Microsoft Boasts About Owning ’20 Franchises That Have Generated Over $1 Billion’

Including ActiBlizz and Bethesda games of course

by Ben Kerry Yesterday, 5:30pm

Microsoft’s Satya Nadella has certainly been in the headlines today and not always in the most positive light, but one section of the CEO’s recent annual company update at least talks about some of Xbox’s more positive achievements in recent times.

As part of Nadella’s annual letter, the Microsoft CEO spoke about some of Xbox’s huge franchises, including the ones gained by acquiring both Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. Since these two huge companies have come on board, Microsoft now owns “20 franchises that have generated over $1 billion in lifetime revenue” – including Candy Crush, Diablo, Halo, Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls and Gears of War.

“We are bringing great games to more people on more devices. With our acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, which closed October 2023, we’ve added hundreds of millions of players to our ecosystem. We now have 20 franchises that have generated over $1 billion in lifetime revenue—from Candy Crush, Diablo, and Halo, to Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, and Gears of War.”

Of course, lots of that revenue was generated before Microsoft even had a passing thought about acquiring whoever earnt it, but still, we guess it’s a nice little list of franchises to boast about. Let’s hope they keep generating the revenue needed to help Xbox thrive and keep delivering plenty of games for us to enjoy.

Nadella also mentioned that since the ActiBlizz deal went through in October 2023, Xbox has added “hundreds of millions of players” to its ecosystem – a figure that should also be a nice boost for the platform as we move towards an interesting future for Xbox.

Is it still surreal for Xbox to own all of these franchises? Tell us what you think down below!

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Ben is a News Writer at Pure Xbox, and is a fan of action, racing and straight-up shootin’ in any Xbox game he can get his hands on. When he’s not clutching an Xbox controller like his life depends on it, Ben spends his time listening to music that’s far too old for him, watching football on the telly and probably eating somewhere.

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