Today Microsoft has released their Q4 earnings report. Overall the company had a great quarter. Revenue was $33.7 billion with an increase of 12% and the operating income was $12.4 billion – an increase of 20%.
But Microsoft’s gaming division can’t keep up with the overall results of the company. It’s obvious the end of the generation is slowing down hardware sales, while a lack of enticing software in this quarter saw revenue on that front decline as well. Xbox hardware revenue declined 48%, while software and services revenue declined 3%. The lack of revenue from software is partially offset by subscription growth. Microsoft has added two new subscription tiers this year, with Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
It wasn’t all dire and lacking. The amount of active users has grown significantly compared to a year prior. Last year Xbox Live had 57 monthly active users, while this year this has grown to 65 million.
It seems next generation can’t come soon enough for Microsoft. With their new focus on getting as many people as possible into the ecosystem we’ll probably see their MAU’s grow. Microsoft will be releasing their next games on Xbox One, the Microsoft Store, Steam and people will be able to stream them on their phone via Project xCloud.
Meanwhile the Xbox S All Digital Edition doesn’t seem to be making a big impact. And it could be a long year for Xbox consoles on the shelves as sales continue to drop.
