Microsoft just got involved Second quarter results for fiscal year 2024As expected, it's largely positive news for Xbox. In its first earnings report since the deal closed in October, the tech giant revealed that gaming revenues increased 49 percent thanks in part to its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In the Earnings call segmentsMicrosoft revealed that gaming endeavors were under the most prominent features of personal computing. Gaming revenue grew 49%, with “44 points of net impact” coming from its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Elsewhere, Xbox content and services – which includes Game Pass – grew 61%, with 55 of those net impact points coming from the Activision Blizzard acquisition. Xbox revenue rose 3% after a series of discounts and promotions over the holidays.
The disproportionate impact of the Activision Blizzard deal, one of the largest in the history of the gaming industry, can be seen in the Xbox report. Activision Blizzard brings with it Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and a host of other huge games, giving Xbox a big boost in almost every category. Xbox estimates the total impact of the acquisition to be around $2 billion, allowing gaming to overtake Windows as Microsoft's third-largest business.
Combined, Microsoft generated revenue of $62 billion, an 18 percent increase driven largely by its desktop and cloud businesses.
However, this news comes at a difficult time for Xbox and the industry in general. Last week, Microsoft announced layoffs affecting its Xbox division, laying off 1,900 people. As a result of the layoffs, Activision Blizzard's survival game called Odyssey has been cancelled, with game workers laid off. Workers in Activision Blizzard's community, marketing, esports, and quality assurance departments were also disproportionately affected by the layoffs. Meanwhile, Microsoft became the second company to surpass a market cap of $3 trillion.
Xbox is now eyeing 2024 amid rumors that it may port some first-party games to another platform, with MachineGames' Indiana Jones, Great Circle and Hellblade 2 planned to launch.
Taylor is a reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @Ty Nexter.
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