Microsoft overtook EA's dominance & printed at least $465 million in game revenues

Microsoft’s big bet in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is paying off, as the Redmond tech giant has reportedly generated almost half a billion dollars from it. That’s another money-making machine.

Data from analysts over at Ampere, which was first shared with gaming-centric publication VGC, reveals that Microsoft became the world’s top game publisher in December 2024, with $465 million in revenue largely from Black Ops 6, which was launched back in October.

It’s not the only game that contributed to the millions though, as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle also arrived via Game Pass’ day-one release in December. The numbers were calculated across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.

The month also saw strong performances from Chinese publishers like Tencent and Netease, with games like Marvel Rivals and Path of Exile 2 gaining traction globally. It also puts Microsoft ahead of Electronic Arts, which earned $366 million, largely thanks to EA Sports FC 25.

That said, however, despite Microsoft’s dominance, Xbox console sales continue to lag behind PlayStation in the US. The trend that most probably won’t change any time soon, especially with the arrival of the PlayStation Portal remote player.

Earlier this year, Black Ops 6 also maintained its dominance as the most downloaded PS5 game for three consecutive months since its October launch. The success was so massive that Microsoft is ready to launch more older Call of Duty titles to the Game Pass service.

Another report also showed that, due to Black Ops 6’s availability on Game Pass, consumers in the US actually spent less money buying games. That’s a little bit contradictive here, but it just shows that there are still some people out there who buy the game entirely without a subscription.