Microsoft's games business saw a 51 per cent increase in revenue for the three months ending March 31st. The company reported $1.8 billion in revenue for Xbox driven by its content and services division, which saw a 62 per cent increase for the period.
That itself was driven by Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which contributed 61 per cent – aka nearly all of – of its content and services growth.
That massive growth has helped offset a 31 per cent decline in Xbox hardware revenue, due to low console sales. Speaking to shareholders, CEO Satya Nadella said that following the launch of Diablo 4 onto Xbox Game Pass, subscribers played the game for 10 million hours in its first ten days on the service.
This, the exec said, made it "one of our biggest first-party Game Pass launches ever." "We are committed to meeting players where they are by bringing great games to more people on more devices.
We set third quarter records for game streaming hours, console usage, and monthly active devices," Nadella said." He continued: "We were also encouraged by ongoing success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which is attracting new gamers and retaining franchise loyalists."