I totally agree. However, when looking at the bigger picture I think Microsoft wouldn’t want to be so dependend on Epic after spending so much money on their game service, Bethesda and Activision/Blizzard. I don’t expect them to actively consider switching engines and I don’t think it would solve all that many problems anyway.
On top of all of this, those efforts to tame and control outputs from the developer side could be abused to simply appease investors or totalitarian markets. So we might see a Disneyfication like we‘re seeing on other platforms like Youtube with their horrendous filters, spawning ridiculous terms like „unlifed“. And just imagine the level of censorship we‘d see if they ever try to get into the Chinese market because clearly, the ‚non‘ in non-profit is becoming more and more silent.
It’s crazy to me for how slowly people are getting the wake up call on what was obviously a debt trap from the start. Corrupt politicians have sold their people out for a briefcase full of money and some folks are still defending it because they simply refuse to face the truth. I know it’s hard to admit you got scammed but damn.
how to walk back [from the BRI] without damaging relations [with Beijing], because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner
Which is exactly what Beijing bet on from the beginning. You see the way Beijing handles these things is by getting a harbor or two and maybe a military base in your country.
Nintendo Wii/WiiU/DS/Switch did it better.