I guess Hellblade didn't pan out the way they'd hope and needed a safety net to stay afloat in the long run.

Not a player of these types of games but it's a bummer to see MS acquire anything, since I don't expect their Windows support to last forever. Spencer is even out there today talking about how their conference was meant to be a statement about how they're here to stay "in console gaming" because couch and TV gaming is a "special experience." Meh!

As long as We Happy Few makes it out though I'm good for now.

So could this mean future discounts are off the table unless an agreement with MS can be made? Hmmm....

It showed people that a publisher is not required to succeed. It showed that even a small studio could produce a game that has the same production quality as a AAA game without the need for an out-of-control budget and a publisher looming over dictating how the game should be designed, it was a shining example of what is possible in the free space when effort goes in.

Also 'slightly outside the norm' is more often than not something that does not get to happen when a company is owned by a mega-publisher anymore, controversial ideas and creativity gets strangled under the weight of overblown budgetary pressure and corporate meddling and a game like Hellblade with the subject matter it tackles, and the way it tackles it, would likely not have happened under someone like Microsoft.

I highly doubt that. They're really pushing the Windows Store as well, so you can expect ports to be over there exclusively, imo. It's what they did with State of Decay 2, so I'm assuming they'll be doing the same with all their exclusive IP following, in order to establish marketshare for their own digital storefront.