Microsoft and Sony Booming Off Gaming

Microsoft and Sony gaming consoles have brought their respective company’s businesses to a whole new level, based on each company’s latest earnings reports.

Microsoft reported revenue of $41.7 billion for its fiscal Q3 2021 — its best quarter in four years, helping bring its stock within 1% of the extremely rare $2 trillion market cap. 

Part of the reason? The meteoric rise of its gaming division. 

Microsoft launched its Xbox Series X|S console during the company’s fiscal Q2 in November and saw its first $5 billion quarter for gaming revenue. 

Tuesday’s earnings report revealed that Xbox hardware revenue grew 232% year-over-year in the first three months of 2021. Overall gaming revenue was down to $3.53 billion but was still a 50% increase over the same period last year.  

Estimates suggest Microsoft has probably sold around 5.8 million units of its new Xbox consoles, but the company doesn’t disclose exact hardware sales figures.

Sony, however, does — and the PlayStation 5 is flying off the shelves.

• Since its launch in November, 7.8 million units have been sold.
• It’s the company’s strongest console debut ever.

The Tokyo-based company released its latest earnings on Wednesday, reporting $82.5 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. Of that amount, $24.4 billion came from Sony’s Game & Network Services group.