The reason why BC is talked up so much is because we have moved forward in the industry. We now live in a world where majority of products are now BC enabled. We never spoke about it before because we always had some sort of BC in the past, weather it was the WiiU playing Wii games or the PS2 playing PS1 games or the 360 playing some of the OG Xbox titles. The moment they started taking these options away led to an uproar of gamers being confused. When people know on PC they can continue to play all the new and old games without asking for it made the console makers look foolish and people caught onto it. 

We have also seen a monster push of recycled games being released as remasters in the 8th gen. Last gen being the age of remasters. Without BC, the consumers were rebuying games they already owned and companies knew this. This is why BC is important not just from a customer standpoint but also a push towards bigger and better things for the industry. (Of course not all Remasters are bad, old games that are decades old or bundle in Trilogy packs etc are fine by my standards.)

PS5 selling more means little in the great scheme of things. The Xbox isn't competing with the PS5 like many people want to believe. The Xbox isn't a console anymore, its an eco-system free from the console walls. Its not going to sell more hardware because it offers more options. I am not buying a new Xbox but i am still an Xbox customer. I can be a Sony customer too if the option was their, so that's Sony's decision if they want my money.

Comparing hardware sales from a company completely focused on selling hardware to another company completely focused on services and multi-devices isn't exactly an Apples to Apples comparison. Its why MS don't disclose hardware sales anymore because its not entirely the main focus for the brand. They don't care about head to head numbers anymore, either do i to be honest, i use to care about console sales when i was still in school and i believe those that only care about console sales, only want the info for comparison sakes and nothing more.

Pretty much this. MS is selling GP subscriptions, the Series help but are not the sole option to subscribe to GP

I read your post to justify your reasoning for MS being the best this gen, and it seems to boil down to Gamepass, Gamepass, Gamepass........ and free cloud saves.

While I do applaud MS for how they have gone about developing this ecosystem, I have no doubt that at the beginning this was simply a way for themtoake their console more attractive when they were getting hammered by Sony. Everything they have done since the beginning of the last gen (trying to cater to gamers, more honesty from MS heads, buying of game studios, japanese buy-in) is a reaction to how much
criticism they suffered initially. And i dont see any they have done so far this gen that is going out of their way to benefit gamers.

The biggest problem Microsoft has is still the lack of 1st and 2nd party exclusives. They have a lot of studios now, yes, but they always had some studios under their wing. They squandered a lot of opportunities during the Xbox One´s lifetime (I´m still mad at Fable Legends cancellation). I don´t really care about Gamepass.

I mean, of course it's a reaction to how things went this past generation, but this is what all these companies do. I'm fully aware MS is a company trying to get consumers to buy their product just like every other console maker out there, and guess what, I'm happy about it because they are trying to compete for my money by doing whatever they can to give consumers a reason to buy into their ecosystem. 

I think commitment to BC, smart delivery, and other added quality of life features (FPS boost) show MS is going out of their way to benefit gamers more than Game Pass is because these are things MS doesn't necessarily need to do for consumers to buy an Xbox, and the general consumer likely doesn't know about these features. I highly doubt the BC team brings in any kind of revenue, but they are still committed to it.  

It's their core marketing strategy. MS has always held the philosophy that if you get the vocal hardcore crowd on board, the masses will follow. Friends will get their friends to get in the same ecosystem. So yes, those are exactly the things MS needs or thinks they need to do to get the blue ocean on board. Pander to the hardcore crowd and they will sell the system to their friends. Or make threads like these :)

What makes MS strategy different than Sony's? 

A lot of their stuff is just great PR. 

More gens of BC, enhancing the past with frame boost, Game Pass having the best value with day 1 stuff. Xcloud on mobile and Xbox aggressively expanding in PC space.

Only thing they really need to prove is their 23 studios first party, which I’ll admit, is the most important piece to the puzzle. But it’s not like they got 23 studios just so they can mess around having BBQs all day instead of working on games lol. 

Sony plays the aloof girl and doesn't care all that much about QOL improvements. Sony just makes games and knows shiny games sell systems better than all the other stuff combined. As you said "general consumer likely doesn't know about these features", imo the casual gamer simply doesn't care all that much for those features. So you have one side saying to their friends, look at all the cool features of the XBox, and the other side, look at these awesome games you can't play anywhere else. So far its clear which strategy has had more success. (Ninty ofcourse who doesn't care about the hardcore gamer at all)

While those QoL features may not get the attention of the general public, Game Pass certainly will and it's very much in the process of becoming mainstream.

If I show my friends, who are average gamers, how Xbox has these great features like boosting select games to 60FPS, smart delivery, superior BC with 3 generations, quick resume, Game Pass, and the more powerful hardware, you don't think that would sway them towards getting one? Then you say, "These games you can't play anywhere else." Right now, there are 4 actual ps5 exclusives and a tech demo. Demon Souls and Returnal are great games, but lets not act like these are big sellers, and Godfall and Destruction Allstars aren't exactly knocking anyone's socks off. The PS5 is selling out everywhere mainly by name brand alone.

Neither console has any system seller exclusives and we likely won't see any until Halo and God of War release. Rachet and Clank could potentially, but that series has never really been known as a system seller. If my friends are really into games like Returnal and Demon Souls, then I would absolutely recommend the Ps5, but if they really don't care and those kinds of games, then I think Xbox is more appealing.