![Xbox's Multiplatform Releases Made Microsoft The Top Game Publisher In The World Last Month](https://images.purexbox.com/9b2edd8c294a3/xboxs-multiplatform-releases-made-microsoft-the-top-game-publisher-in-the-world-last-month.900x.jpg)
Data firm Ampere has released some interesting stats about the month of December in gaming - stats that name Microsoft as the top publisher in the world for the final month of 2024. According to the analyst group, $465 million was spent on Xbox games last month, making Microsoft the biggest publisher across Xbox, PlayStation and PC.
As expected, Call of Duty drove that customer spending in a big way. The launch of Black Ops 6 has been huge for Microsoft, with the COD HQ launcher bringing in 38 million users in November last year, seemingly followed up by a huge December for the franchise as well.
Interestingly, 64% of the above Microsoft revenue figure was spent on PlayStation platforms, with Black Ops 6 being the main driver of that percentage. We learned late last year that the Xbox to PlayStation split for Black Ops 6 massively favoured the Sony platform, so that number is perhaps no surprise here.
Ampere also notes that mega-publisher EA brought in roughly $366 million during the same time period last month, marking a significant drop off from the Microsoft number. Just like Call of Duty for the Xbox owner, EA Sports FC 25 was the main factor in EA getting such results.
With all of this in mind, it starts to make more and more sense why Xbox would launch its biggest games on other platforms, especially from its expensive Bethesda and ActiBlizz acquisitions. COD clearly makes a lot of money on PlayStation, and with Nintendo platforms bound to follow when Switch 2 launches, we're curious to see where these numbers head in the coming years.
Thoughts on these figures, PXers? Talk to us about 'em down below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 67
I’d rather them be the top console maker but if it worked for SEGA…
It appears the strategy is working even better than anticipated.
The future is bright for xbox.
Let’s hope this money translates to great Xbox games and another console gen for Xbox.
Well they didn’t drop 75billion to not be top publisher.
Porting elsewhere helps both sides. MS get 70% they weren’t getting, Sony get their 30% cut (or whatever deal is done) that they wouldn’t have if said game wasn’t ported.
MS are massively helping Sony out right now. Giving them access to games where otherwise they would be lean.
So these figures show exactly why MS are going multi platform. It’s always about the line ever going up.
"64% of the above Microsoft revenue figure was spent on PlayStation platforms"
This is why there's no going back, once they had a taste of that sweet revenue they won't accept anything less, with this and what Phil said in Destin's interview it's now 100% clear, Microsoft Gaming is a publisher, ALL games are going everywhere except the very old ones not worth porting.
And at the risk of sounding exhausting (cause I am) I still believe it's a death sentence for the Xbox platform, with this 64% stat only growing and growing and Xbox' users spending dwindling ever more it's only a matter of time until Microsoft pulls the plug on the least profitable area of MS Gaming, the hardware.
Removed - flaming/arguing
@VoidPunk But you know sega was in a bad place at the time so the sega comparison doesn’t work in this case
@BacklogBrad Bright for Microsoft Gaming I’d say, Xbox feels already on life support.
And people were concerned that Microsoft would choose making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox over making a s**t-ton of money.
@donv2135 I’m not going to engage, that’s my opinion, that’s how I think things will work out in the future and I’d love to be wrong but this is the way Microsoft, not Xbox, does things, they’ll be a great publisher as one thing MS knows is to sell software, but as for the Xbox platform, the thing I am personally invested in I have ZERO hope anymore.
It's just the result of the ABK acquisition, nothing more! Of course, they made the right decision to keep Call of Duty multiplatform, it would have been a huge mistake not to do so!
As long as GamePass exists and continues to provide a great line up of games, I know I’ll still be in line to get the next Xbox.
Aslong as it means we get more great games day one on game pass ..I suppose who cares if they are on ps
Wonderful news! Seems MS has done what's best for them and it looks like it's paying off big time. Good for them. Said it 1000 times, Xbox is stronger than it's been since the dawn of Xbox One, and they're just going from strength to strength. This multiplat strategy is (as I've said elsewhere) the way the industry is heading - and it's clearly a winner. Xbox games being played elsewhere does not degrade anyone's experience. Xbox isn't going anywhere. That's been made clear here in the news, and elsewhere, vividly.
