For Microsoft, the true killer app for their gaming division may not be a traditional game like Halo, Forza, or even Minecraft– it may be Xbox Live, their pioneering gaming network that has consistently set the standard for online gaming on consoles, and which continues to blaze the trail in that arena even today.
Speaking at Microsoft’s Financial Analyst Briefing 2017 in Seattle, Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella mentioned that Xbox Live is the biggest ‘social network’ in the entire gaming market- by which he was probably referring to its monetization, because he did very specifically mention that it makes far more money than any other similar network. This means that, yes, Xbox Live is still more profitable than PSN, and even though Steam may have more users, Microsoft makes more money off of Xbox Live itself.
Nadella also answered a question I have been pondering on for bit– are ‘gaming’ and Xbox conflatable to Microsoft? As it turns out, no they are not. Nadella very specifically said that gaming is bigger than just Xbox for Microsoft. Which is… an interesting stance to be taking, that is for sure.