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[Panajev2001a]

You're right. It's actually more.

5% of 100= 105
5% of 105= 110.25
5% of 110.25= 115.76
5% of 115.76= 121.55.

So YOY you would actually grow roughly 21.55%

The growth is measured against the same quarter in the previous year so… well funny math is as funny as buying revenue and gloating about revenue growth.

 

[Panajev2001a]

It's like a 200% uplift in revenue since 2019. And bigger than covid. Much bigger.

Come on mate, you are being disingenuous here. You bought the biggest third party publisher's revenue .

 

[Negotiator101]

a dying console, and not showing its true power due it has parity issues of S series
a weak library that still mimics a playstation or even switch
a non-exclusive machine that show no unique to other consoles
a gamepass that hurt its game sales and trying to be "unique" or best feature to have for it

What language is this?

 

[Astray]

As usual, it's a good quarter for Microsoft Gaming, bad one for Xbox.

They've trying very hard to juice the numbers via PS ports, so it's not surprising that revenue is up. Satya is finally getting the software biz he always wanted.

Xbox HW drop is softer than the past few quarters too, so we may have reached a floor finally.

Next quarter is gonna be bonkers because they definitely have sold a lot of units already with Oblivion. Will be interesting to see how this impacts the Xbox HW, if any.

 

[Fess]

Wow. They are seeing insane growth in gaming. This paints a completely different picture to what we read on gaf.

Surprised? They've just started tapping into a 75 million user base for all their big games now, plus a 150 million userbase for some releases. No Gamepass cannibalism. Ka-Ching!

And Gamepass is growing on PC. And apparently cloud too. And it should only get better going forward, Indy, Forza Horizon on PS5, DOOM coming up day 1 everywhere, extreme Oblivion hype, Expedition 33 on GP, and I assume they'll be on Switch 2 as well which will be a juggernaut.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Wow. They are seeing insane growth in gaming. This paints a completely different picture to what we read on gaf.

Only needed to go 3rd party.

 

[Steve Holt]

they must have plans for avoiding GTA but it would be great if they continue the momentum they've built so far.

Buying publishers and realising it increases revenue is great news and good momentum?

I suppose the studio closures were also part of the master plan too, and the fact that Xbox has struggled so much, it is going to be just a sticker on another companies hardware offering in the future?

 

[Unfortunatecookie]

Only (some of) GAF would spin MS/Xbox growth as a bad thing, now content is finally hitting hard. Keep at it you salty motherfuckers, it's a delight to read while sipping a coffee. Good games is good games, wherever you find them. I find them via GP Ultimate, and a sprinkling of PC/console purchases too. Having a unified platform and family management/content sharing as well as games on tap combined with cloud saves or cloud gaming when away is just a lovely experience Xbox have curated these days.

I don't think gaming across cloud, PC and console (Xbox) has ever been so seamless and retained settings, saves, friends, chat, achievements etc. I take my Elite Core controller and use it on Xbox Series X, bluetooth to my phone and connect to me PC to game. The games, saves and friends chat all follows me. Pretty fucking solid whether I play Apex or anything else first/third party. I'm still happy to buy Xbox hardware over any other console.

Shocker I know GAF, we do exist.

You're deliberately ignoring hardware being down 6%. Their software business is fine. Their hardware business isn't.

If the Xbox business is growing except for the Xbox hardware, that sends a bad signal to Microsoft. It tells them that with the right sequence of decisions, they can divorce themselves of an extremely expensive arm of the business. They're already doing that, and if their current hardware business keeps trending down, they will continue doing that. The conclusion to a downwards trending business is at some point = no more business. No more console, no more Elite controller that you love; no more hardware.

That's not good for the industry. Less hardware = less options.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

That's not good for the industry. Less hardware = less options.

Xbox not being a platform-holder and just being a 3rd party is better for everyone.

Even Xbox own data shows it.

 

[Steve Holt]

Only (some of) GAF would spin MS/Xbox growth as a bad thing, now content is finally hitting hard. Keep at it you salty motherfuckers, it's a delight to read while sipping a coffee. Good games is good games, wherever you find them. I find them via GP Ultimate, and a sprinkling of PC/console purchases too. Having a unified platform and family management/content sharing as well as games on tap combined with cloud saves or cloud gaming when away is just a lovely experience Xbox have curated these days.

