In its Q3 Fiscal Year 2023 earnings report, Microsoft has revealed that the Xbox Series X|S sales are down a massive 30% year-over-year.
Microsoft states that the reduction in overall revenue was due to the “lower volume of consoles sold,” and according to the company, the reasoning was because of supply constraint issues.
“Xbox hardware revenue declined 30% (down 28% CC) on a prior year comparable that benefited from increased console supply,” said the company’s Q3 earnings slide.
Understandably, the news has got the hardcore fans of either site riled up, but let’s be honest, it’s not all doom and gloom for Xbox. Despite the poor hardware sales, Content and Services were up 3%. “Xbox content and services revenue increased 3% driven by growth in Xbox Game Pass,” said Microsoft.
Maintaining an Xbox Game Pass audience is a huge win for Xbox, especially when you consider what subscribers have had, or lack of, in terms of 1st party titles these past 18 months. Halo Infinite was arguably the console’s last ‘console mover’, which was released in December 2021. Since then, Xbox’s first-party offering arguably hasn’t been spectacular. Regardless though, Xbox has still been able to main maintain its Xbox Game Pass subscribers and with a seemingly major exclusives on the horizon, it’ll be interesting to see where Xbox lands.
Redfall, Forza Motorsport, and Starfield are all still scheduled to release in 2023 and with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard expected to finalize later this year, Xbox is in a good position when you look at its roadmap.
What do you think of Xbox’s sales and its current roadmap?
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