I think there are a few puzzle pieces to look at... PC gaming Windows licensing is probably not significant to their revenue. For now, most PC gamers still bu

I think there are a few puzzle pieces to look at... PC gaming Windows licensing is probably not significant to their revenue. For now, most PC gamers still buy laptops/desktops with Windows, or build a desktop and obtain a Windows key. Xbox Game Pass seems to be an important piece of their plan, because subscriptions are gold. They release games that are PC and Xbox compatible (that might work on other systems, e.g. Linux). As long as Xbox Games is selling games, they are less concerned with how the games are played. Giving up the PC Gaming on Windows part of their strategy does not necessarily have a big immediate effect on Microsoft. (But may be short-sighted in the long term.)