Right... but this is about Japanese games skipping Xbox... GamePass will not change that. The only thing that will is a lot more investment in the region... Remember Sony will be putting together a streaming service through the use of Microsofts Azure so it isn't like MS is putting something out there Sony isn't and this service may have a subscription plan similar to gamepass... GamePass and XCloud isn't going to all of a sudden increase sales in Japan. Japanese haven't been interested in Xbox since it's inception and that will not change without big investment in the region not moneyhatting Multi-plat games .
I don't really disagree with you that a meaningful investment is important, but Xbox is already doing that. They're setting up an Asian dev center in Tokyo and Phil is physically going to Japan. That investment seems small now, but it's a hell of a lot bigger than zero, and it seems to be growing.
But they also need to see Xbox as a worthwhile platform, which is where throwing money at multiplats and exclusives is a good strategy.
And honestly, game pass can help with that too. It's just a long game. The industry at large seems to be moving towards subscription services, at some point in the future, much like digital stores not too long ago, part of every release will be deciding which subscription service you're gonna put your game on. So getting in early and building a base is important. If you're Platinum Games in a few years and you know the best way to get your game played is on a subscription service, are you gonna pick Game Pass, with its 35 million subscribers, or EA Access, with its 10 million. All other things being equal, getting subscribers early is important, that's why Microsoft is basically giving away years of game pass right now.