Microsoft posted another blowout earnings report for Q2 of the 2024 fiscal year, with revenues of $62 billion (up 18 percent from last year) and profits of $21.9 billion (a 33 percent increase). But really, the most interesting thing about this quarter is that we finally get to see how the $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition affects the $3 trillion company. While Microsoft isn’t breaking out specific numbers, it says that its overall gaming revenue increased by 49 percent, 44 points of which came from the “net impact” of the Activision deal.
The rosy news is a bit surprising, considering that Microsoft announced last week that it was laying off 1,900 people across Xbox and Activision Blizzard. Those layoffs include the rest of Blizzard’s esports division, according to reports, following 50 layoffs and a restructuring last summer.
Microsoft’s More Personal Computing division, which includes Xbox, Surface and Windows, was up 19 percent ($16.9 billion) since last year. The company says the Activision deal accounted for 15 points of that increase. It’s a huge change for a division that’s been severely impacted by dwindling PC sales (which affects Windows licenses and Surfaces) and struggling Xbox consoles. PC device revenues were down 9 percent for the quarter, while Xbox hardware sales were up 3 percent.
Xbox content and services revenue is also up 61 percent since last year, 55 points of which comes from Activision. It’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft can actually leverage that acquisition to help Xbox sales, or at the very least, spur on more interest in Game Pass subscriptions. (Unfortunately, we don’t have any updates on how that service is doing.)
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