Microsoft: Xbox Gaming Revenue Exceeded $10 Billion in Fiscal 2018
By Stefanie Fogel
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Microsoft’s gaming revenue exceeded $10 billion in fiscal 2018 (which ended Jun. 30), and Xbox Live had more than 57 million monthly active users, the company said during an annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday.
said it’s pursuing an “expansive opportunity, from the way the games are created and distributed to how they’re played and viewed.” It’s investing aggressively in content, community, and cloud services, it said. It also added seven new gaming studios to bolster its first-party lineup, including “Fallout: New Vegas” developer Obsidian Entertainment and “Wasteland” developer inXile Entertainment .
Executives spent some time during the meeting showing off the company’s new Adaptive Controller . The gamepad was designed for people with limited mobility and accessibility needs. Previously, gamers with limited mobility had to hack apart hardware and solder, assemble, and build a whole new device, costing them time and money, Xbox Adaptive Controller spokesperson Solomon Romney said during the demonstration.
“With the Xbox Adaptive Controller, we simplified all that by creating a hub that is easy to use, affordable for all gamers, flexible to all setups and available through our Microsoft Stores,” he said. “We really see this as the beginning of a new era in inclusive design.”
“I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in the past fiscal year as we innovate and help our customers with their digital transformation journey,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “And I’m even more optimistic about our tremendous opportunity that lies ahead. We’re living in a very crucial time in history where the impact of digital technology on every part of our daily lives and work and that every aspect of our society and economy is even more acute. It’s therefore incumbent on us as industry leaders to ensure that the technology we build always creates more opportunity. Too often we celebrate technology disruption without reflecting on the unintended consequences. What the world needs is technology that benefits people and society more broadly and where trust is earned each day.”
Microsoft also briefly mentioned Xbox Game Pass, its monthly gaming subscription service, and Project xCloud, its future streaming gaming platform. It believes Game Pass will allow it to reach beyond the two billion people playing games today, just like Spotify and Netflix have done for music and video, respectively. As for Project xCloud, it said its goal is to deliver a quality experience for all gamers on all devices.
“We’re building a service that’s consistent with the speed and high fidelity that gamers expect on their PCs and their consoles,” Microsoft said.
Overall, Microsoft said it had a record year, with revenue growing over 14% to $110 billion.