Again, anyone who thinks Xbox is getting out of hardware clearly has zero understanding of the gaming industry. With that said, I'm all for games to be in every platform known to man. Microsoft is making bank and that's what it's all about in the end.
microsoft will be sony largest third party publisher i do not see xbox ever competing again in hardware. the ship has sailed on them..
The more money they make the more money they can spend on getting more games to be day one on game pass
@donv2135
I certainly hope MS ends up better off, but what’s the point in upgrading to the Series X successor.
@IOI thats not what he said. Lets not go into speculations.
here is a quote: "There are xbox games we shipped that we are not going to put on other platforms. Some others we are going to look at how they do".
This means:
1) some currently exclusive games will be exclusive.
2) Newer games are basically case-by-case
The rest are speculations.
@VoidPunk for me it’s game pass, I would not be able to afford every game if I bought them full price so game pass is very nice and there are a couple games a year that I’ve played but wouldn’t have if it weren’t for game pass
Bottom line: there will be 1st party exclusives for the time being.
More games are coming to PS/N but which and when we dont know.
Also, they are still signing 3rd party exclusivity - for example subnautica 2.
Lets stop speculating and take things as they are today.
@Markatron84 we knew early in the FTC process that COD will be multiplat legally.
@Millionski I don’t know how you want them to tell you, it’s crystal clear what their future plans are when he said there’s no red lines and he won’t put walls around any game, that quote is talking about old games that may be complicated or just not worth to port, and honestly, don’t put too much attention on Phil’s words, don’t you remember “there’s only 4 games” and “Indiana Jones isn’t going to PlayStation”?
I legit don’t understand you, you change your stance pretty much every week, one week you’re against this multiplatform push, the other you’re all for it, and now you’re negating it’s happening in the first place….
@BacklogBrad Not sure about the future of Xbox as an actual box, but definitely as a publisher for sure.
@TheEstablishment It's pretty widely known that console manufacturers typically either lose money or make very little profit off of every unit sold. So if the bean counters at M$ keep seeing hardware sales declining steeply every quarter, coupled with how much $$ they're making from the sale of games on PS and Nintendo, at some point you have to think they'll ask themselves what the point is? The investment in R&D, marketing, shipping units, repairs/warranty claims etc? They've said they're committed to at least one more generation of hardware, but if current trends continue, I can't see them staying in the hardware market after that.
@SleeplessKnight after seeing their mockup for a cylindrical series x I am also not sure of their future as a box. I am confident they continue to make consoles though.
@BacklogBrad I mean one could look at it like this; If you sell 60 million consoles at little to no profit or even a loss compared to 30 million consoles, what does it really matter to Microsoft? However if the goal is to significantly grow their subscriber base for Game Pass, the best way to do that is on actual Xbox consoles. But with roughly only 30 million units of Series X/S sold thus far, which is behind the pace of Xbox One (which was considered a failure after the success of the 360) what happens if they only sell 20 million of their next-gen hardware? People will immediately say "PC", however if that was the goldmine people say it is, then how come GP subs have been stagnant for a few years now? The way some people talk about the "promised land" of PC, you'd think GP would have 60 million subs by now but in reality they're only at around 35 million even WITH COD Black Ops 6. So what's the solution? Probably very likely putting the GP service on PS and Nintendo, thus further diminishing the importance or relevance of Xbox consoles.
@Isolte lol they've known that for a VERY long time.
@VoidPunk Game Pass, cloud, quick resume, a great controller, rewards, play anywhere, just to name a few, for me, that is.
I guess it depends on return on investment if any company would make another next generation console or not.
You would calculate the cost of console development and manufacturing costs.
Add up all the in goings and out goings and see what the cash bottom line is.
Now the only difference for Microsoft is the gamepass attach rate to current Xbox consoles which is over 50%.
Do they wish to loose that in the future and of course needs to be costed in to the overall return on investment. Against how many next generation consoles they may sell.
It’s all about bottom line profit or not.
