After months of debate about Xbox's future as some of its major console exclusives move to the PlayStation 5, we have the clearest evidence yet as to why Microsoft is testing a console. Xbox. new cross-platform approach: fewer and fewer people are buying Xboxes.
The tech giant announced on its third-quarter earnings Xbox Series X and S sales decreased by 30% compared to the same period last year. It blamed the decline on “lower console sales” in early 2024. If that sounds like a repeat of last year, that's because it is. “Xbox hardware revenue decreased 30% year-over-year, due to lower console sales,” Microsoft reported back in April 2023.
In February, Grand Theft Auto VI parent company Take-Two claimed in a presentation to investors that there is there are about 77 million “gen 9” consoles in people's homes. It didn't take long for fans to calculate and speculate that to date, Microsoft has only sold about 25 million Xbox Series X/S consoles. That puts it ahead of the GameCube but behind the Nintendo 64, at least for now. Given this quarter's results, it appears that Game Pass and star school moved the needle a lot.
Maybe that will change once Call of dutywas acquired by Microsoft last fall along with the rest of Activision Blizzard, finally making its way to Game Pass. Diablo IV only appeared on the Netflix-like subscription platform this month. But given the fact that the fate of the Xbox Series X/S seems sealed at this point, it's easy to see why Microsoft is looking at other places it can take its games.
Sea of thievesThe last of the four games in this first series is coming to PS5, dominate the PlayStation Store's best-selling products list last week. CEO Satya Nadella specifically pointed this out during a call with investors, noting that Microsoft has more top 25 best-selling games on PS5 than any other publisher. “We are committed to meeting players where they are by bringing great games to more people on more devices,” he said.
If players there continue to flock to live service pirate sims, it's not hard to imagine Microsoft bringing a slew of other first-party exclusives to rival platforms. Does that mean more recent blockbusters like star school or soon Indiana Jones What game will one day make the journey remains to be seen.
Now, even as Xbox Series This early year, the company promised Its next console will be the “biggest technical leap” in its hardware history. And Xbox president Sarah Bond recently said the company “still committed” for backward compatibility and game preservation for players' current and future libraries.
Updated 4/25/2024 5:57pm ET: Added details from the earnings call.
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