Microsoft reported an 8% increase in gaming business revenue for the last quarter of 2017. From October to December, the company earned $3.92 billion. The driver of the increase in revenue was the new Xbox One X console.
This is reported in the company’s report for the second quarter of fiscal year 2018 (lasts from July 2017 to the end of June 2018).
Xbox One X sales started on November 7 at a price of $500 per console. Microsoft called its new product “the most powerful console in the world.”
Revenues from the sale of consoles and gaming equipment increased by 14% compared to the last quarter of 2016.
Video game sales also increased, but not so noticeably — an increase of 4%. The lack of strong AAA exclusives during the autumn and winter holidays affected the sales rates of titles.
In 2016, Microsoft released Gears of War 4 and Forza Motorsport 7. In 2017, only Forza Motorsport 7 was released at this time.
The company also reported on the growth of the audience of the Xbox Live gaming service. At the end of last year, the number of active Xbox Live users increased by 7% and reached 59 million people.
In total, Microsoft earned almost $29 billion in the last reporting period. Revenues increased by 12%. Operating profit for the same period amounted to $8.7 billion, up 10% compared to the same period last year.
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