Microsoft has reason to feel validated in its gaming strategy- the company earned a staggering $10 billion from gaming over the last year, which was up from over $9 billion the year before. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Microsoft views gaming as a lucrative strategic opportunity- but they also seem to finally understand that they need to actually invest more in the field to be able to get the most out of it.
Which would, for example, explain Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s assertion during a financial call earlier today that the company will continue to invest in gaming, in every aspect, from content to delivery to services, and beyond.
“In gaming, we’re pursuing our expansive opportunity from the way games are created and distributed, to how they’re played and viewed, surpassing ten billion revenue this year for the first time. We’re investing aggressively in content, community, and cloud services across every end-point to expand usage and deepen engagement with gamers,” he said.
This increased investment in gaming may explain, for example, how Game Pass has gotten more compelling this year, or why Microsoft decided to increase their investment in first party games. It could explain why Microsoft has doubled down on having the most powerful console on the market with the release of the Xbox One X last year.
They’ve primed themselves well to do extremely great in the market in the coming years- admittedly, we won’t see the fruits of their labors for a while, but it’s hard to ignore that they have set up the pieces right. Now to see if they can actually follow through.