One could argue if they are doing and achieve great success just as a publisher.
Then why bother with a next generation Xbox and even game pass at all, as they both cost the company money.
Thanks Microsoft for helping me decide never buy a Microsoft console ever again. The paper launch for the Series consoles was horrible and full of undelivered promises. Good luck with Game Pass.
@SleeplessKnight you talk about "the goal" being to grow gamepass. This is off the mark. The goal is to grow the gaming business and gamepass is a small fraction of that. The console is also a small but key part of that. The console helps them to sell gamepass and sell their games at 100% profit (no giving 30% to sony or whoever), allows them charge their own licensing fee for 3rd party. It allows them to sell more controllers, headsets, partner with storage devices, etc.
Convincing someone to abandon their current console and go to another brand is nearly impossible (just convincing them to abandon ps4 for ps5 has proven difficult). If those people are not going to buy your console, there is an audience that cannot purchase your game. Find a way to sell that person your games. Multiplat is the future of the industry but a physical xbox is a part of that future.
@BacklogBrad Selling PS5's hasn't been difficult at all. PS5 is selling at a faster rate in North America and about the same pace as PS4 wordwide at this stage of the generation, despite being more expensive. Don't lump Xbox's failures and new direction with the rest of the industry. Nintendo and Sony are both going to keep selling tons of units of their hardware as well as releasing tons of exclusive (in PS's case "console-exclusive") games.
@SleeplessKnight last year there was a report that nearly half of playstation users were still on ps4. Playstation even acknowledged that ps4 is still a major part of their current strategy. This was over 4 years after the infamous "we believe in generations" quote. Clearly they are not getting people to upgrade as much as they would like.
Xbox has a similar case where xbox players has never been higher. They are just spread out through series, xb one, and now the pc/cloud. Xbox is not struggling, you just can't look past the simplicity of the outdated console sales metric.
Thats good news, Xbox as a big successful publisher is great and it might mean I can save money not needing to buy as many consoles in the future but still play those awesome Xbox games
@OldGamer999 Yes thats exactly how they will calculate. get you ROIs and NPVs and such. They will also have to factor in selling those boxes at a cost especially early in the gen. I really wonder how much it costs to develop a console. I am sure its in billions but is it like 2B or 10B. They will also be cutting the marketing cost for sure as they dont really wanna bother with that.
This will hint us at a cut-off point with minimum consoles sold. I am still convinced 30M and even 20M is enough.
Things like steam deck sold just 4M, also sold at a loss and have steam with no subs required and is considered a success by valve.
So who know maybe 10M is enough. Another problem is - is it enough for 3rd party devs.
@BacklogBrad Sony's combined sales of PS4 and PS5 is roughly 190 million and counting. So figuring in overlap from people who own both what is half? If 75% of PS users own both, then that would be about 47 million still clinging to their PS4's, so a big market to just ignore and cut off from new releases. And when Sony sold 118 million PS4's (compared to around 58 million Xbox One's) of course they would say the PS4 is still a major part of their strategy - to sell as many copies of their games and keep people in their ecosystem, eventually getting those people to upgrade to PS5. The point being there has to be some hook or incentive for users to want to upgrade to PS5. What incentive does anyone who currently owns a Series X or S have to be excited or want the next Xbox console?
Xbox hardware IS struggling. It has been for over a decade now. Microsoft's change in direction with Game Pass and now going multiplatform is not because they're "the good guys" who want to "make gaming more accessible to everyone" - that's just pure corporate marketing spin. It's because the Xbox business as a console IS failing! It's so clearly obvious!
As a software publisher though, you're correct Xbox is not struggling.
@SleeplessKnight The genius of the multiplat strategy is that console sales DO NOT MATTER anymore. The industry has evolved beyond that. It is an outdated metric. Even playstation is a pc and switch publisher now.
Xbox consoles are not going away. Say their hardware is "failing" all you want but the fact is xbox is not failing and the consoles are not going anywhere. They have built themselves into the biggest brand in gaming.
Keep it mind the Steam deck is considered a "success" and it has sold 3 million units. Personally I can't wait for the Steam "home console" machine. That is the next pc revolution in gaming. In 5 years we will have multiple options for pc "home consoles."
