Microsoft's gaming revenues jump in Q4 of FY20 due to ongoing lockdowns

Amid stay-at-home orders and higher demand for all sorts of technological services, Microsoft closed its FY20 with continued strength across a number of sectors -- including gaming.
For Q4 ending June 30, 2020, Microsoft's 'More Personal Computing' segment, which includes gaming and a few other categories such as Windows and Surface, the company saw $12.9 billion in revenue -- up 14% year-over-year largely due to the strength of its gaming business.
Overall gaming revenue for the company was up $1.3 billion or 64%, largely driven by Xbox content and services revenue, which made up $1.2 billion of that increase. Per Microsoft, this was primarily due to record engagement and strength of third-party titles amid stay-at-home orders.
The jump in Xbox content and services revenue is a marked difference from previous quarters, with the category's revenue down 3%, steady, down 11%, and up 2% in each of the last four quarters, respectively. This quarter, it was up 65% year-over-year.
It's possible that this is due in part to the category no longer fighting with a "high prior year comparable, primarily from a third-party title" impacting its revenue increase or decrease year-over-year. This line has appeared in financial reports for the last three quarters, but the unknown title no longer appears to have a significant impact on the results.
Xbox hardware revenue was up 49% year-over-year, with Microsoft attributing the rise to an increase in volume of consoles being sold.

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