At the start of this generation, it became clear thatXbox’sinfluence as a console producer waned, with the much more popularPlayStation 5 outsellingthe Series X/S across the board. But when all seemed lost,Microsoft had the brilliant decision to just stop focusing on the console.
From last year’s“this is an Xbox” campaign, to mighty additions to Xbox Game Pass likeIndiana Jones And The Great Circle, Xbox’s software crusade has been growing steadily. Additionally,porting many first-partytitles to PlayStation and even Nintendo Switch greatly expanded their reach.
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Although it took some time, the console wars may finally be over. With Xbox shifting strategies, it almost feels like the console market no longer limits them; even CEOPhil Spencer seems transparentthat streaming and software are the new frontier for Xbox.
Microsoft recently released its2025 Q3 earnings report,and although hardware sales seem to continue declining, software and content sales are up 8%, showing that Xbox’s outside-the-box strategy may actually be paying off.
Other than Indiana Jones, massive hits likeCall Of Dutyon Game Pass and recent ports likeForza Horizon 5on PS5 are likely pushing forward this last quarterly wave of content sales for Microsoft.
As the report shows, an 8% revenue increase is pretty significant. Although it isn’t a skyrocket per se, it still proves that shifting away from consoles hasn’t been as detrimental to sales as one might think. After all, Xbox was alreadylosing money on eachXbox sold.
Considering the recent risk of tariffs, Microsoft’s shift towards cloud services, Game Pass, and game production probably allows them to stay in their own bubble away from the market.Nintendo, for instance, is likelyfacing their own challengeswith the upcoming hardware sales of the Switch 2.
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Without being tied down to hardware, Xbox seems to have much more control over what they’re selling and how they’re selling it.Like Steam, it’s one thing to make games, and it’s another to own the platform where games are being streamed from and sold.
Additionally, there have always been constant rumors about what a potential upcoming Xbox console would look like. Some rumors have spread ideas about a possibleXbox handheld, others about another full console release at the scale of the Series X/S.
But, being honest, I would say Xbox looks fairly complacent where they are right now. With a boost in Game Pass subscriptions and less stress competing with PlayStation and Nintendo, these seemingly basic quarterly sales seem to be a huge indication of Xbox’s future.
Xbox Series X
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