I don't think gaming across cloud, PC and console (Xbox) has ever been so seamless and retained settings, saves, friends, chat, achievements etc. I take my Elite Core controller and use it on Xbox Series X, bluetooth to my phone and connect to me PC to game. The games, saves and friends chat all follows me. Pretty fucking solid whether I play Apex or anything else first/third party. I'm still happy to buy Xbox hardware over any other console.

Shocker I know GAF, we do exist.

 

[Mownoc]

Going third party was absolutely the right move. They couldn't compete in the platform race.

Imagine if they had kept CoD exclusive like so many on here believed and were celebrating a couple of years ago. Lol. Sales would have tanked.

 

[Ozzie666]

Increase subscription prices, eliminate cheap VPN country hacks and $1 top up exploits from years past. Not surprised subs income went up.

Unique position they find themselves in Third Party publisher with their own eco system

Oh and some people think Sega could split right in and be a strong third.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

You're deliberately ignoring hardware being down 6%. Their software business is fine. Their hardware business isn't.

If the Xbox business is growing except for the Xbox hardware, that sends a bad signal to Microsoft. It tells them that with the right sequence of decisions, they can divorce themselves of an extremely expensive arm of the business. They're already doing that, and if their current hardware business keeps trending down, they will continue doing that. The conclusion to a downwards trending business is at some point = no more business. No more console, no more Elite controller that you love; no more hardware.

That's not good for the industry. Less hardware = less options.

Nah, they're still committed to another next gen hardware console, confirmed. I'm hoping they loss lead with a massive bundle of GP or performance above other consoles orbhardwarevitwrationsbquicker and more innovative them their competition or maybe OEMs etc.

Think Google Pixel/Pro vs the rest of the Android or Apple market.

I agree with your sentiment of more hardware competition the better. Xbox consoles aren't going anywhere in the news future.

 

[Baemono]

Is this good or bad gaf?

As we can see from the previous quarters, now hidden, Activision is carrying Xbox revenue. We had similar growth each quarter for the last year since the Activision purchase, but the net impact of Activision was disclosed.

And hardware being already low (300 million $) and still going down (Welfare's estimates being 800k for the whole quarter worldwide), as previously said this is Wii U territory.

They're basically bloasting about now owning (or even being) Activision

 

[SuperC]

This year's cod will be far smaller then BO6.

It will be a sequel to BO2 probably with BO2 remaster so no

 

[jm89]

No forecast for hardware?

Are they gonna sweep that under the rug cause it doesn't look good like console sales and gamepass sub numbers?

 

[Baemono]

No forecast for hardware?

Are they gonna sweep that under the rug cause it doesn't look good like console sales and gamepass sub numbers?

They already did 10 years ago

 

[Kerotan]

It will be a sequel to BO2 probably with BO2 remaster so no

You're not getting a full proper black ops this year. 12 month's I development Vs 3 or 4 year's for BO6. It's a filler cash grab like MW3.

 

[Astray]

No forecast for hardware?

Are they gonna sweep that under the rug cause it doesn't look good like console sales and gamepass sub numbers?

Anyone who reads these numbers and thinks that the brand of Xbox is in good shape needs a bucket of water in the face.

Right now, maintaining the Xbox ecosystem and consoles is an albatross around Microsoft Gaming's neck.

 

[Unfortunatecookie]

Xbox not being a platform-holder and just being a 3rd party is better for everyone.

Even Xbox own data shows it.

Sure. But if you want Xbox hardware, a lack of growth in Xbox hardware is bad news.

 

[Unfortunatecookie]

Nah, they're still committed to another next gen hardware console, confirmed. I'm hoping they loss lead with a massive bundle of GP or performance above other consoles orbhardwarevitwrationsbquicker and more innovative them their competition or maybe OEMs etc.

Think Google Pixel/Pro vs the rest of the Android or Apple market.

I agree with your sentiment of more hardware competition the better. Xbox consoles aren't going anywhere in the news future.

