Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.
Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.
Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.
"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."
That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.
As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.
And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.
They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -
Video games are no longer just a simple past time. Today's games are evolving into true works of art. Offering intriguing narratives, cinematic setpieces, and profound messages, games can entertain us for hundreds of hours.
I never got around to mass effect - I’m skeptical that it would hold up if I were to try it now
single player games aren't dying they just aren't at the forefront of gaming like they used to be. there are some amazing single player games with more to come this year. the focus has shifted to multiplayer though so single player is becoming overshadowed but they are still very relevant.
i mean you cant blame the developers and publishers as they are just looking at what sells. not that single player games bomb but if you create a game with some guns and a couple of maps then it usually sells millions whether the game is actually good or not. plus you often hear the phrase "no multiplayer = no buy" which is a shame. not that all multiplayer involves just shooting cause there are some great co op games and other types of multiplayer like racing, dungeon crawling, mmo type games, etc. the majority though comes from some kind of fps/tps setup that most developers seem to be looking towards for that cash in. even if it is just a tacked on experience.
personally i dont play multiplayer except for bad company 2. thats the only multiplayer game that i can play with out getting bored from the repetition of the game itself. i would hope that single player games never die out though as thats pretty much the only kind of games i play.