MS is not competing with Sony on pure console market share and has not been for a long time. The exclusive strategy they are using is not in the hope that their consoles will somehow pick up but rather to give them more success over what they now view as a better metric (MAU, Subscription service growth, and ROI).

And on those fronts, MS is already besting Sony quite substantially in fact, that's why their change in strategy is not immediate and drastic but slow and gradual. They have a winning strategy for the metrics they deem best and they want to make sure their shift produces an overall measurable positive impact. 

I mean, this is really weird :)

Some of you are picking on one or two things in replies just because you do not like them and leave the whole context at the door (or care for them).

Sony buying off exclusives: It sucks for Xbox gamers (not the business)... And I keep trying to explain two aspects of the same thing: for the Xbox fans (me, or any others) and the company. And talking from that standpoint does not mean you need to speak like a "Microsoft executive." It just means that you need to talk from another point of view, which is difficult for some people to grasp.

And now you try to explain to me why Sony is buying exclusives... It's clear why; again, it makes much sense from a business standpoint. That's what I'm talking about here. But I see that, in the end, most people here are just interested in something else.

To be clear:

For the Xbox fans, it sucks:

- That Sony buys off exclusives
- That Microsoft is going to sell their game on other platforms.

From the business standpoint, it's good:

- For Sony to buy exclusives (obviously...)
- Microsoft should start selling on other platforms (for obvious reasons too).

As far as passive-aggressive, when someone responds and argues over and over that selling your AAA on a console that has the majority of the market does not make sense, what else do you want to do? I mean, it is like talking to a wall about the color of the other side. There is just no point.

Yes, and that's what I'm saying. Xbox is doing well (and their strategy is not to outsell Sony in console over); they do not care (and should not at this point). 
We can argue about when they stopped caring or why they pivoted. But in the end, the new strategy is definitely to make money somewhere else, and it looks to me that they are on a very good path to achieving that.

This leads to also starting to get some of those AAA on other platforms (starting with Indiana Jones, Hellblades 2, and possibly some other day 1 there). 

I think Indiana Jones is a pretty safe timed exclusive as MS themselves confirmed it earlier this year and so far (I think they said they had no plan to date for a PS5 release).

Helblade 2 yes but I don't see it for a 2024 release, I think early 2025 is a better bet if only to make it again a contender in 2025 awards.

Also, recently MS dropped the day 1 release for lower game pass tiers, I think this hints that MS wants day 1 to be reserved for their premium ( consumer with a better profit margin), and on console, it's Xbox, on subscription it's GampePass Ult, on PC they it would be Windows Store but as it is utterly irrelevant it's Steam. 

My guess is, except for select titles(Minecraft, CoD...), Xbox will still feature Day 1 exclusive for quite some time, but the exclusive window will gradually shrink, something like 1+ year to 6 months, to 3 months to 1 month, event to 1+ weeks only to give a premium feel to their premium user (again  consumer with better profit margin)

Yah true; they already announced that it would be exclusive (Indiana), coming back on that now would not be very smart (or well received).

You got a good point, the margin is def. better on their own platform, which may lead to delay (instead of day 1); but I cannot believe they will not want to get a big chunk of that market (Sony). What is the cut, 30% for Sony? I mean, that is also something they are considering I guess. I they can first try to sell it as much as they can on their platform (Windows Store/Xbox) and then go for the other platforms, it would still be good for them.

We will see tomorrow if the rumor is true. I think that no matter what, announcing it like that on the opening night (one of their AAA coming to Play Station) is not the best (for Xbox gamers, at least, the perception is bad), so I expect any announcement to come later. I expect Microsoft to come out with 1 or 2 big games on Play Station before the end of year. 

That mobile thing is also a big question mark, to be honest. The dream machine (Xbox compatible with Series S performance + Windows/Steam compatibility + Docking station à la Switch) would be so appealing (to someone like me at least). So I am very curious about what they are working on, and maybe this we will get a glimpse this week too, who knows.

Yeah, Indiana Jones was always going to be a safe bet. We've seen the royalties and requirement Disney demands for their IPs to be licensed lol. Although what's strange was that MS reworked the contract with Lucasfilm on Indiana Jones from the FTC hearings, so I wonder if MS reworked the contract again lol.

Half of this game is being a doordash delivery service for people's food. DLC was ok but this game starts strong but goes downhill and never comes back up.

The time for greatness is nearly upon us!