I hope you're right and that their commitment to next-gen doesn't change. It would be a terrible situation for the industry if it shrinks in hardware options.

Loss-leading will depend on whether or not they see a path towards a large userbase. Game Pass gives them a reason to loss lead so a lot of their strategy will depend on whether or not Game Pass shows signs of growth (it just did) throughout the remainder of the generation.

 

[Hudo]

Going third party was absolutely the right move. They couldn't compete in the platform race.

Imagine if they had kept CoD exclusive like so many on here believed and were celebrating a couple of years ago. Lol. Sales would have tanked.

I think what people forgot when they made this argument is that CoD itself is a platform. So restricting its reach is antithetical to its business model.

 

[Fess]

Unique position they find themselves in Third Party publisher with their own eco system

Isn't it similar to Valve?
Not 1:1 but they both have a store, a launcher, an OS. Valve have a handheld, MS is rumored to launch one. MS have a console, Valve is rumored to launch Steam machines. MS have Xbox cloud, Valve let users access games on GeForce Now. MS owns lots of studios though. But Valve have a bigger store. Etc. It's fairly close even though Valve isn't doing much publishing, yet,

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Jez gotta keep the grift alive.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Isn't it similar to Valve?
Not 1:1 but they both have a store, a launcher, an OS. Valve have a handheld, MS is rumored to launch one. MS have a console, Valve is rumored to launch Steam machines. MS have Xbox cloud, Valve let users access games on GeForce Now. MS owns lots of studios though. But Valve have a bigger store. Etc. It's fairly close even though Valve isn't doing much publishing, yet,

Valve absolutely owns the PC market. MS does not have a prayers chance of doing it. Epic, EA, Ubisoft have all tried and failed. Epic gave away expensive games for years and couldn't make a dent.

 

[Baemono]

Jez gotta keep the grift alive.

Being a fanboy =/= understanding how financial statements work, or even just math. You have a bigger decline from 10 to 3 than from 3 to 1, doesn't mean you're selling 4 all of a sudden

 

[Topher]

Isn't it similar to Valve?
Not 1:1 but they both have a store, a launcher, an OS. Valve have a handheld, MS is rumored to launch one. MS have a console, Valve is rumored to launch Steam machines. MS have Xbox cloud, Valve let users access games on GeForce Now. MS owns lots of studios though. But Valve have a bigger store. Etc. It's fairly close even though Valve isn't doing much publishing, yet,

Valve has a large, loyal following. A lot of that is due to the fact that their store is built around the community. Microsoft doesn't have a gaming community on PC. Microsoft has a long way to go even if they have many of the same things.

 

[willothedog]

msft stock shot up today.

 

[Fess]

Valve has a large, loyal following. A lot of that is due to the fact that their store is built around the community. Microsoft doesn't have a gaming community on PC. Microsoft has a long way to go even if they have many of the same things.

I was questioning why Microsoft's position is unique.
How unique is it really?
Valve already have everything Microsoft have, and plans to have, except being an industry giant on publishing.
A multi device ecosystem, Play Anywhere, online gaming, achievements, OS made for the living room, desktop launcher, handheld. And Steam "consoles" are coming going by online rumblings. They also have their own VR hardware and ecosystem.
What's so unique?

 

[mayham2199]

Where's all the people that told me revenue wouldn't be up this quarter?

That would be dumb for people to say when even MS themselves projected that they would be up in the single digits during their last earnings call.

 

[Negotiator101]

As usual, it's a good quarter for Microsoft Gaming, bad one for Xbox.

They've trying very hard to juice the numbers via PS ports, so it's not surprising that revenue is up. Satya is finally getting the software biz he always wanted.

Xbox HW drop is softer than the past few quarters too, so we may have reached a floor finally.

Next quarter is gonna be bonkers because they definitely have sold a lot of units already with Oblivion. Will be interesting to see how this impacts the Xbox HW, if any.

Sensible take but seemingly Microsoft still believe Xbox hardware has a future given next gen rumours, and of course the continued backing of Gamepass gives us considerable reassurance that neither are going anywhere any time soon.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

With hardware revenue down, i estimate 700K hardware shipments for the quarter.

