That game gets my brain firing on all cylinders and although it has It’s frustrating moments, I’d say that overall I think it’s great. It’s one of the few 'Live-Service" games I actually enjoy.
It’s been a while since I gave it a shot myself. I haven’t fiddled with “The Great Old Ones” on Linux since back in the late 90’s. So you’re likely more of a proper authority on the matter than I.
Subnautica and Raft are my go-to relaxed-fuzzy-happy games. Being able to do things at my own pace and just noodle around with whatever I feel like is nice.
“Doomsday Scenario” might be a bit much as a descriptor. XD
And yes, be it Nintendo, Sony, EGS or whatever, it’s the same deal. The biggest difference is simply that MS is so big that it not even close to a risk for them. As long as Xbox’s income evens out to zero and they aren’t actively losing money, it’s “a win” and they can easily make up for it and add to it until it starts making money. But it already does, so…
A juggernaut that size is hard to contend with and usually gets it’s way.
It will be interesting to see how many of InXile, Obsidian, Bethesda and ActivisionBlizzards future games will be Windows Store and Xbox exclusives. (timed or otherwise.) They are the new bargaining chips after all.
Palworld isn’t a MS Exclusive and the studios they bought haven’t churned out anything of note, yet. So it makes sense there hasn’t been any inclination of sudden growth in subscriptions.
But as I said, it’s a long con. The plan remains the same, get Game Pass into as many homes as possible. Let subscription become the new standard. It’s Microsoft after all, their track record speaks for itself.
You don’t have to agree with me, time will tell if it works out for them or not. But as for my part, I’m still actively against it and will stick to my guns about “Subscription Services and Storefront Exclusivity” being a no go.