Bethesda's Starfield made quite an impression when it was released on Xbox Series X/S and PC last month. This game became the biggest Bethesda game launch in history, propelling it to the top spot on the U.S charts of best-selling games. According to Microsoft's Fiscal Year 2024 Quarter 1 financial results, Starfield boasts an impressive statistic - over 11 million players worldwide have delved into this new gaming universe.
The successful launch of Starfield boosted Xbox content and services by a substantial 13%. Microsoft's executive vice president and chief financial officer, Amy Hood, revealed this during the company's recent financial call. Alongside this, she mentioned that the Xbox Game Pass saw a surge in its subscriber count. The exact numbers remain under wraps, but it was emphasized that the growth had exceeded Microsoft's expectations.
However, it wasn't all exceptional news for the tech giant. Despite the significant growth in services, a decrease by 7% in Xbox hardware sales was recorded. This deduction contributed to Microsoft’s overall hardware decline of 22% for the quarter. Intriguingly, about half of the Starfield players are PC users, as revealed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. This could possibly be indicative of why hardware sales fell. Further, on the day of its release, Starfield even smash records by becoming the catalyst for the highest number of Game Pass subscriptions in a single day. Both Xbox and PC gamers can get access to Starfield through Game Pass.
On another front, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard transpired earlier this month. Still, the company didn’t have much to discuss about its purchase. Nadella commented that the acquisition would add substantial depth to Microsoft's content portfolio and indicated that the company now possesses over 13 franchises each grossing over a billion dollars. Included in these franchises are prominent names like Candy Crush, Diablo, Halo, Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, and Gears of War. Nadella hinted at an exciting future, from new titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Forza Motorsport to mention a few.
Microsoft's cooperation with Bethesda seems to be paying off with the success of Starfield, despite the dip in Xbox hardware sales. This goes to show that powerful content can significantly buoy a platform's success, even when other aspects may not be performing at their best. In a closing note, Bethesda continues to invite players to experience Starfield and join its ever-expanding gaming universe. Its impressive gameplay and narrative blend have been compared to exploring a sci-fi theme park rather than simply being another open-world adventure game. Overall, Starfield has carved a noticeable mark in the gaming world, contributing to Xbox's financial growth and offering players a dazzling new cosmos to explore.
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