For my entire life, I've seen the same cycle.

Microsoft buys something great, optimizes all the good out of it, and then pulls the plug.

Skype, Nokia, GitHub...

Now it's happening to video games.

The thing everyone needs to realize is that Microsoft fundamentally doesn't make anything, they never have.

All they can do is buy low and sell high. Or buy high and sell higher.

They certainly can't lovingly craft games, the way gamers expect.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that executives hate artists. Go out of their way to fire them.

Look at what's happening to Blizzard & Bethesda under Microsoft. Arguably Blizzard was ruined the moment Activision sunk their claws in. Quality went down, creativity went down, and all so Bobby could buy a new yacht and sail to Epstein's Island.

"Do you guys not have phones?" That's something a manager who was totally out of touch with his audience would say. Not of an artist creating experiences for gamers.

Microsoft wedge micro-transactions into everything, changes game play to emulate games like Candy Crush where gamers have to pay every 30 seconds. Really more slot machines than video games, but to the ghouls running the show they can't tell the difference.

Players like to be amazed, entertained, and it's not a formulaic process. A gamer will never say, "Oh good, I love feeling pressure and being rushed and all I wanted to do was put in more money all along!"

Microsoft has killed support for all these games. Which kills community.

They add things that nobody wants, because they saw someone else doing it. And they keep adding more of these pay to win and collection "buy a new skin" type mechanics.

Anyway this is a straight up rant at this point, but Microsoft buying something is always a sign doom will follow. Just a matter of time. Xbox held out pretty well. But in the last year or three Microsoft has set its sights on ruining every game it has, so it's just a matter of time now before gamers abandon it. I have zero faith Microsoft will find a way to bring an audience back, because they have no idea how to connect with said audience. It's always just going to be, "How much ARR does that game produce? Wow what a great game!"

Same with Google, Oracle, and basically every big company. In gaming, Valve is a holdout for now - maybe they felt burned after getting prosecuted for shoving Steam full of micro transaction gambling and they're laying low for a while.

I think you're right and I think it's because Microsoft behaves a bit like PE.

Microsoft didn't buy Xbox, they built the entire ecosystem themselves...