Nier Automata’s Xbox Game Pass release is a better version than what’s on Steam

When Adam wrote our Nier: Automata review, he didn’t have a lot of issues with its PC port. Others sadly weren’t so lucky, and modders have stepped in over the past several years to fix many graphics, performance, and quality-of-life issues that Square Enix and Platinum Games failed to address.

Now a new version of the game is out on PC that fixes many of those problems while adding new graphical bells and whistles. The catch: it’s only available via the Windows store and Xbox Game Pass, and not via Steam.

The version of Nier: Automata added to Xbox Game Pass just a couple of days ago is the Become As Gods edition, which was originally released for Xbox One in 2018. This version of the game was created by porting specialists QLOC, and adds borderless mode, HDR, UI textures upscaled to 4K, support for ultrawide resolutions, and FidelityFX, AMD’s answer to Nvidia’s DLSS.

It also, in the process, fixes many of the issues that users had with the original PC port, including imperfect support for native fullscreen resolutions, stuttering cutscenes and more. (Not all problems are fixed, mind – the keyboard and mouse and rebind options are still crap, apparently.)

Some of the mods released to fix issues on the Steam build are already being updated to work on the Windows Store version, where they still offer further improvements, including the graphical fixes of the Special K mod. Players have also figured out how to port saves from the Steam version to the Windows Store release.

Players on Steam, meanwhile, are unimpressed at another store getting a better version. There have been over 300 negative reviews posted to Nier: Automata’s Steam store page in the past 3 days. I can understand their frustration, though I imagine releasing the Become As Gods edition on Steam isn’t a simple matter. I’ve reached out to Square Enix for comment and will update this story if I hear back.

I wouldn’t wish the Windows Store on my worst enemy, but Xbox Game Pass is pretty decent. You can see the subscription service’s pricing plans here.