Xbox FY21 Q3 revenue up 50% as Xbox Series X|S and Game Pass boom
Microsoft’s gaming revenue continues to soar as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates interest around Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
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What you need to know
Microsoft announced its third-quarter earnings for its 2021 fiscal year on Tuesday, reporting a 19% increase in revenue year-over-year, clocking inat $41.7 billion. The company also demonstrated steady growth for its gaming portfolio this quarter, with revenue up 50% over the same period in 2020, attributed to a steady uptick across the complete Xbox portfolio.
The latest Q3 FY21 results come almost six months followingXbox Series XandXbox Series S; its two latest hardware launches kickstarting a new console cycle. High demand for the latest devices, still regularly out of stock among retailers worldwide, pushed hardware revenue up 232%. Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S availability remains constrained byongoing chip shortages, further amplified by interest in the new console family.
Xbox content and services also saw a 34% increase this quarter, attributed to success from both Microsoft-published first-party titles and third-party releases. Microsoft also reportsXbox Game Passsubscriptions, its Netflix-style subscription service for Xbox, PC, and cloud gaming, among services driving increased revenue. While Microsoft is yet to report new member numbers for Xbox Game Pass, it previously announced18 million active subscribers in January 2021.
The latest earnings following a solid year for Microsoft’s gaming lineup, with current world events and stay-at-home orders seeing gaming demand skyrocket. That contrasts this time last year during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, where gaming revenue fell 1% year over year, while content and services grew just 2%. It came as Xbox services saw “record numbers,” pushing the company todisable Xbox Live featuresto streamline its moderation processes.
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Matt Brown was formerly a Windows Central’s Senior Editor, Xbox & PC, at Future. Following over seven years of professional consumer technology and gaming coverage, he’s focused on the world of Microsoft’s gaming efforts. You can follow him on Twitter@mattjbrown.
