One thing I noticed that is good if it is how I interpret it. They only mention 1st party games not dropping day and date for ad supported subscribers rather than any game dropping day and date.
That's an important distinction as presumably 1st party games won't ever leave the service short of stopping support for GAAS games. 3rd party games could, OTOH drop out at any time due to various factors (contractual agreements, too low player engagement to justify the cost of any contracted developer reimbursement terms, etc.) So there'd be a possibility of a 3rd party title dropping day and date and then getting removed with that first 6 months resulting in an ad supported subscription tier player never getting a chance to even try it.
So, if my interpretation is correct that only 1st party games won't be available day and date for ad supported games that means that MS thought ahead about the potential impact on 3rd party games and adjusted the policy accordingly.
Also, I view this as a partial response to PS+ matching GP's lowest subscription tier pricing. With this new tier, MS can advertise a lower subscription plan available for a gaming subscription service while still matching Sony's offering (not putting 1st party games day and date on the service). Of course, the caveat being that there will be ads on the lowest subscription tier.
In other words, having competition is good.
As well, this will position themselves better for entry into lower income countries.
Regards,
SB
www.windowscentral.com
