Xbox Game Pass Has Suffered Two Botched Launches in One Week
Flight Simulator 2024 Is Having Severe Server Issues
One of themost anticipated Xbox first-party releasesof the year,Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024,has had a disastrous launch. Upon booting upFlight Sim 2024for the first time on its November 19 release date, the vast majority of players found that their initial download had stopped at around 90% or below. Rebooting and reinstalling the game was mostly met with the same problems, but for the lucky few who actually managed to get into the game, they were met with extremely low framerates and missing textures, rendering the game unplayable anyway.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024’s support team was quick to address the issue, with a Tweet claiming that the problems arose from too many players trying to log in at once, causing issues with the game’s servers. About a day after launch,Flight Sim 2024’s developersstreamed a response to the ongoing issues, once again citing server issues and claiming that they had underestimated the number of players that would turn up for the game’s launch.
At the time of writing, it seems as though the worst ofMicrosoft Flight Simulator 2024’s issues have been fixed, with players no longer being forced to wait in a queue to simply log in. But the damage done might be enough to severely impactFlight Sim 2024’s image. Currently,Flight Sim 2024is sitting at a “Mostly Negative” on Steamwith over 4,000 reviews. It’s going to take some time to restore fans' faith and bring that score back up.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl Is Suffering From a Bevy of Technical Issues
But Xbox’s problems don’t end withFlight Sim 2024’s server issues. Another long-awaited game,STALKER 2finally released on November 20, right alongside a bevy of its own technical issues that are greatly impacting players' experience with the survival game. From constant texture pop-in and other visual bugs to more severe, even game-breaking issues,STALKER 2has launched in a rough state, and its developer knows as much, thanking fans for their continued support even in the face of performance problems that it intends to fix ASAP.
STALKER 2’s technical issueshaven’t impacted the game’s reception among fans nearly as much asFlight Sim’s problems, with the sequel sat at a “Very Positive” on Steam after an impressive 13,000 reviews. That being said,STALKER 2has had a bit of a mixed reception among critics, and many outlets cite the game’s bugs as a primary point of criticism.
Xbox Game Pass Has Lost Its Well-Earned Momentum
Xbox Game Pass has generally had a really solid year so far, with every month bringing with it at least one or two new additions that have been heavily requested. But every so often this year, Xbox Game Pass has gone on a little hot streak, delivering a handful of first-party releases one after the other, surrounded by other long-awaited inclusions.
Xbox Game Pass was on one such streak. September broughtAge of Mythology: RetoldandFrostpunk 2to Game Pass, both of which are now Game Awards nominees. October broughtCall of Duty: Black Ops 6, one of the biggest games of the year, and according toMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella, the biggest Game Pass day-one release of all time. November was meant to deliver the one-two punch ofFlight Sim 2024andSTALKER 2. And December will close out Game Pass' year withIndiana Jones and the Great Circle.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Chornobyl Exclusion Zone has changed dramatically after the second massive explosion in year 2006. Violent mutants, deadly anomalies, warring factions have made the Zone a very tough place to survive. Nevertheless, artifacts of unbelievable value attracted many people called S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, who entered the Zone for their own risk striving to make a fortune out of it or even to find the Truth concealed in the Heart of Chornobyl.EPIC NONLINEAR STORY IN SEAMLESS OPEN WORLDTake over a role of the lone stalker and explore photorealistic seamless open world in a 64-km² radioactive zone with a variety of environments that reveal post-apocalyptic atmosphere from different angles. Make your way through the Zone to define your destiny as you choose your paths within highly branching epic story.VARIETY OF ENEMIES AND HUNDREDS OF WEAPON COMBINATIONSMeet members of different factions deciding who of them worth your friendship and who deserve a bullet. Engage intense gunfights with a variety of enemies that follow different tactics trying to outsmart you. Choose your preferable firearms from 30+ types of weapons with numerous modifications that allow creating hundreds of distinctive lethal combinations.