@BacklogBrad Dude I own a Series X and really like it. In fact I play 90% of my multiplatform games on it as my son and I game share so we've saved a couple grand over the past 3 or 4 years going that route as opposed to me buying every game twice (one on PS, one on XB). My PS5 is basically an exclusive box. Also, getting MS Studios games for essentially "free" Day 1 on GP is awesome...for me a the player. How sustainable is it for M$ though? So I'm not wishing or rooting for Xbox to stop making hardware at all. I'm just questioning the feasibility of Xbox hardware going forward in the current landscape.
@SleeplessKnight i too own a ps5 and am not rooting against them or for xbox. It's just that the doom and gloom surrounding xbox is click bait by media. There really isn't a reason for them to ever stop making hardware. If 30+ million people didn't move off xbox one when they actually had no exclusives then they won't move off series x when they have a plethora of timed exclusives.
It will be interesting to see the long term effects of call of duty being marketed by xbox and a yearly release into xbox.
Makes sense to me - CoD was ONLY sold on Playstation so those gamers had no choice but to 'buy' to play making Microsoft a lot of money. On Xbox, gamers have a choice to 'Buy' or 'Sub' to Game Pass so don't have to spend ANY money at all on Call of Duty 'specifically'.
Xbox Hardware may NOT be the most popular - but it doesn't need to be as they aren't 'forcing' PC players to buy an Xbox or 'miss out' on Xbox games Day 1. Like Sony, MS may bring SOME games to PS5, but many won't be 'Day 1' releases - so you may not get to play Starfield, Fable, South of Midnight, Avowed, Redfall, MSFS, Perfect Dark etc until they have stopped bringing in revenue on Xbox.
6 months after release, that game is not selling Hardware and unlikely to be selling Subscriptions or Software as those that want to play, would likely have bought and its the 'next' exclusive release that will be selling for MS. When Indiana Jones finally releases on PS5, Xbox will be relying on Avowed, Doom, South of Midnight etc to sell Xbox Hardware/Game Pass Subscriptions. Therefore Indiana Jones isn't bringing in revenue from 'Xbox' so sell it on PS5 to maximise their revenue. Yes it 'stops' being Exclusive then, but it also brings revenue in.
MS doesn't need to sell 'Consoles' - their own 'ecosystem' is not 'locked' to their Console like Sony/Nintendo. They have their 'own' on PC (rival to Steam) and they have their Cloud which doesn't require Console ownership which is running on 'Virtual' Xbox Console hardware built into servers - its running on Xbox Hardware even if the Gamer isn't playing on Xbox Hardware.
Console isn't 'failing' as such, its just NOT as important when its 'optional'. Those that may prefer to game on Cloud or PC with Game Pass are not buying Xbox Hardware - even if you 'choose' to spend Series X money on a RoG Ally instead, you can still be in the 'Xbox' ecosystem where ALL the money you spend goes to Microsoft - not a 3rd Party (like Steam, Epic, Sony or Nintendo)
Most Hardware is built and sold at a 'Loss' and so are locked in to that 'platform' and have to pay to play online. Buy Spider-Man 2 on PS5, you won't be able to play on PC without buying the PC version, games cost more and you only have 1 'digital' store to buy from because the Platform holder wants to make back the Money they lost selling a Console. Sell 100m consoles and lose $50 on each, that's a LOT more money you need to make back...
@BacklogBrad Sure, I know and you know that even if the big tentpole Xbox flagship titles like Halo, Gears and Forza start to come to PS and Nintendo, there is still huge value playing them on Xbox in (a) them being "free" Day 1 on GP or (b) being first on Xbox - like Indiana Jones which I played and beat over the holidays and have zero interest in replaying on PS for $90 CAD. And yes having the biggest annualized franchise in gaming releasing "free" on Day 1 on GP going forward SHOULD attract more people to GP and Xbox, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Oh that’s a little concerning. So that’s 36% of spending on Xbox games spread across Switch, PC (Steam and Microsoft Store), and consoles. So the Xbox consoles end up as an alarmingly small slice of the overall pie. The ratio will only get worse as more games go to PS5 and Switch 2.
