TheJuly Xbox Gaming Eventhas caused a big splash in gaming today, with some highly anticipated games announced as well as an increased focus on the Xbox Games Pass. And while many industries and businesses have been suffering during the pandemic and lockdown, Microsoft has been doing extraordinarily well.
The CEO ofMicrosoft, Satya Nadella, says last financial quarter was “a breakthrough . . . for gaming” as people have been turning toward consoles and gaming to connect with each other.Gaming time has seen a “drastic increase” during COVIDaccording to one study, and those results aren’t surprising. Nadella points out that video games are offering many people a chance to “connect, socialize, and play” that they just aren’t getting otherwise in lockdown conditions.
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However, Microsoft isn’t just thinking about consoles. The upcomingProject xCloud for the Xbox Game Pass will stream games from console to screen. From there, Nadella plans to step from consoles over to the PC, and to add in support for mobile in addition to the streaming service and Xbox Live social network. This is all part of Microsoft’s plan to aim for sales from a larger market, beyond just the traditional Xbox console gamers.
The company hasn’t had success with all of its projects, one example beingMicrosoft’s failed streaming platform Mixer. But it looks like the company is attempting to learn from past mistakes, and the last quarter has proved that Microsoft can successfully capitalize on what is for most companies a very bad situation and come out on top.
Microsoft has some very ambitious plans for Xbox, and its recent financial success is setting it on the right path. With an estimatedone-third of game developers facing delays due to COVID, the games industry has had some rocky times in the current situation. It’s no easy feat to emerge from a global pandemic in the black. If it continues on this path, the future for Microsoft and Xbox looks positive.
