The gaming community has doubts over Xbox Game Pass’ profitability, but Microsoft has reported an impressive $15.5 billion in net earnings over the past financial year. Simply put, that’s roughly worth twice the cost of the Bethesda purchase and then some.
Brad Sams, the executive editor of BWW Media Group, reported on Microsoft’s impressive sales data via an earnings call and documents obtained from the tech giant. Here’s the lowdown:
- Net income was $15.5 billion and increased 33% year over year. Overall revenue was $43.1 billion.
- Xbox content and services revenue grew 40%.
- Xbox hardware revenue increased by 86% by console launch.
- 2 billion in revenue from third party titles.
- Xbox Game Pass subscribers are at 18 million.
- 100 million Xbox Live users are on the service monthly.
- Xbox Series and X consoles stock will be constrained over the next quarter.
Xbox is often seen as the underdog in the gaming market, but these stats are certainly impressive. In an uncertain time, Xbox Game Pass is a budget-friendly option for those who want to play a variety of games at a cheaper price point. Currently, it is offering all of its first-party lineup from day one, and there are over 500 games that vary between blockbuster releases to small indies. It just recently added EA Play into its service for consoles, which includes big titles like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Need for Speed: Heat, and Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborbville, among others.
Xbox might not have the most recent triple-A exclusives like PlayStation’s Ghost of Tsushima or The Last of Us Part 2, but Xbox is carving its own sub section of the gaming audience. With Perfect Dark and Halo Infinite on the way, maybe Xbox can catch up to PlayStation this generation. The console manufacturer gave us a big list of 2021 exclusives to look forward to earlier this month.
The coronavirus pandemic may have been a contributing factor to Xbox’s 40% sales boost in content and services sales for 2020. The NPD found that three-quarters of Americans are now playing video games, due to COVID-19 as the public self-isolates. Now, 240 million people in the U.S. are taking part in the interactive medium as opposed to 2018’s 32 million.
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