Microsoft has recently revealed its Q3 earnings report for the whole company includingXbox, Microsoft Windows, and more. The big takeaway is Microsoft Corporation stocks temporarily went up, helping the company hit a $1 trillion valuation. This would quickly decrease, but the only other companies to ever hit that point are tech giants Apple and Google.
The details of the report may be less surprising, especially in the appropriate context, but overall Xbox One sales are down, selling 33% fewer consoles than last year. There are several reasons behind this year-over-year number, with the likeliest point being that the Xbox One has hit a saturation point, meaning that everyone who would want one likely already owns one. Those who don’t or aren’t buying one are likely ready for next-gen consoles, with reports suggesting that thenext-gen Xbox is more advanced than the PlayStation 5.
While this could sound like bad news, the drop is actually more than balanced out with software and subscription sales. Xbox game revenue is up 5%, and Xbox Live subscriptions rose by 7%, with these gamers being rewarded with the forthcomingXbox Game Pass Ultimate Scription servicethat launches later this year. These percentage changes see a year-over-year increase of $112 million, bringing the total games division earnings to a whopping $2.36 billion in revenue for the quarter, with third-party sellers and subscriptions playing a huge role in all of this.
With the Xbox One hitting a saturation point but player base numbers on the rise, it’s clear Xbox and its competitor Sony are eyeing the next generation of consoles. For now, it seems like a much tighter race between the two companies than when the current generation initially started.
Xbox is aware of this and haspromised to “go big” at E3 2019and will reportedly showcase some things “no one has ever seen before,” leading to much speculation about new first-party titles, streaming capabilities, hardware, and more.
Xbox’s E3 2019 event starts on June 9 at 1pm PDT/4PM EDT
