Microsoft just had its best non-holiday quarter for Xbox hardware and software ever, posting a total revenue of $3.74 billion for the fiscal quarter that ended on March 31. This is a six percent increase year-over-year from the $3.53 billion recorded for gaming revenue in the same period from 2021.
That total is split in favor of Xbox and gaming-related content and services, which continues to do well for Microsoft as its offering expands and userbase grows. Specifically in Q3 2022, gaming content and services accounted for 81 percent of that revenue, crossing $3 billion as a segment for the first time in a Q3 period with a four percent year-over-year margin of growth.
That growth was largely on the back of Xbox Game Pass subscriptions and first-party title sales. Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 were likely big contributors, though it was offset by a decline in sales for third-party titles. Game Pass has also seen a 45 percent increase in hours played over the last 12 months, which lines up with January’s reports the service grew to over 25 million subscribers.
Hardware sales increased 14 percent year-over-year as the Xbox Series X becomes more readily available and the Series S model continues to sell well, taking shares globally as a best seller, especially in recent months.
For Microsoft as a whole, the company saw an 18 percent increase year-over-year to $49.8 billion, with operating income sitting at $20.4 billion as results exceeded most of the company’s estimates. Microsoft Cloud revenue also increased 32 percent to $23.4 billion as the company continues to expand in that area, with 10 million users specifically using Xbox Cloud gaming options, according to the report.
