Benzinga - by Ananya Gairola, Benzinga Staff Writer.
In the wake of its successful acquisition of Activision Blizzard, tech giant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been celebrating record-breaking numbers of monthly active users on its Xbox PC and mobile platforms.
What Happened: During the second-quarter conference call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, “This quarter we set all-time records for monthly active users in Xbox PC, as well as mobile, where we now have over 200 million monthly active users alone, inclusive of Activision Blizzard King.”
He went on to add that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard significantly broadened Microsoft’s gaming user base by hundreds of millions.
Microsoft’s cloud gaming platform continues to innovate, offering gamers a variety of ways to interact with their preferred games. According to Nadella, hours streamed increased by 44% year-over-year.
Nadella attributed this impressive growth to the compelling content offered by Microsoft. The company has hinted at an exciting line-up of forthcoming games, including new first-party titles like Indiana Jones and substantial updates to popular franchises such as Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls Online, and Starfield.
Why It Matters: Microsoft’s second-quarter earnings also exceeded expectations, with a notable 18% year-over-year revenue increase. The revenue from Xbox content and services experienced a 61% year-over-year increase, boosted by the acquisition of Activision, which contributed 55 points to the overall results.
The record-breaking user numbers come on the back of Microsoft’s move to challenge tech rivals Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google in the mobile gaming arena.
Following the conclusion of the $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft was reported to be in discussions with industry partners to launch its own Xbox mobile gaming store.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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