Ampere, a data firm has revealed that in December 2024, Microsoft hit a huge milestone and became the world’s top game publisher. The company made a crazy $465 million in just one month. This happened because of huge sales across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Let’s break down why December was such a big win for Microsoft and how other game publishers stacked up.
Financial Milestones of Microsoft in December 2024
In December 2024, people spent $465 million on Microsoft’s games, making it the top publisher that month.
A big chunk of that money came from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which was one of the most popular games during the holidays. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, also released in December, helped boost the sales too.
Microsoft’s smart move of putting games on different platforms, like PlayStation, really paid off. In fact, 64% of the money spent on Microsoft games came from PlayStation players.
On the other hand, Electronic Arts (EA), which is the second-biggest game publisher, made $366 million in revenue during the same time. This was thanks to big hits like Madden NFL 25 and EA Sports College Football 25, which were some of the most popular games in December 2024.
Major Games Behind Microsoft’s Success
As mentioned, two big games that helped Microsoft stand out are Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
This first-person shooter game was super popular in the U.S. It really helped Microsoft out and got a lot of people hooked.
In November 2024, the game had 38 million people playing it every month. Because of that, Microsoft did awesome in December with sales. It became the best-seller in both December and the whole year.
People loved the single-player story, the fun multiplayer modes, and the Zombies feature coming back. All of this made a lot of people play the game.
2. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
In December, Microsoft just dropped another game called Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. It’s an action-adventure game made by MachineGames.
It came out on December 9, 2024, and in just a few days, it became the second best-selling game in the U.S. for the week ending December 14, 2024. It only lost the top spot to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Game Industry Standouts in December 2024
In December 2024, the video game industry saw a lot of excitement, especially during the holidays.
On Christmas Day, Fortnite players spent 30 million hours in the game, with each player playing for about 2.3 hours. Call of Duty games also had a huge day, with 20 million hours of gameplay.
On the other hand, Chinese game makers really made a mark on the global scene last month. Four major Chinese-made games were the main reason for this:
- Marvel Rivals: Developed by NetEase, this game attracted 29 million monthly active users in December.
- Path of Exile 2: Published by Tencent, it generated an estimated $148 million during the month.
Other two popular games were Infinity Nikki by Papergames and Delta Force by Tencent. And because of this, Tencent climbed to No. 5, and NetEase reached No. 9 in Ampere’s monthly rankings. It was their first time making it into those top spots.
All in all, Microsoft had a big month in December, thanks to games like Call of Duty and their smart strategy of making games available on multiple platforms.
