That's a good point: what would happen if Game Pass never really take off ?

To put stuff in perspective, Disney+ launched in 2019 after Disney buying almost everything entertainment related stuff, to a very cheap price (6,99$ if I recall correctly, now 8,99$ but still cheaper than Netflix). ANd now 3 years later, it sits at 150+ million subscribers despite the launch price being raised by 2$ since.

In comparison, GP launched in 2017, 5 years later we still can find ways to pay it almost nothing (1$ deals, Microsoft Awards stuff, Gold conversion, etc), the subscritpion numbers barely reached 25 million users, below MS's expectations, and yet they still invest a huge amount of money to make it worth it (which it definitly is).

But I am wondering if, after 10 years, with lets say 2000+ games in the service, most of the new releases being available day one, and still having to cope with heavy discounts and figures below 30 million users, would MS decide to take the plug off ?

I don't think MS needs to sell consoles nowadays

There are still unseen ripples to the industry because of these massive acquisitions made by Microsoft.

Xbox players will benefit in the mid term with these acquisitions, but when other billion/trillion dollar companies start buying out publishers, and lock everything to their platform because of the streaming wars, then the industry will be permanently fragmented.

That is some really crazy perspective! What got me the most are 350 games with a 200.000.000 budget. My god, is this a lot of money. And a lot of games. Just crazy.

Well if they continue to buy up big companies and put them on their Gamepass then yes they wont need to.

But as of right now MS needs to play both sides carefully (console and streaming) incase everyone doesn't play the way MS wants them to.  ie. If Rockstar chooses to stick to console then it'd be a good idea to ensure your console sales are still up.  

It will if you're a Gamepass user.

And here I was thinking that Microsoft funded and published Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Ori, As Dusk Falls, Tell me Why, Ryse, Quantum Break, ReCore, and Sunset Overdrive; and it will soon publish Pentiment, Everwild, Contraband and Avowed. Silly me, seeing these investments the only logical conclusion is that Microsoft is not interested in new IPs.

And I can totally see your concerns about creativity, I mean, look at how similar Pentiment, As Dusk Falls, Gear Tactics and Sea of Thieves all look and play. They are certainly lacking that "3rd Person Action Adventure" flavor that is so synonym of creativity and innovation these days.

Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out how Spiderman is more of a "new IP" than Indiana Jones.

Considering not a single Activision/Blizzard game was EVER on Game Pass before and now EVERY single Activision/Blizzard game going forward will be on Game Pass day one (plus their full library) is a gigantic benefit for Xbox (and PC) owners.

Why weren't they on Game Pass prior is the question.

$70 billion is what it takes to get those kind of games on a service like Game Pass?

Hard to say. XB makes MS look less of an evil corporation, while also stopping Sony from potentially working their way into MS sector strongholds.

There's plenty of other things to take into account like some others have mentioned in here.

Another one is what about Sony, or anyone else for that matter, who tries to compete with Activision Blizzard franchises due to fear of exclusivity?

If anyone could come up with something that could consistently rival a COD, etc, even partially, that's going to be a significant blow to XB and their customers. Even worse if others, like Sony, get their hands on those competing franchises.

Or if Sony were to end up with a few hit live service games, especially if one was Fortnite big, and tried to make a deal with MS on Game Pass, where MS didn't benefit as much as usual, and MS refuses. Sony can then use that PR to smear XB and Game Pass, and if those Sony games were hot enough, it would look real bad on MS.

If MS did agree, they're then making much less on those Sony games, and many Game Pass players are likely going to be playing them instead of the $70 billion worth that MS purchased.