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The success of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 made Microsoft the biggest game publisher in the world last month, according to the latest data.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has given a major boost to Xbox’s financials over the past year, but at that point its multiformat ambitious were less clear than they are now.
According to data firm Ampere, $465 million (£374.1m) was spent on Microsoft games in December 2024, making the company the world’s biggest publisher across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
This was largely driven by sales of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6, which attracted 38 million monthly users worldwide in November 2024. According to Circana data, Black Ops 6 was the best-selling game in the US in December based on dollar sales, as it became one of the best-selling entries ever in the franchise.
Microsoft also launched Indiana Jones And The Great Circle last month, which made it to number 14 on the best-selling games list of December 2024 in the US, which isn’t bad for an Xbox console exclusive.
As reported by VGC, 64% of consumer spending on Microsoft titles in December was on PlayStation formats, primarily driven by Call Of Duty.
It’s important to note Call Of Duty has always been multiformat, and Black Ops 6’s success would’ve happened without Microsoft buying Activision, as traditionally the biggest publisher in the US is either them or EA – although it does vary depending on the amount of first party releases from Sony and Nintendo.
Nevertheless, a successful multiformat policy is what Microsoft has been working towards for at least the last year, when at one point Microsoft had more games in the PlayStation Store top 20 than Sony.
This multiformat push looks set to continue in 2025, with Indiana Jones And The Great Circle coming to PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s confirmed support for the Nintendo Switch 2. A bunch of other ports, including Halo: The Master Chief Collection, are also rumoured for various platforms.
According to analyst group Ampere, Microsoft’s earnings last month put the company ahead of Electronic Arts as the biggest publisher in the world, generating $366 million in December. This was mostly driven by EA Sports FC 25, whose sales were notably lower than the previous year’s entry.
Microsoft’s biggest rival for the top spot though is not an American company but Chinese conglomerate Tencent, who own the likes of Riot Games and Sumo Group. Its influence, and that of other Chinese companies such as NetEase, are only set to grow in the future, with the company currently in negotiations over a potential buyout of Ubisoft.
The big question for Microsoft is whether its claim on the top spot will hold in the months ahead, before the next Call Of Duty inevitably spikes its financials again. The company has a solid slate of games on the horizon, between Avowed, South Of Midnight, and Doom: The Dark Ages, with the latter also set to launch on PlayStation 5.
While none of these are in any way comparable to Call Of Duty, from a sales perspective, the franchise’s consistent success should, in theory, give Microsoft the capacity to continue to invest in more experimental titles, like South Of Midnight, without impacting the company’s bottom line.
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