MS seems to be pulling away from Gamepass being it's primary business. 

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/microsoft-drops-game-pass-growth-target-for-ceo-compensation

I don't think it's that serious though. I don't think gamepass is fundamentally broken. They're still selling games outside of gamepass. 

Well it helps that there are only like 3 games like CoD. The vast majority of the industry isn't making CoD. 

"Games like CoD" doesn't really mean much. 

This doesn't really mean that much. I would argue that Starfield was always going to be biggest on PC.

Microsoft has options: Valve has offered to put Gamepass on Steam

A lot of your post really comes off like not even napkin math. 

Microsoft doesn't need to sell 100 million consoles to think it's worth being in the industry. 

Maybe you're right that MS would look at the numbers and decide that being Activision + Bethesda + Xbox being a massive third party selling high margin games and selling gamepass on PlayStation/Nintendo consoles + PC + mobile or something would be worth it. But that decision wouldn't be based on Starfield or Xbox or Gamepass not hitting some arbitrary number. It will be based on an evaluation where they might come to a conclusion that putting these huge games like Starfield and maybe even putting a cut down version of gamepass on PlayStation is worth losing out on licensing fees they get from third parties on their console.

They said it was 10%-15% did they?  Well that's funny because that's not what the court said in the Epic VS Apple court case.  In fact it was the very oppisit:

Source: https://tech.hindustantimes.com/gaming/news/heres-why-the-xbox-game-pass-is-so-important-for-microsoft-it-s-the-only-thing-that-is-making-profits-in-gaming-71620400051073.html

If you dispute my maths, then show your workings out.  Because it's you that's using the "Trust me bro" line to attempt to dispute it.

And you fell for the oldest PR trick in the book.  Let me guess, you saw "news" stories like THIS and took it at face value and didn't apply any critical thinking.  Phil says Game Pass is profitable for them, but doesn't actually mention a time frame.

So was it profitable that day?  That month?  That year?  Anything is profitable if so have a narrow enough time frame.  And has I showed in my video, how much that Microsoft has spent on getting Game Pass to where it is right now, will take them at least 12 years to make.  So in what world is that a profit?

You can sit here and say "but Microsoft had that cash on hand so it's not an expense".  That's not how business works.  they had $7.6 Billion on hand for the Nokia deal to make Windows phone a thing.  But when Windows phone didn't take off that soon went south.  Or was that not a loss either?

Yes, GamePass will not overtake Steam as the primary way PC gamers play Microsoft Studio games.  Obviously GamePass is not going away from PC, but it's not going to see enough user growth on the PC platform for them to be able stop putting their games on Steam as well.

Also yes, GamePass will only live on PC by 2027 when I believe Microsoft will retire from the console space.

I make no bones in the fact that I dislike Microsoft.  I think they are an awful company, with awful policies, that make awful business choices.  All of which I laid out in my video

I also believe that those same awful choices and policies will be their downfall for the reasons that I laid out.

Most people are bias towards something, you yourself have "PC Master Race" in your signature!  Like I said, I have the upmost respect for Nintendo, Sony, Steam and even Epic games Store (which I use a fair bit now).

I don't even dislike Xbox and have enjoyed many Xbox games over the years as I separate Xbox the machine from Microsoft the management.  it's the Microsoft part I dislike, and I don't see why I should hide that because that would be dishonest.

However there is a degree of expectation of professionalism... And you failed. "Sock full of jizz" and just being downright toxic consistently about a brand? Common mate. You are a creative individual, you can do better and be better.

If you don't dislike Xbox, then you are either lying to me right now... Or lying to the entire community that you are trying to sell yourself to with sensationalist rhetoric.

I wasn't happy that Pemalite was rather mean to my video post and made some untrue assumptions about my post intentions, so to please him, here's where I was going to take that locked thread, but now in text only form.

Microsoft has ruined Xbox, the business decision to push Game Pass above all else is a disaster that is playing out in front of us all.

Starfield not pushing the needle in hardware sales and Gamepass simply doesn't generate the revenue to fund the running and development costs of the Many, many Microsoft Game studios.  I did layout the maths in the video I created, but I'm not linking it again as I don't want to be branded as self promoting.

We saw in the FTC leak the costs of bringing 3rd party games to the service.  We know that games like COD are costing around a billion dollars to get out the door now.  So with all the costs of development and maintenance outweighing what the service is actually bring in, at some point something has to give.

Xbox sales are slowing down, Game Pass is not bringing in new users to the Xbox Console eco system, Starfield actually saw two thirds of its sales from PC users.  So what's actually happening here?  Xbox players are migrating to either PC or leaving the system altogether and going to PlayStation.

In a world where the primary Game Pass platform is PC, Microsoft has a problem.  PC gaming is too entrenched in Steam for Microsoft to realistically find more than 50 million users, and with Xbox console sales stalling Microsoft has to do something.

That something is to become the biggest 3rd party in the industry.  I think Game Pass will continue on as Microsoft's PC subscription service, although all Microsoft studio's titles will see releases on Steam, PlayStation and Nintendo. 

I also think we are looking at the last Xbox generation in the Series X|S consoles.  With Game Pass failing to push Microsoft out of 3rd place, they will refocus their efforts into becoming the biggest powerhouse 3rd party publisher in the industry because this makes the most business sense.

I believe the timeline will look something like this:

• 2024: Starfield is announced for PlayStation 5
• 2026: Xbox Game Pass is re-branded to Microsoft Game Pass
• 2027: Microsoft announce that there will be no new Xbox consoles

only777 said:

they will refocus their efforts into becoming the biggest powerhouse 3rd party publisher in the industry because this makes the most business sense.

I believe the timeline will look something like this:

• 2024: Starfield is announced for PlayStation 5
• 2026: Xbox Game Pass is re-branded to Microsoft Game Pass
• 2027: Microsoft announce that there will be no new Xbox consoles

News today suggesting Nadella has stated they are going third party.