

Microsoft
has
published
its
quarterly
financial
details
which
naturally
includes
a
whole
lotta
numbers
spanning
the
company’s
vast
empire.
Buried
in
there
is
details
on
how
Xbox
is
performing,
and
it
seems
Game
Pass
has
seen
a
sizable
surge
of
growth.
Game
Pass
apparently
brought
in
more
cash
this
past
quarter
than
it
has
in
any
previous
quarter.
The
result
is
that
“Xbox
content
and
services
revenue
increased 2%,
ahead
of
expectations
driven
by
stronger-than-expected
performance
in
Blizzard
and
Activision
content,
including
Call
of
Duty.”
It
did
particularly
well
on
PC
where
the
service
saw
a
30%
rise
in
subscribers.
While
it
was
not
specifically
mentioned,
it’s
likely
that
this
surge
in
subscribers
was
down
to
the
release
of
Call
of
Duty:
Black
Ops
6
which
launched
straight
onto
Game
Pass
at
the
end
of
2024.
Indeed,
it
was
confirmed
that
Black
Ops
6
was
the
top-selling
Xbox
and
PlayStation
game
for
the
last
quarter.
“Black
Ops
6
was
the
top-selling
game
on
Xbox
and
PlayStation
this
quarter
–
and
saw
more
players
in
its
launch
quarter
than
any
other
paid
release
in
franchise
history.”
said
Satya
Nadella,
Microsoft
CEO.
Unfortunately,
while
there
was
an
apparent
boost
in
subscribers,
Microsoft
still
won’t
share
any
specific
numbers,
making
it
very
hard
to
gauge
how
well
the
service
is
really
doing.
Looking
toward
the
future,
Microsoft
is
predicted
gaming
revenue
growth
to
be
in
the
low
single
digits,
while
Xbox
“content
and
services”
is
expected
to
be
in
the
“low
to
mid-single
digits
driven
by
first-party
content
as
well
as
Xbox
Game
Pass.”
And
unsurprisingly,
Xbox
hardware
sales
are
down
again
and
are
expected
to
continue
declining.
That’s
to
be
expected,
of
course,
but
Xbox’s
hardware
sales
are
falling
more
rapidly
than
PlayStation’s.
The
next
few
years
are
going
to
be
fascinating
to
watch
as
Xbox
seems
to
finally
be
making
its
messaging
clear:
Xbox
games
are
coming
to
other
platforms.
Even
Starfield
seemingly
isn’t
safe,
at
least
according
to
Xbox
boss
Phil
Spencer.
And
then
there’s
the
strong
hints
that
Xbox
intends
on
competing
in
the
handheld
space
as
well,
potentially
with
its
own
hardware.
According
to
Ampere,
an
analyst
group,
Microsoft’s
gaming
related
earnings
last
month
overtook
EA,
making
Microsoft
the
biggest
game
publisher
in
the
world.
Of
course,
Black
Ops
6
will
have
played
a
massive
role
in
that.
EA
also
faced
some
problems
as
the
company
admitted
to
both
Dragon
Age:
Vanguard
and
FC
25
underperforming.
Funnily
enough,
64%
of
the
money
spent
on
Microsoft
games
was
apparently
on
PlayStation.
What
a
crazy
time
we
live
in,
eh?