Credit: Epic Games
The recent fiscal results for Microsoft were good, although there was a noticeable difference in their below-par gaming revenue.
Microsoft revealed that their gaming revenue was down 10% with gaming hardware and 48% on gaming software, and subscriptions have dropped 3% compared to the same quarter last year.
It was reported that levels of in-game spending in Fortnite has dropped considerably. The game took in $203 million in May, but that was a 38% drop from last year and revenues are continuing to fall. Microsoft is most concerned with the game’s earnings on Xbox, where they receive a cut of the money.
Microsoft can only hope that Epic can figure out a way to bring money back into the game. They need to find a way to reinvigorate people’s interests in battle royale (or at least financially profitable elements of it).
Microsoft was able to partially offset the revenue with increases in Xbox Live takings and Xbox Game Pass. With gaming so popular, there are usually other ways that money can be made, but when a giant like Fortnite struggles a bit, it certainly would raise some red flags.
Microsoft feels that subscriptions are the key to future success. This is evidenced in Project xCloud, their game streaming service that allow players to play anywhere on any device. xCloud is expected to enter the testing phase later in the year.
