Several months on from acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft kicked off 2024 with the announcement that it would be laying off nearly 2000 employees. Unsurprisingly, this has been followed up by a glowing earnings report from Microsoft executives. 

With the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft's gaming business is now one of the biggest in the industry, solidifying its position in the market moving forward. The impact of Activision releases like Call of Duty can already be observed in Microsoft's earnings report, with Microsoft gaming revenue jumping up to over $7 billion for the previous quarter.

Importantly, if Microsoft's gaming division can keep this momentum going, then it may eclipse Windows earnings moving forward. For comparison, Windows earned $5.26 billion USD over the last quarter, although gaming still falls behind some of Microsoft's other major software areas, as Office and Cloud Services still brought in the most, generating just shy of $24 billion for the quarter.

Year on Year, Microsoft gaming grew by a massive 61 percent in revenue and Microsoft has seen a significant increase in active users for its gaming services too. Unfortunately, all of that success couldn't put a stop to the layoffs, which are now taking place across various Xbox studios, including teams at Activision Blizzard.

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KitGuru Says: The Activision Blizzard acquisition is already paying off. In a few months time, we should also begin to see the impact Activision Blizzard titles can have on services like Game Pass, which has yet to receive support from Microsoft's newly owned studios. However, games like Call of Duty are expected to land on the service later this year. 

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