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Microsoft just shared its Second Quarter FY 2024 Results, and as expected, it is very positive news for Xbox. In its first earnings report since the deal closed in October, the tech giant revealed that gaming revenue increased 49 percent thanks in part to its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In it earnings call slides, Microsoft revealed that gaming efforts were on par with its personal computing highlights. Gaming revenue grew 49%, with “44 points of net impact” coming from the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Elsewhere, Xbox content and services, including Game Pass, grew 61%, with 55 of those net impact points coming from the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Xbox hardware revenue grew 3% following a series of discounts and promotions during the holidays.
The disproportionate impact of the Activision Blizzard deal, one of the largest in the history of the gaming industry, can be seen in the Xbox report. Activision Blizzard brings with it Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and many other massive games, giving Xbox a big boost in almost every category. Xbox estimates the overall impact of the acquisition is worth around $2 billion, which will allow gaming to overtake Windows as Microsoft’s third-largest business.
Altogether, Microsoft earned $62 billion in revenue, an 18 percent increase driven largely by its Office and cloud business.
Still, the news comes at a difficult time for Xbox and the industry in general. Last week, Microsoft announced layoffs that affected its Xbox division, laying off 1,900 people. As a result of the layoffs, Activision Blizzard’s survival game called Odyssey was canceled and those working on the game were laid off. Workers in Activision Blizzard’s community, marketing, esports, and quality assurance divisions were also disproportionately affected by the layoffs. Meanwhile, Microsoft became the second company to surpass the $3 trillion market valuation.
Xbox will now look ahead to 2024 amid rumors that it could move some of its first-party games to another platform, with the planned release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and MachineGames’ Hellblade 2.
Taylor is a reporter for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.