is broken for whatever reason, I can usually get it fixed and running right either by tinkering myself or finding someone else's fix and using it. I actually enjoy file-diving and tweaking. Right now Microsoft store games are limited in that respect as they all run as apps, locking everything away. You can still make some changes in some games but it's limited.

I haven't had too many issues running Gamepass games, actually nothing really sticks out in my mind but I like to run mods, tinker with reshade and I almost always find things that can be improved in some way.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Not to offend the “master race” but this is why I mostly avoid pc gaming and stick to consoles.

But on PC you sometimes have patches made by the community long after developers moved on.

 

[winjer]

UWP is going to be phased out, anyway. Let's see if for better or worse...

We already know that UWP is really bad. Much worse than Win32.
The death of UPW will be great for PC gamming.

 

[playXray]

That is their job. If they are putting in each platform, they need to make sure they work in all platforms. The fact that they patched the windows one, but didnt bother fixing the steam, shows you that. They let the steam version for years, and provided a good fix for windows.

Honestly, you need to look up how games are developed - your comment is fundamentally wrong on several levels and doesn’t reflect how modern game developers operate at all. Look it up or ask a developer.

 

[kingfey]

Honestly, you need to look up how games are developed - your comment is fundamentally wrong on several levels and doesn’t reflect how modern game developers operate at all. Look it up or ask a developer.

So you are gonna tell your boss, it's the building that is the reason, why you didn't do a good job?

Because the developers are the one, who are making the game. That is their job.

 

[zaanan]

when you're working 9-5

Fuck you, you fucking banker!

 

[poppabk]

Can't say I have had an issue with any gamepass games other than some UWP nonsense.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

You're new to PC world, right ? lol

 

[nemiroff]

That's most likely because gamepass games runs under UWP (Universal Windows Platform), and UWP can't run games in Exclusive Fullscreen mode, just Borderless Fullscreen and some games have serious problems if not being run in Exclusive Fullscreen. While Steam is a regular Win32 application and does not have this problem.

That's the main reason I don't sign up for GamePass on PC.

I'm someone who basically install "everything" I see on GP and I can't recall having any issues like this, and I usually notice these kinds of problems right away. Must be some older games perhaps?

Would like a way to run ReShade though, I'm kinda addicted..

 

[playXray]

LSo you are gonna tell your boss, it's the building that is the reason, why you didn't do a good job?
Because the developers are the one, who are making the game. That is their job.

No, the developers are developers. They don’t plan out projects, allot resources or create development budgets. The entire organisation is “making the game”.

 

[Kuranghi]

Probably its either how the WS version has forced borderless fullscreen vs. the Steam version which could default to exclusive fullscreen and/or its forced DX12 on WS and on Steam its DX11.

DX12 helps sometimes but more often than not its an afterthought and has stutters the DX11 version doesn't. A notable exception to that is Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which completely eliminated the stutters in the DX11 for me.

 

[Larxia]

Probably its either how the WS version has forced borderless fullscreen vs. the Steam version which could default to exclusive fullscreen and/or its forced DX12 on WS and on Steam its DX11.

DX12 helps sometimes but more often than not its an afterthought and has stutters the DX11 version doesn't. A notable exception to that is Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which completely eliminated the stutters in the DX11 for me.

This. Not sure about the DX12 situation thing, but borderless will most of the time result in stuttering for me, which is why I dislike borderless.
I had the exact same issue as OP when I tried Wolfenstein Youngblood on pc gamepass, it was a stuttery mess, not enjoyable at all.

 

[yamaci17]

I had a similar striking experience with Hellblade. Huge stutters and much worse performance with Xbox version. Game magically performs waaay better with Steam version.

The Ascent was similar. I believe these games actually run on emulated Xbox-port code, hence they're heavier on CPU sides of things. My friend called me conspiracist for this though.