Microsoft reported its Q3 FY15 earnings today, citing growth in Xbox Live usage as one of the contributing factors to the firm’s reported revenue. However, the firm noted a decline in units sales for its Xbox consoles during the quarter.
The firm said the 30% growth in the Xbox Live service was “driven by increased users and deeper user engagement” and contributed to company wide revenues of $21.7 billion. Xbox Live users increased by 18%.
Xbox Platform revenue decreased $306 million or 24%, driven by a 20% decline in console volume and lower prices of Xbox One consoles compared to the prior year. The firm moved 1.6 million Xbox consoles during Q3 compared with 2 million year-over-year.
For the nine months ended March 31, compared to the same period in 2014, Computing and Gaming Hardware revenue increased $499 million or 6%, primarily due to higher revenue from Surface, offset in part by lower revenue from Xbox Platform.
Xbox Platform revenue decreased $471 million or 8%, driven by lower prices of Xbox One consoles compared to the prior year, as well as a decrease in second and third-party video games revenue.
