The business of selling Xbox 360 is in decline according to Microsoft, who recently announced dismal first quarter earnings for the division. The company saw a huge drop in income for the console in their most recent quarterly report, with a decline in the number of consoles sold.
Like others in the same boat, Microsoft is pointing to the rough year being caused by lacking software support for the console. “Video game revenues decreased primarily due to the release of Gears of War 3 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 with no comparable major releases in the first quarter of fiscal year 2013,” Microsoft explained to investors.
The recent sales figures for the Xbox 360 console have the company still sitting at #2 in current-gen sales statistics. Nintendo’s Wii having been so popular in it’s shorter life-span sold over 20 million more consoles, with the PlayStation 3 lagging behind by around 6 million.
The company did note that it increased its research and development in the quarter, which would make sense considering that many expect the next Xbox in 2013.