Xbox Game Pass Boosts Gaming Revenue in Q3 FY25

Microsoft’s been throwing numbers around for FY23 Q3—quietly letting us in on the fact that their gaming revenue bumped up 5% compared to last year. This was all wrapped up by March 31, 2025, which feels like forever in gamer time.

Xbox’s magic trick this time? Kinda seems like it was all about Call of Duty doing its eternal dance and Minecraft sticking around like that catchy tune you just can’t get out of your head. Game Pass also strutted its stuff, going up 8%. But, not everything’s rosy; Xbox hardware sales dipped 6%. Goes to show, huh?

Okay, pause. Need to inject a little excitement here. Microsoft raked in about $70.1 billion this quarter—11% up from before, with a dizzyingly high net income of $25.8 billion. That’s a big grin on their fiscal face.

And those big titles, huh? Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 blew the doors off, being a cash cow. Meanwhile, Minecraft’s been set aflame—way more weekly players since some Minecraft Movie hit theaters, proving movies do have power. Who knew?

Then there’s the Xbox Cloud Gaming news: apparently, folks played over 150 million hours. Seriously, who’s clocking these hours? PC Game Pass also went wild, shooting up 45%.

Jumping tracks like an awkward DJ here—Microsoft claimed they topped the charts for game preorders, beat out both Xbox and PlayStation. Yeah, Satya Nadella seemed pretty thrilled with that.

And this quarter, we got Avowed from Obsidian. It’s like stepping into another one of their fantasy worlds, which speak to RPG fans and anyone else with a reason to skip reality.

Alright, scoot over to the future—er, next quarter. Xbox is showing off with a flood of releases. First week of April, they already released stuff like Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight and Obsidian’s Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered. That’s nostalgia, right there.

Towerborne’s also strutted onto Xbox, with PlayStation folks getting their own treats in Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones game. If I’m not lost in all this, May’s even bringing us DOOM: The Dark Ages.

Looking ahead, can’t lie—I’m curious if this momentum keeps rolling. Will Microsoft keep riding high? Or, hey, maybe we’ll all forget when the summer blockbuster hits start dropping. Who knows?