Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra has claimed that Xbox head Phil Spencer will be hurting “as much as anyone else” following the closure of four first-party studios.
26.04.2024 - 10:43 / videogameschronicle.com / Satya Nadella / Tom Ivan
Activision Blizzard helped drive Microsoft’s gaming division to a record third quarter, despite a significant decline in Xbox hardware sales.
For the three months ended March 31, 2024, gaming revenue was up 51% year-over-year, including 55 points of net impact from Activision, to a record $5.45 billion.
Xbox content and services revenue rose 62%, driven by 61 points of net impact from Activision, but Xbox hardware revenue declined 31% year-over-year.
Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October 2023, taking ownership of franchises including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch, and the deal had a similarly positive impact on the Xbox maker’s financial results during that quarter too.
During Microsoft’s earnings call on Thursday, CEO Satya Nadella highlighted the impact of Activision Blizzard games, which helped the company “set third quarter records for game streaming hours, console usage, and monthly active devices”.
Diablo 4 became the first Activision Blizzard game to be added to Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription service on March 28.
According to Nadella, members played over 10 million hours within the first 10 days, “making it one of our biggest first party Game Pass launches ever”.
He continued: “We’ve also been encouraged by the ongoing success of Call of Duty’s Modern Warfare 3, which is attracting new gamers and retaining franchise loyalists.”
Nadella also suggested that Xbox is starting to reap the rewards of its increased multiplatform focus, noting that at one point this month, it had seven games among the top 25 sellers on the PlayStation Store, which was “more than any other publisher”.
Microsoft is reportedly planning to unveil new Call of Duty and Gears of War games at its Xbox summer showcase in June.
Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra has claimed that Xbox head Phil Spencer will be hurting “as much as anyone else” following the closure of four first-party studios.
Nintendo has given the strongest indication yet that its next-generation console won’t stray too far from the existing Switch hardware.
In an announcement made on May 7, Xbox stated that it is ending all development on Redfall. In the same memo, Xbox also announced the closure of Arkane Austin, the developer of the game. Redfall’s developer wasn’t the only studio shut down, as several others are also shutting their doors.
Microsoft is shutting down four of the studios it picked up as part of the 2020 Bethesda acquisition, as reported by IGN.
Xbox Game Pass members can play Kona 2: Brume as part of their subscription starting today, May 7. The moody adventure game is the second title to reach Xbox Game Pass since the turn of the month.
It seems Xbox Game Pass has given a huge boost to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was recently added to the EA Play library, meaning it is available to anyone that is signed up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Free trials of Star Wars games have launched for Xbox and Nintendo Switch players.
Take-Two publishing label Private Division has reportedly laid off the “vast majority” of its teams in Seattle, New York, Las Vegas and Munich.
Following yesterday's launch of Sea of Thieves on PS5, Microsoft has now delivered on its initial multi-platform promise to bring some of its exclusive Xbox experiences to new consoles. Having made the surprise announcement in February, the firm has brought Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, and the aforementioned seafaring adventure to PS5, PS4 boxes as well as Nintendo Switch. During the presentation that revealed Microsoft's multi-platform plans, Phil Spencer and his team refused to discuss any efforts beyond those four titles. Is that it, then? Will Microsoft now return to releasing first-party titles exclusively for Xbox Series X|S and PC? Those questions can't be answered definitively yet, but probably not.
Take-Two is reportedly planning to shut down Private Division studios Roll7 and Intercept Games as part of recently announced restructuring.
Microsoft has revealed the next batch of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass for console, PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Target launch months for Xbox’s first-party games coming in 2024 have seemingly been revealed.