Satya Nadella has used a poker term regarding games, and since Microsoft will likely never have financial issues thanks to having Windows and Office, they can afford this approach.

During Microsoft‘s Q4 2021 earnings call (for Microsoft, the business year starts in July!), Nadella said the following: „Gaming is the largest category in the entertainment industry, and we are expanding our opportunity to reach the world’s 3 billion gamers wherever and whenever they play. We are all in on games. At E3 last month, we unveiled our biggest games lineup ever, announcing 27 new titles, which will all be available to Game Pass subscribers. Game Pass is growing rapidly and it’s transforming how people discover, connect and play games. Subscribers play approximately 40% more games and spend 50% more than nonmembers.

We continue to lead in the fast-growing cloud gaming market with last month — just last month, we made Xbox Cloud gaming available on PCs as well as Apple phones and tablets via the browser in 22 countries with more to come. Millions have already streamed games to their desktops, tablets and phones. And the Xbox Series S and X are our fastest-selling consoles ever, with more consoles sold live to date than any previous generation.

Finally, we continue to grow our opportunity in the creator economy, adding new ways for players to build and monetize their creations in many of our most popular games, including Flight Simulator and Minecraft. Creators earned more than double what they did a year ago across our titles,” Nadella said.

So after Jim Ryan (Sony Interactive Entertainment) and Gabe Newell (Valve), another prominent person has used the term gamer, which, according to Electronic Arts, is getting outdated. It rather looks like EA is disconnected from reality. And regarding Game Pass, we recently discussed an ex-PlayStation boss being critical about its business model. Finally, of course, the consoles sell more than their predecessors: the gaming industry and the pandemic distort the situation in their favour, and Ryan has said the same thing regarding the PlayStation 5.

But how many Xbox Series DID get sold? Here comes Niko Partners’ senior analyst, Daniel Ahmad, who did the math for us on Twitter: „We estimate that the Xbox Series X|S total sell-in was 6.5 million as of June 30, 2021, compared to our estimate of 5.7 million for Xbox One and 5 million for Xbox 360 in the same timeframe. Supply for Series X|S improved in the past quarter, with hardware revenue up 20% quarter-over-quarter.

While the Xbox One shipped more than the 360 early on, the 360 outsold it over time. The Series X|S should do a better job maintaining its lead given its dual SKU strategy and content + Game Pass focus this generation,” Ahmad said.

So PlayStation 5: 10 million, Xbox Series: 6.5 million.

Source: WCCFTech