saw this in another thread, but find it very interesting.
I noticed this in the new interview.
Interviewer: Do you think developers are ready yet to really get on board and bring big AAA games to Game Pass day one like Forza Horizon 4 did?
Phil Spencer: I can say it's been very healthy for our games. We've done it now with Sea of Thieves, State of Decay, Forza... you're seeing more games that are getting announced like mid-tier and smaller games that are looking for ways to get established. Your big AAA games, those games are trying to run their own business model.
Phil Spencer: What I will say is when you put a game like Forza Horizon 4 which I can't stop playing on Game Pass, you instantly have more players of the game which is actually leading to a lot more sales of the game. Some people don't believe that but when State of Decay 2 launched, you saw if you looked at the NPD you saw this game selling really well the month it launched in the US: "People said well isn't everyone just going to subscribe for $10 and go play this thing?" But no, gamers find things to play based on what everyone else is playing. What's number 1 on Mixer, what's number 1 on Twitch, what are my friends playing, what are people saying on Discord, etc.
So when these games hit something like the Game Pass with all of these players, it instantly raises the awareness/word of mouth. I think we will eventually get there (third party AAA games day one) but you know creators have to make their own business decisions. It's an option for creators and I think it's a good option, but that's up to them and they make their own decisions.
https://youtu.be/Z5y0OvZgcIs