Xbox console income fell 30 p.c year-over-year this summer time

It hasn’t been an excellent 12 months for Xbox up to now. Microsoft has launched its earnings report for the quarter ending on September 30, and it has revealed that its income from the Xbox {hardware} fell by 30 p.c year-over-year. Take be aware that the income decline does not mirror any dip in gross sales attributable to the console’s $20-to-$70 price hike, since that took impact on October 3. Equally, Microsoft solely raised the worth for its Recreation Cross Final subscription from $20 to $30 in October.

In the meantime, income from Xbox content material and companies remained comparatively unchanged from the identical interval final 12 months. Microsoft says it noticed development from Xbox subscriptions and third-party content material, nevertheless it was “partially offset” by the decline in first-party gaming content material.

The Xbox division was one of many most affected teams when Microsoft began slicing down its world workforce earlier this 12 months, with the corporate cancelling video games that have been being developed for the console. Microsoft scrapped the fashionable reimagining of Good Darkish, a first-person shooter from the 12 months 2000, and even closed down the Xbox studio engaged on it. The corporate additionally cancelled Everwild, a mission that had lengthy been in improvement by Xbox studio Uncommon, additionally within the midst of its mass layoffs.

Total, Microsoft’s $77.7 billion income was 17 p.c greater in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months, and its working earnings was up by 22 p.c. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella posted a number of highlights concerning the firm’s earnings name on X, principally specializing in its AI efforts. He mentioned that the corporate will improve its AI capability by 80 p.c this 12 months and can double its knowledge heart footprint over the subsequent two.