I read an analysis a while back, stating that the Xbox division used to be able to do whatever it wanted as long as it was ~profitable, but ever since the Actiblizz acquisition, they put such a hole in MS’ finances that it put the proverbial Eye of Sauron on them. So now they need to do capitalism faster than ever before.
They’re gonna keep cashing in everything have one by one like this. Not to mention that Gamepass was another one of those modern “price out the market and then enjoy a nice monopoly” schemes from the very beginning anyway.
yeah that purchase was so big that i know for a fact Pichai showed up like “alright what the FUCK is going on here i thought you were making digital toys”
but it’s okay Phil Spencer wears a t-shirt with a suit jacket, he’s a good CEO and relatable to gamers!!!
Gotta justify that multi billion dollar Activision investment by getting rid of renters
This isn’t necessarily good news but at least it does mean that smaller games won’t have to add bad mechanics to artificially inflate engagement metrics to get payouts. Game Pass was never a particularly compelling idea for me but that was one of the ways in which it terrified me the most.
I prefer to buy things rather than rent given the opportunity