Featured Image Credit: Microsoft, Activision
Topics: Xbox, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard
Since the well-documented Activision Blizzard acquisition, Xbox revenue has reportedly increased by 49% according to Microsoft’s recent fiscal year.
Last October saw the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard merger finally take place and Microsoft has recently released its first earnings report since the deal was closed. In its second quarter results for the 2024 fiscal year, the company has revealed that gaming revenue increased by a respectable 49% which can be attributed to its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
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As a result, the tech giant’s gaming revenue managed “44 points of net impact” over the past few months with Xbox content such as Game Pass and other services increased by 61%. Xbox hardware also saw growth at 3% which is not surprising considering Microsoft hosted a series of deals on the Xbox Series X/S over the Christmas period.
The series of increases for Microsoft comes courtesy of its acquisition of Activison Blizzard with the latter bringing with it hugely successful game franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Overwatch to name a few. As a result, it is estimated that the merger is already worth around $2 billion which places Xbox above Windows in Microsoft’s highest-earning businesses. Microsoft itself has managed to reach $62 billion in revenue with a recent increase of 18%.
However, these successes come at the cost of more employees after Microsoft laid off 1,900 members of its Xbox division last week. This led to Blizzard’s unreleased survival game Odyssey being cancelled and employees in Blizzard’s community, marketing, esports and QA divisions finding themselves affected.
In related news, PlayStation may have plans to start an acquisition of its own according to reports released in October 2023. If this is the case, companies such as Take-Two, EA and Square Enix could be in its sights but it remains to be seen if plans will actually go ahead in the upcoming year.