At Microsoft as elsewhere, the video game has benefited from containment measures and this is felt through a record level of engagement approaching the 90 million users active on Xbox Live across all platforms. At the end of the first quarter of the year, the turnover of video games nevertheless shows a slight decrease of 1%, but this would undoubtedly have been much more significant without the exceptional circumstances due to COVID-19. As it stands, quarterly sales of video games at Microsoft remain stable and reach 2.35 billion dollars.
If we focus on Xbox content and services, sales are up 2% ($ 33 million), said Microsoft. However, no pandemic seems to be able to halt the decline in console sales, the hardware turnover showing a new fall of 20%, which is partly due to the general price cuts by the manufacturer, especially on the Xbox One X As a sign that a page will soon turn, Microsoft recently announced that the Cyberpunk 2077 collector's console will be the latest special Xbox One X model ever produced.
Slightly more generous in statistics than usual, Microsoft has revealed for the first time the number of Xbox Game Pass users. Keeping in mind that the entry ticket is particularly accessible (1 euro for the first month), Micros oft now claims 10 million subscribers to its flagship service. In comparison, Electronic Arts had announced the number of 5 million EA Access subscribers in November 2019, while Sony Interactive Entertainment displays for its part 38 million PlayStation Plus subscribers and 1 million PlayStation Now subscribers, according to most recent statistics. In addition, and with its recent opening in Europe, Microsoft adds that the beta of the Project xCloud platform is currently being tested by several hundred thousand players worldwide.
If the video game is stable overall, the containment had a clearer impact on the other Microsoft businesses, in particular the cloud department where the demand for Azure services exploded by 60% while the companies have more than ever need infrastructure to organize remotely. Between January and March 2020 alone, Microsoft's revenue increased 15% to $ 35 billion, while net profit climbed 22% to $ 10.8 billion.
