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In the first paragraph:

> While videogames are as profitable as ever on paper

And the linked article is about revenue going up YoY, not profit. And then it says:

> It's remarkably dissonant with, say, the current 'Xbox reset' which has Microsoft cancelling games and looking to ax studios left and right

Xbox in their own earnings report said their revenues dropped by 7% YoY.

Yeah OK, I guess games journalist are as bad as they've ever been.



Are there sources for this? I'm seeing an 11% increase in revenue from their 2025 Q4 report[0], and still a 1% increase in their 2026 Q1 report[1], the off-season for the videogame industry. Hardware revenue's falling, but it's propped up with their Game Pass and game sales.

[0] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/earnings/FY-2026-Q1...

[1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Investor/earnings/fy-2025-Q4...

edit: Tarn Adams is also an indie game developer, not a game journalist. Dwarf Fortress is highly influential in the indie game scene.


You can search "Xbox revenue 2026" and one of the first results is this: https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/xbox-revenue-f...

Note that I said "YoY", and the numbers you're citing are quarter to quarter (and on 2025 Q4 don't include the Xbox Hardware division, only their content division).

The points I've quoted come from the article, not the interview with the developer. I didn't go that far down because clearly the person taking the interview doesn't know what they're talking about.


An article that references a tweet and some blog site called "beincrypto.com". That's not the first result for me, and I'm glad it isn't.

It's also only referencing hardware sales. Not the Xbox division.

edit:

> and on 2025 Q4 don't include the Xbox Hardware division, only their content division

This is also false


The tweet is from Asha Sharma, the leader of Xbox!

> It's also only referencing hardware sales. Not the Xbox division.

No??? You can quibble about the article, but you must've failed to read:

> The fourth quarter alone showed a sharper split. Xbox content and services revenue, which includes Game Pass, fell 10 percent in the quarter. Hardware revenue dropped 13 percent over the same three months

This is further bolstered by MS's own press release:

> XBOX content and services revenue decreased 10%

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/earnings/fy-2026-q4...

> and on 2025 Q4 don't include the Xbox Hardware division, only their content division

You said "I'm seeing an 11% increase in revenue from their 2025 Q4 report"

When the report says:

> Xbox content and services revenue increased 13% (up 12% in constant currency)

In fact, there's no 11% figure anywhere in the report, so I have to assume this is what you're referring to since MS didn't break out Xbox hardware anywhere in it.

This is laughably shoddy work, please don't waste my time.


Yes, I know the tweet was from Asha Sharma. The crypto site referenced throughout the site null and voided my ability to take much of it seriously. At the end of the day, videogames _are_ profitable for these shareholders, granted that as many "unnecessary" studios are closed / employees laid off, risky creative endeavors are shuttered, and subscription services + legal gambling for children are at the forefront. I don't think you know anything about the videogame industry, and certainly not as much as a developer working on a successful indie game for two decades now whom you thought was simply a game journalist.

Revenues overall are rising, but the only real growth right now is in China + East Asia, and in Roblox.

https://www.matthewball.co/all/presentation-the-state-of-vid...


The video game revenue growth is mostly mobile game and gacha game mtx, primarily in the Asian markets.




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