I think it’s just a refocusing of strategy.

Number of PC gamers dwarfs the number of console gamers, and most physical consoles sell at a loss anyways [maybe not anymore, this late in the cycle]. They don’t really have a strong incentive to force high Xbox Sales numbers when they can fall back on PC.

Especially with the way the market is going with cloud streaming, people will start questioning the need to buy the next massive console if they’re able to eventually get the same exact experience through basically-a-web-browser.

At that point, its a question of who’s the best games-as-a-service provider and Microsoft wants to position itself as undeniably the answer. Then you just sell streaming boxes with a controller for cheap, brand it an Xbox, and save some money.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft envisions itself as competing with steam for eyeballs and gamer-dollars, pretty soon.