Microsoft released its latest earnings report for the FY21 Q2 (pertaining to the quarter ending on December 31st, 2020) and among the highlights of the company’s 17% increase in revenue ($43.1 billion total) and 33% increase in net income ($15.5 billion) were the numbers for the Xbox hardware revenue, which jumped an impressive 86%, and Xbox content and services revenue, which increased 40%.
In addition, Xbox Game Pass now boasts 18 million subscribers; that’s up 3 million subscribers from the last reported number of 15 million subscribers for Microsoft’s Netflix-esque, video game subscription service back in September.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, reiterated Xbox head Phil Spencer’s comments about the Xbox Series X|S’ launch being the biggest in the company’s history in an earnings call, divulging that the highly-anticipated release of the next-gen systems saw “the most devices ever sold in a launch month.” Nadella also revealed that the Xbox Live network hit a new benchmark as well, with over 100 million monthly active users.
Microsoft
Even though Xbox Game Pass now boasts 18 million subscribers, that number is only sure to grow once properties from studios such as Bethesda, id Software and Arkane Studios, developers which were acquired under the ZeniMax/Xbox merger in September, become more integrated into the monthly plan. Xbox has also been talking to other major publishers about joining Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which would only further bolster the service’s appeal in the future.
What do you think of some of the numbers from Microsoft’s latest earnings report? Does the fact that Xbox Game Pass now boasts 18 million subscribers surprise you, or do the impressive Xbox Game Pass numbers hint that such a service will only be more popular in the gaming world as time passes? Sound off in the comments.
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