I don’t think John Carmack is sociopathic. He just thinks differently, and isn’t the most socially-adapt person. He was trying to reason out why the decision was made in the first place:

“Games are competing with every other option for spending your leisure time and money, and the competition is brutal.”

He’s definitely not wrong. I still think Microsoft’s decision was pretty fucking stupid, but disposable entertainment options are at an all-time high, and even with gaming, you can throw a stick up in the air and have it land on a game studio.