The only reason people complained about MLB not being on PS Now day one (or at the very least PS+) is due to the disparity considering the game is actually developed by a PlayStation studio.
I didn't say anything about buying the game day one. The problem comes in when you decide to wait for an undefined period of time for a game that you actually want to play to come to gamepass instead of simply purchasing it. There's no guarantee every game will land on the service. You can argue in the meantime there's plenty to play on gamepass so that could "soften the blow" but there's a stark difference between playing something that you actually want to play at a particular point in time and just playing something because it's available. I liken it to going to the cinema to watch something specific at a particular time vs staying at home, firing up Netflix and then browsing for something random to watch. The general activity is the same but the experience and level of satisfaction are world's apart.
If you're saying that playstation owners foot the bill then you'd also be saying PC (and even switch owners where applicable) would be footing the bill. Quite frankly that is bollocks and horribly naive. The only company footing the bill for Xbox games that end up on Gamepass is Microsoft.
Plenty of people have backlogs of some sort (whether "full" or not) but time and time again we've seen people toss those to one side to play a new game they really want to play. Again, it comes down to playing something just because vs setting aside time and money to play something you really want to.
Now if you're going to tell me that the reason for the sales disparity in this instance is because most Xbox gamers don't want to play Nier then that's fine, it's a matter of taste in that case. However if people are not buying games anymore (and a pattern is starting to emerge here) because they are "waiting" for games to come to gamepass then there's a larger problem at play and those people are not sending a positive signal to publishers and developers.
"Gamepass or bust" is a silly hill to die on and it has the potential to eventually result in a scenario where companies will be hesitant to develop for a platform where new game sales are drying up.
That's the thing.
Right now, I have a huge backlog of games -- including some awesome critically-acclaimed games that I haven't played yet, e.g., Bioshock 1, 2, 3, Deus Ex: MD, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Final Fantasy VII Remake, etc.
But I
really want to play Returnal and Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart right now. So I will most likely buy those games at full price. Because if I play my backlog, I won't be enjoying those games and would be just thinking about those two games that I
really want to play.
And these stats are not encouraging signs for Xbox at all. At this rate, it may become more profitable for some developers to actually skip the Xbox version altogether, make a timed-exclusivity deal with PlayStation (get that money), and then just wait for Phil Spencer to ask for a port and a Gamepass version, for which the developers can charge a premium once again.
While it may seem a win-win situation for both Xbox gamers and the developers in the short term, realistically for how long Phil and Xbox will be able to afford that? He certainly can't do that with all games. Sooner or later, he will run out of his budget (because Xbox still isn't profitable), which will just result into even fewer games for Xbox gamers. This lack of serious competition will also hurt PS and PS gamers.
I hope Xbox fans look past Gamepass and support more developers by buying games they really want to play. It's a two-way street where both devs and consumers support each other to keep the industry running.