By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Ryuu96 on 20 September 2023



Around the Network
G2ThaUNiT on 20 September 2023
Ryuu96 said:

So as far as actual profitabilty, it goes Nintendo>Xbox>PlayStation?



Ryuu96 on 20 September 2023

According to an internal Gaming CSA (Customer Service Area) slide deck, the Xbox games division had an accountability margin of $1.5 billion for the first 9 months of FY22 (July 2022 - March 2023). So what exactly is an accountability margin?

In testimony from the FTC trial, Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer explains:

Q: On the other side we have Sony with PS5 and a very analogous hardware subsidy. Sony's gaming P&L runs at lower GM and AM percentage margins than our gaming business, even though they have 2 times the console installed base.

GM means gross margin, right?

Gross margin percentages.

Q: And AM means accountability margin?

Accountability margin percentage, yes.

Q: Is that like profit?

That's the percent of your revenue that you keep in profit.

According to our findings, Xbox gaming had a 12% accountability margin (AM) for 9 month period in FY22. However, in the aforementioned testimony, Spencer says that "the Xbox business today runs at a single-digit profit margin."

Comparing this number with the other Big 3 players isn't exactly straightforward. The accountability methods may be different. We're not entirely sure how Microsoft calculates its accountability margin, but the closest comparisons we have are PlayStation's $1.419 billion in operating income, which represents a 7% margin, and $2.977 billion in net profit from Nintendo, which represents a strong 25% margin.

Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/93375/xbox-profits-revealed-in-new-ftc-leak/index.html

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 20 September 2023

VersusEvil on 20 September 2023

Wonder how vocal the same usual users will be in that article when it’s posted, I’m guessing not very  :)

Last edited by VersusEvil - on 20 September 2023

Ride The Chariot || Games Complete ‘24 Edition

Ryuu96 on 20 September 2023
gtotheunit91 said:
Ryuu96 said:

So as far as actual profitabilty, it goes Nintendo>Xbox>PlayStation?

Essentially, yeah.

Phil also mentioned it in an email. The above is during the FTC trial.

It could be due to Sony pushing console hardware harder than Xbox that their profitability has dipped below Xbox's.

Also, Minecraft baby! Lmao, Jk...Kinda.

I think Activision-Blizzard would add about $2bn in profit for the whole FY but the above is for 3 out of 4 quarters.

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 20 September 2023

Around the Network
Ryuu96 on 20 September 2023

Funny that Nintendo beats them both combined on lower revenue margins too, Lol.



Ryuu96 on 20 September 2023

Either way anyway, whether Xbox or PlayStation are ahead, both are profitable, Phil confirmed Xbox is profitable "in the single digits" which is single digit billions, it is $1.5bn for the first three quarters so I would guess the profitability hovers around $1-2 billion in general. Bout the same as Activision-Blizzard's profitability.

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 20 September 2023

Norion on 20 September 2023
Shadow1980 said:

Regarding de-listed games, sure, if you got it while the getting was good, you still have access to the title as long as it's on your hard drive. If something happens to it and it's no longer available for re-download, well... Like I said, once the Halo 2 DLC maps became unavailable for download and I somehow lost that data, I couldn't re-download them. There was, fortunately, a physical option for all but the last two maps. Only physical allows someone who wants to purchase a title no longer in publication to do so. There are countless digital-only games that have never been re-listed after being de-listed, many of them having been gone for many years with no indication that they'll ever be available again. Think of all the digital stores that have been closed on consoles. If you lose any of your old WiiWare games, well, you're just shit outta luck. There's no way to re-download them. But there's lots of old games released physically that are long OOP and never got re-released (some of them being orphaned works), yet you can still buy them.

My skepticism towards digital will go away the moment the necessary legal reforms are put into place where downloads are treated as "sold, not licensed," requiring owners of distribution platforms to implement a means of license transfer for people to re-sell, gift, or lend their games and removing their ability to take away access to any lawfully-purchased copy. IIRC, this is how it works in Europe, where digital downloads are apparently treated just like tangible copies. Also, there needs to be some mechanism to ensure the ability to re-download games into perpetuity.

Until that day arrives, I want the ability to buy an actual, tangible product that I can hold in my hands and say "This is mine." In its current form and the way the law currently is in the U.S., digital just has too many drawbacks.

I wonder, if consoles go fully digital why not continue playing games using a PC? DRM isn't as bad there so as long as the files of a game are out in the wild it'll always be available to download even if removed from storefronts so a much better situation than a digital only console. If you dislike gaming on a PC though then I guess nothing can be done about that.



Ryuu96 on 20 September 2023


Ryuu96 on 20 September 2023

Forza Motorsport Achievement Art

Lots of in-game screenshots.