As far as raw sales are concerned, the Xbox Series X|S is lagging behind the competition. Nintendo is leading the pack by a massive margin as the lifetime sales of the Nintendo Switch console numbers over 88 million units. This is followed at a distance by the PS5 with 10 million units, and the newer Xbox models recently broke 6 million.
However, this hardly translates to a failure. Microsoft has been bridging the gap between Xbox and PC for gaming, and many of its paid services extend to both platforms. Chief executive officer Satya Nadella and chief financial officer Amy Hood spoke about the continued success of Game Pass, which keeps showing growth. Microsoft has been posting significant year-on-year growth across the board. Despite moving fewer units than the competition, Xbox hardware revenue shot up 172% and gaming revenue grew by 11%. While Game Pass, in its own vacuum, continues to grow, overall services revenue saw a 4% decrease, attributed to now third party game sales. Reasons for this include numerous delays in game releases, and the said decrease comes after record high numbers previously due to pandemic lockdowns. The executives said that Microsoft is going “all-in” with games, and that titles supporting user generated content like Minecraft and Microsoft Flight Simulator are earning double that they were in the previous fiscal year - which spans July to June for Microsoft, as opposed to the standard fiscal years that most other companies adhere to.
