Humdinger
Member
The one other thing to consider is most of the rentals in GP are already on PS, so nothing is really lost. Its a terrible model, even from a publishers/developers POV... multiple middlemen. The question is WHY? Game Pass on other systems is basically going backwards for everyone involved accept Microsoft.
The large publishers would probably rather Xbox disappear completely and they definitely have no interest in Microsoft trying to squeeze in on their other businesses that don't require Microsoft.
The real question is why is Microsoft even needed? The answer is they are not, which is what Phil is hiding from Satya.
Let me ask you another question. Not trying to put you on the defensive. I'm genuinely asking, because you seem to know what you're talking about, yet part of what you say makes me wonder. Specifically...
Do you really think Satya Nadella is unaware of what you say is the implausibility and impracticality of this business model in the gaming sphere? And that Phil understands this, and yet he is hiding it from Satya? That seems like a pretty dark reading of Phil's motives. Perhaps he really believes in what he's doing? I mean, I don't know, but I find it difficult to believe he 1) knows full well that this will fail, and 2) is deceiving his boss about it, in order to milk him for a big-bucks salary.
It's not impossible. I just don't think Phil is that nefarious and duplicitous... I can more believe that he is unreasonably optimistic. Or perhaps that he sees opportunities that I'm not aware of, way down the road (in the mobile space, perhaps, I don't know).