He said it is “profitable for us”. Which is a very very weird way to say something is profitable. Not profitable for shareholders? Its marketing speak. Also, their profitability, can fluctuate, by the month. Jusy because it may have been profitable thenone month he said it, doesnt mean it is still profitable. They just bought Activision, for $69 billion dollars. They now have to support all of those studios. So whatever revenue they had coming in, that gamepass may have supported, just got offset by $69 billion, AND the costs to run the studios.

They have shareholders they are responsible to answering to. Yes. It has to be profitable.

Thats what they want. They dont want to make an Xbox. They have never found out how to make a profit on the hardware.

They need more subscribers. Period. They cannot afford to support all of the AAA studios they have purchased, with the amount of subscribers they have now. Starfield most likely didnt bring in enough new subscribers, and Xbox gamers make it frequently known they will not buy games. Their only chance, is to gain subscribers from other consoles. Its been assumed for a while now, that gamepass is most likely not profitable. If you look at what they spend to bring outside games to the service, theres almost no way it can be. Now add in all of the acti studios they have to pay for.