 

[Generic]

If their game revenue is increasing then why they will charge $80 for games?

 

[Baemono]

With hardware revenue down, i estimate 700K hardware shipments for the quarter.

Aren't last year's estimates a bit too generous for Xbox ?

 

[LordCBH]

If their game revenue is increasing then why they will charge $80 for games?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[GHG]

If their game revenue is increasing then why they will charge $80 for games?

Because it cost them a lot of money to get that "increase".

 

[mckmas8808]

With hardware revenue down, i estimate 700K hardware shipments for the quarter.

Dang!!!!!!!!! Xbox didn't even hit 5 million units sold for the fiscal year? I was thinking 6 million close to a year ago. Not sure how MS can afford to be in the hardware business at this pace.

 

[Astray]

Sensible take but seemingly Microsoft still believe Xbox hardware has a future given next gen rumours, and of course the continued backing of Gamepass gives us considerable reassurance that neither are going anywhere any time soon.

Your argument tracks with what you said before, but it's not unprecedented for big tech to commit to something then back out of it later on.

The biggest red flag for me is them not including a forecast for HW for next quarter.

 

[Woopah]

I mean how much decline can you get quarter after quarter, less than a million shipped in 3 months is Wii U category

People somehow overlook this.

It's very hard to decline from very low positions anyway.

I think you can have low numbers and still decline more than 6%. Maybe the unit sales decline was greater than 5%, but revenue was different due to the new models and the S / X split

It was a 31% decline last year so that's actually an improvement.

Yes exactly.

 

[mckmas8808]

Your argument tracks with what you said before, but it's not unprecedented for big tech to commit to something then back out of it later on.

The biggest red flag for me is them not including a forecast for HW for next quarter.

This can't be true. They must have given some kind of guidance on HW for next quarter.

 

[Woopah]

There's 4 fiscal quarters every year, but yes correct the growth needs to grow in correlation to be more than the previous quarter now that revenue is increasing each quarter.

Basic point but was the majority of any company in the world will kill for the growth Microsoft has across all segments. Most companies are happy keeping with inflation.

You're right. It's actually more.

5% of 100= 105
5% of 105= 110.25
5% of 110.25= 115.76
5% of 115.76= 121.55.

So YOY you would actually grow roughly 21.55%

I don't think you guys are understanding these results. They are not saying they grew revenue by 5% in three months. It's 5% year-on-year growth.

 

[Baemono]

I think you can have low numbers and still decline more than 5%.

Yes, it declined 6%

 

[Goalus]

If their game revenue is increasing then why they will charge $80 for games?

Because people here on GAF don't like it when companies devalue their games by more or less giving them away. This is unsustainable.

It looks like MS games will soon become a lot more valuable. And that is a good thing.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The biggest red flag for me is them not including a forecast for HW for next quarter.

Now you know why.

 

[Woopah]

Yes, it declined 6%

Oops yes it was. I was thinking of 5 because of the growth number.

 

[mckmas8808]

I don't think you guys are understanding these results. They are not saying they grew revenue by 5% in three months. It's 5% year-on-year growth.

It's weird how bad some guys are here with financial numbers like this.

 

[mckmas8808]

Now you know why.

Makes me think they know the Xbox Series consoles won't sell even 4 million units WW between now and March 31st, 2026. That'll be a 20% drop in HW console sales for them.

 

[kruis]

Dang!!!!!!!!! Xbox didn't even hit 5 million units sold for the fiscal year? I was thinking 6 million close to a year ago. Not sure how MS can afford to be in the hardware business at this pace.

I really wonder how many Xbox Series consoles MS will sell in the next four quarters. Another 30% drop would bring the total from 4.9m to around 3m but now with the additional price hike announced today .... Looks really, really bad for Xbox ...

 

[GHG]

It's weird how bad some guys are here with financial numbers like this.

Same reason why they think they are getting games for free with gamepass.

 

[adamsapple]

Same reason why they think they are getting games for free with gamepass.

No one who actually uses GamePass ever says 'free' unironically, it's just the folks who try to use it as a gotcha in the 'they don't buy games' argument.