Global Giveaway - Win 1 of 3 ID-Cooling High-Performance Coolers, open worldwide until Dec 9

Microsoft continues aggressive investment into gaming

Microsoft is heavily investing into its gaming division as research and development costs increase by nearly $700 million.

Comment IconFacebook IconX IconReddit Icon
Senior Gaming Editor
Published
Updated
1 minute & 45 seconds read time

Microsoft is spending more into gaming as it ramps up key services like Xbox Game Pass, Project xCloud game streaming, software development, and new console hardware.

Microsoft continues aggressive investment into gaming 333

Right now Xbox is bigger than its ever been. The brand is now a service that delivers games, content, engagement, and monetization across consoles, mobile phones, tablets, PCs, and soon directly to television sets via native built-in apps.

Microsoft has spent billions to get Xbox where it is today and these investments are paying off. Xbox just achieved a new historic Q1 earnings record of $3.593 billion. This is just the beginning, and Microsoft has continued its aggressive spending and investment into video games.

In its recent Q1 SEC filing, Microsoft confirms research and development spending has increased by a whopping $673 million primarily because of cloud engineering and gaming. Both of these segments are synergistic to Xbox. Microsoft spent $5.5 billion in R&D in the first quarter period. Remember that R&D isn't always immediately accretive and is more of a longer-term investment.

Microsoft continues aggressive investment into gaming 6344

Present-day spending on games has also jumped. Cost of revenue increased $2.6 billion (+24%) to $13.646 billion in Q1'22 "driven by growth in Microsoft Cloud and Gaming." This includes spending on marketing, shipping, and delivery of content and services via the Xbox network.

Microsoft's games spending isn't going in any one place, but is instead spread across multiple segments. Xbox Game Pass is the core heart of the Xbox business and acts as a recurring subscription mechanism as well as a continual-monetization vehicle that not only sparks monthly payments and in-game purchases, but also full-game digital purchases as well.

It's also engineering the next generation of Xbox console hardware.

Check below for a closer look at Microsoft's Xbox revenue growth from Fiscal Year 2015 to present day, including the record Q1 numbers.

Microsoft continues aggressive investment into gaming 15
Microsoft continues aggressive investment into gaming 13
Microsoft continues aggressive investment into gaming 14
Photo of the Halo Infinite Standard Edition - Xbox Series X & Xbox One
Best Deals: Halo Infinite Standard Edition - Xbox Series X & Xbox One
Country flag Today 7 days ago 30 days ago
Loading... Loading...
Buy
* Prices last scanned on 12/8/2024 at 4:42 am CST - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.

Senior Gaming Editor

Email IconX IconLinkedIn Icon

Derek joined the TweakTown team in 2015 and has since reviewed and played 1000s of hours of new games. Derek is absorbed with the intersection of technology and gaming, and is always looking forward to new advancements. With over six years in games journalism under his belt, Derek aims to further engage the gaming sector while taking a peek under the tech that powers it. He hopes to one day explore the stars in No Man's Sky with the magic of VR.

Related Topics

Newsletter Subscription