It is easy to see lost sales with a 15$ service vs. the full ticket price of 60$. But I wonder how big of a dent it takes out of piracy where “trialling” many games (vs settling on buying just one) is a big incentive to torrent them.
I think piracy is besides the point here. Most people will pay for a month, finish the game they wanted to play and then cancel. This goes for both pirates and land lovers. What MS has in the end is a game sold for a fraction of the price and no customer conversion to subscriber.
> Every gamer has dreamed about having an infinite library of games to choose from.
Eh, that sounds like I would have difficulty picking which games to play. I kind of prefer having a narrower selection from my shelf (and digital shelf)
That's the kind of statement dreamed up by product managers who are not and have never met a gamer. This is what happens when you think you can imagine what your market wants from first principles without actually talking to anyone involved.