@Millionski yes. But until that was cleared up, that was the main point of contention, even though anyone with half a brain could have seen the stupid amount of money Microsoft would be leaving on the table had they made Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox.
This figure means they ‘only’ need roughly 160 months to recoup actiblizz purchase. (And that’s revenue)
@SleeplessKnight Because PC players are tied to Steam more than anything else and Game Pass, while fairly popular on PC, isn't a service the hardcore PC players are going to even care about. As for the PC being a "goldmine", well....it is. But mainly because of the big store fronts like Steam, Epic, GOG, Battle net, ect.
@Millionski Didn't Phil cry about third-party deals? Funny that Xbox is still doing them
it's not my thing how xbox has taken the path but well the days of exclusivity are slowly going away at xbox, but hey it is what it is, in the end I always buy xbox consoles , xbox hardware so in that area nothing changes in my life but the thought of exclusive games going to other brands I will never get used to
If this is true (I don’t really frequent the site) -
https://insider-gaming.com/xbox-q2-2025-results/
That’s very low GP increase for CoD and Indy.
@IOI unfortunately, most Xbox gamers rely on subscription service (aka GamePass), as opposed to Playstation gamers.
@Markatron84 You have to wonder if this strategy will open up the possibility of other acquisitions with courts seeing how they're bring games to more platforms and actually reducing exclusivity.
@ButterySmooth30FPS
You still here then?
Thought you were done with this site.
@GeeForce I don't know you! Stranger-danger
@ButterySmooth30FPS
😂
I look at what Sony have on offer for the next couple of years and I have zero interest in it. The few JRPG's I can't get on Xbox I can just get on my Switch.
The reason I buy the Xbox hardware is not because I like the hardware, it's the ecosystem, my large library of back compat games, free cloud saves, play anywhere, quick resume and the preferred UI that keep me coming back. Other features like getting cheaper online games via CD Keys is something I can't really do with PlayStation. I also like the reward points system and I do prefer the controller design (With haptics it would be perfect). If Nintendo Switch 2 is anywhere near Series S level it I won't bother getting a PS6 I will just get whatever the next Xbox is or a PC.
As mentioned, Microsoft acquired some big studios to prop up that their XBOX division was getting hammered [by Sony]. What this says to me is that Microsoft's strategy worked.
Sony are likely smarting slightly that over half of the value of every ABK game sold on Playstation is going straight to Microsoft, and it's the one franchise that sells an obnoxious amount on Playstation which is making them a ridiculous amount of money.
If Microsoft decide to stay with the Series X|S and focus on improving their cloud infrastructure, they could very easily lose the battle but win the war.
I don't see the next big console generation being about a massive metal and plastic chimney that you could fry an egg on. I see that the next big console generation will be a device around the same size, maybe even smaller, than the Series S from Microsoft, that stores one or two games you play often locally, while the rest are in the cloud.
@SleeplessKnight The crazy thing the GP subs are not ACTUALLY 35 million at all. Microsoft confirmed with the Verge when reporting that number that they combined the Live Gold numbers which is now Gamepass core to get 33 million GP numbers.
The last official OG GP number was 20 million in 2021 i guess. And Live Gold obviously has 13 million subs then. So that means original GP subs actually CONTRACTED, thats why they had to add in Live Gold to it. And even then this combined number is horrible. Since PS+ has ~ 50 million subs for a few years now on just PS4/PS5. Switch has 34million subs on just Switch, meanwhile Gamepass subs including Live Gold is on cloud, mobile, console and PC and is just struggling at 30million subs when the potential userbase is literally in BILLIONS.
People are surprised Xbox's share of CoD players is tiny? We've known this since the FTC trial. I bang this drum on this site all the time.
CoD on every one of these platforms combined don't equal the reason Microsoft bought King (with activision and blizzard thrown in as a bonus), which is CoD mobile.
edit: and this is from the FTC trial, before Xbox sales fell off a cliff.
