Xbox console sales plummet as overall revenue skyrockets
Microsoft's Q3 financial report is in, and there are some less-than-ideal results for the Xbox brand. According to the document, Xbox hardware sales tanked by a massive 31% compared to last year's sales, which were already down by 30% in the previous Q3 report, meaning total Xbox Series X|S sales have more than halved since 2022. While there aren't any exact numbers reported by Microsoft in terms of total Xbox Series X|S units sold, some gamers have sleuthed out that according to publisher Take-Two's own earnings report, 77 million Gen 9 video game consoles have been sold, and Sony themselves have stated the PlayStation 5 has surpassed 50 million systems sold. That puts Xbox's current generation hardware at about 25 million units sold, putting it ahead of the Nintendo GameCube, but behind the Sega Genesis, in terms of hardware sales ranking.
While hardware sales are looking a little rough, Xbox's gaming revenue leaped 51% compared to last year, bringing the Q3 earnings to $1.8 billion--a record-setting amount for the company. That huge growth comes with a caveat however, as all of it comes from the finalized acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Without them, Microsoft would have experienced a 4% year-over-year decline in revenue. Similarly, Xbox content and services saw an increase of 62% from last year, but factoring Activision Blizzard out of the equation shows that the numbers would only be up a single 1% total.
Microsoft expects to continue to see Xbox sales decline in the next quarter, with CEO Satya Nadella ending the earnings call on a statement regarding Xbox "meeting players where they are", and highlighting Xbox game sales on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5.
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