1) Microsoft had the money to crowbar their way into almost any industry.
2) Microsoft understood the importance of building an "ecosystem" tied to the sunken cost fallacy.
3) Microsoft understood the need to concentrate on multiplayer. For millions of people, having the best multiplayer experience is more important than having the best games.
However, people misunderstand something with regards to the Xbox One reveal. In the eyes of Microsoft, the mistake wasn't that the product was anti-consumer, it was that they pulled the trigger on the anti-consumer initiative too soon. Microsoft does NOT enter a market simply to be competitive, they enter with the intentions of taking over, achieving control, then reshaping the market itself to benefit their business. It wasn't one guy making a mistake, it was Microsoft itself thinking they were secure enough to strike.
It was going to happen eventually. It's how they operate. Generate goodwill, attempt to seize power, then change tactics if the attempt does not succeed. Think about how they tried to strong-arm PC gamers into paying for online access then dropped their gaming service when their plans failed. If they had beaten Steam then gaming itself would be much worse today.
Microsoft is not a gaming company, they are an investment company that saw an opportunity. That's why they have zero problems dropping consoles for the subscription model. None of what they've done is a surprise. They were never going to accept being third place forever.
