The Xbox Series X|S launch was the most successful in Xbox history

The November 2020 launch of the Xbox Series X|S proved incredibly successful for Microsoft, the company has revealed in its latest financial results (via GI.biz).

The company reported overall gaming revenues up 51 per cent for the quarter ended December 31, 2020.

Revenues from Xbox hardware was up 86 per cent, no doubt due to the launch of the next-generation consoles in November.

Content and service revenue was up 40 per cent, with the company crediting third party sales, Game Pass subscriptions and first party sales.

In fact, during a conference call with investors, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella provided further details about exactly how successful the Series X|S launch was.

According to Nadella, “[t]he launch of Xbox series X and series S was the most successful in our history with the most devices ever sold in a launch month.”

This success has been in spite of the supply issues both the Series X|S and the Playstation 5 have encountered since launch, with both consoles still difficult for consumers to get their hands on.

Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood noted that “console demand that has significantly exceeded supply following the Xbox series X and S launches.” This is expected to continue, as demand is not expected to fall while sales will be “constrained by supply.”

Additionally, Nadella revealed that gaming revenues had surpassed 5 billion for the first time last quarter. Nadella went on to add game developers were also benefitting from the use of Xbox’s cloud technology, and that the company had “exceeded $2 billion in revenue from third-party titles this quarter for the first time.”

Xbox Live has now exceeded 100 million monthly active users, while Game Pass has over 18 million subscribers, a jump from the 15 million reported in September 2020.