Microsoft has reported some positive financial results when it comes to its gaming division for the fiscal year 2024. This latest report is the first to include Activision Blizzard under the umbrella after the company purchased the Call of Duty maker for $68 billion.
Gaming revenue grew 49% year-on-year at Microsoft. 44% of this growth was attributed to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft says Xbox Content and Services revenue which includes games, DLC and subscriptions, grew 61% year-on-year. 55% of this was due to the acquisition too. Xbox hardware and accessories, which includes consoles and Xbox Wireless Controllers, grew 3%.
Microsoft says the company reported $2.08 billion in revenue and $440 million in operating loss due to the costs involved in the Activision Blizzard acquisition. It isn’t cheap buying a company it seems.
Keep in mind that without the acquisition, Microsoft’s year-on-year growth would have been incredibly low. Out of the 49% gaming revenue growth, only 5% came from Microsoft. Out of the 61% growth in Xbox Content and Services, only 6% came from Microsoft. This aligns with the poorly reported 3% growth on Xbox Consoles and Accessories.
Even with the positive financial reports, Microsoft has still gone ahead with its historic 1,900 staff layoffs. Last week, the company announced it would lay off 1,900 staff members around the world who worked at various gaming divisions. This included customer support at Activision Blizzard, the Xbox physical games department, various Xbox Game Studios developers and more.
Although the Activision Blizzard acquisition has been completed, Microsoft is still in the middle of a legal battle with the FTC. The American Antitrust Board is expected to launch its hearing in the coming weeks.
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Source: Microsoft
