The Redmond giant did not achieve the expected success with the Xbox Series failed to achieve sales that Microsoft had in mind. Compared to previous generations of Xbox, this was probably the clearest failure to date, as the original Xbox only had four years of life and despite everything it sold more than 25 million pieces.

Despite this failure, the truth is that Microsoft has become a real gaming giant. The success it didn’t have with its consoles it has achieved with its services, and according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the company’s gaming division has achieved approx. 500 million active users on all platforms and devices that use its ecosystem of software and services.

It’s good news and certainly something Microsoft needs to highlight as hardware sales are down 40% year-over-year, meaning sells 40% fewer consoles this year compared to the same period last year. If things continue, the PS5 could eventually outsell the Xbox Series X and Series S, whose sales are counted together, by a ratio of three to one.

Microsoft grows 61% in “content and services”

According to financials the company shared during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, revenue from “Xbox content and services” increased by 61%. Nadella highlighted the huge success of the Fallout series, which became the second-most-watched series ever on Amazon Prime, and said that this has increased the number of hours played for the franchise on Game Pass.

Microsoft is aware that hardware sales will decline again, but this is positive because it believes that these losses will be compensated given the positive results obtained after the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, an operation that the Redmond giant believes will be very profitable.

Nadella himself spoke on this topic, who believes that with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, they have everything they need to cover the market much better. gaming on PC, consoles and mobile devices. The latter is an important novelty for them, and they are clear about how they should play their cards in order to have the greatest success.

The recent arrival of Call of Duty Modern Warfare III to Game Pass was one of the most anticipated moments for fans of the franchise and confirmed that Microsoft will continue to invest heavily in improving its popular on-demand game service with a monthly subscription. . The next big part of the franchise is expected to be available on Game Pass from launch day.