BacklogBrad wrote:
It's funny you say that because looking at Xbox's hardware sales trend over the last 10 quarters, Microsoft is pulling off the impossible by the millions. Heck in the comments of this site, the xbox subreddit, really everywhere you look Microsoft has convinced Xbox diehards like myself to switch next gen.
I still think the merger should've been blocked. MS is one of the most vicious companies out there. They don't really care about games but they absolutely care about profits & monetizing the biggest part of the entertainment industry. Maybe they'll get tiktok and add it to Xbox 😂
But hey! More money as a publisher means more games for us hopefully. Surely they won't just pour that money into proven franchises right?
Impressive, but also expected now they have bought multiple publishers and have COD.
@Jenkinss Your chart is right about number of active players / engagement per platform but it doesn't tell the whole story.
As of Feb 2022 COD mobile had generated over $1.5 billion in 4 years of revenue, that is a lot, but it is a drop in the ocean compared to the $31+ billion the series has made overall, particularly in recent years.
TLDR: COD mobile is huge in terms of engagement but it isn't as profitable as the main series.
@themightyant 1.5 billion in 4 years is a drop in the ocean compared to... the accumulated total of a franchise 22 years running?
Is this satire?
@Jenkinss Not at all. If we were just to go on averages it would be $0.375 bn a year on mobile VS $1.41 bn a year on PC/console. But we know they make a lot more money now on COD than they used to, especially via MTX, so it's likely a nearer a 10x difference per year.
Again that isn't to say COD mobile is small, it isn't, but it is nowhere near as profitable as big-daddy COD.
@themightyant Your numbers aren't even close to right, I should have never even responded without fact checking you. It made 1.5 billion in its first 3 years (up to Feb 2022) and made 3 billion in its first not quite 5 years (up to July 2023). So 1.5 billion in 17 months, and rapidly trending upwards after an initial paltry (lol) $327M in its first 20 months on the market. Secondly, you're including mobile spend in your "big daddy (rofl) cod" numbers.
Again I must ask, is this satire?
@Jenkinss On checking you are right about including mobile spend in COD PC/console, my bad, thanks for the correction.
But, error aside, it's still small compared to something like COD: MW2 that made $1 billion in 10 days versus $1.5 billion in 17 months.
@themightyant Do you know what a trend is? 54M in its first month. 327M in its first 20 months. 480M in its first 24 months.
1.1B in the following 14 months, ending Feb 2022.
1.5B in the following 17 months, ending in July 2023.
I'm sure you can imagine what this looks like on a graph, and we can project what mobile's revenues look like in 2024.
Now everything we've discussed is only revenue. You understand how badly mobile is dumpstering "big daddy" in profit, right? Cold War, released 5 years ago, cost $700M. Obviously dev costs trend upward. What do you think it costs to maintain a mobile game? Now put those numbers up against their yearly revenues (unclear which is higher as of 2025, the trend is clearly that if mobile hasn't already overtaken "big daddy" in yearly revenue, it certainly will).
While consoles take a lot to produce I think having all options available is probably better then just third party only approach and 1 less console there.
Sure Xbox owners may go to PS or PC instead if they end the Xbox but Xbox having a console means they have that audience, another device option available and the other audiences as well so having the Xbox as 1 more option third parties can make their games for not just PS consoles, cloud, PC launchers or sub services, besides being on both makes a difference I think.
Besides being as broad does help for money and audience reach and well games and Office/Edge aren't the same but kind of are of business model they want to offer people.
It's not like Microsoft hasn't done this before, sure Office reach but if they couldn't get a deal to work they make their own, as if that hasn't been the case when people know of it or do tech research not live in the gaming bubble. A lot can be learned from tech or prior company efforts/strategies, it happens repetitively it's easy to see why.
Even if most people don't even know Open Office/Libre Office or others exist unless were counting like Google Docs or Apple's or whatever.
But either way the broad approach never seemed bad to me.
MS did Gameboy Color games, Sega did PC alongside the Saturn/Dreamcast, they did Coleco Chameleon during the 6th generation if people know what that is. XD
Like the broad approach makes sense, I'm still not buying or playing them Gamepass or either console/PC/mobile but still if people still enjoy them by all means I'm 1 customer, I don't contribute that much just because I don't care for them.
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