Microsoft appears to be in a strong position with the Xbox Series X release coming up this Holiday. As part of the company’s latest earnings report for the quarter ended March 31, Microsoft disclosed a number of key statistics about how the Xbox brand is performing.
Microsoft no longer reports Xbox console sales, but the company did provide updates on Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass, and more (via The Verge’s Tom Warren).
New Xbox Stats
- Xbox Live – nearly 90 million monthly active users (across all platforms)
- Xbox Game Pass — Surpassed 10 million paid subscribers
- Project xCloud — Has hundreds of thousands of active users in preview
Xbox Game Pass costs $10/month USD for the base package after a $1 introductory offer. With 10 million paying members, the service is generating $1 billion or more per year for Microsoft.
In total, Microsoft’s total gaming revenue for the period fell by 1 percent (down $14 million), but content and services revenue jumped by 2 percent (up $33 million) due to the COVID-19 crisis that is keeping people at home, Microsoft said. Gaming revenue would have been higher but a certain “third-party title” began to taper off, the company said. This is more than likely a reference to Fortnite.
Xbox console sales struggled during the period, with hardware revenue falling by 20 percent. Microsoft said this downturn was attributed mainly to price drops as the company prepares to usher in a new console generation.
Bloomberg reporter Dina Bass also reports that Microsoft CFO told her that the Xbox Series X remains on schedule to launch this holiday despite some interruption in the supply chain due to COVID-19.
Microsoft is a gigantic company, and gaming is just one of its businesses. In total, Microsoft posted revenue of $35 billion (up 15 percent), and a profit of $10.8 billion (up 22 percent).
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