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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsMicrosoft ranked first by consumer spending on games across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam in December 2024, according to Ampere Analysis—not as the proven largest video-game company overall. Ampere estimated that Microsoft-published games, including Activision Blizzard titles, generated $465 million in spending that month, or 16.4% of the measured total. The ranking was published on January 29, 2025; it does not establish who leads in 2026, across a full year, or by revenue or profit.
What Ampere’s ranking actually says
Ampere Analysis measured consumer spending on games published by companies across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam during December 2024. Microsoft placed first with an estimated $465 million, representing 16.4% of spending in that defined market. Electronic Arts ranked second and Take-Two Interactive third.
Those figures describe what consumers spent, not the amount Microsoft recognized as revenue or earned as profit. A purchase through a competing platform’s storefront may involve taxes, refunds, and a platform holder’s share before the publisher receives its portion. Nor is 16.4% a share of all gaming: the ranking’s cited scope does not establish a complete worldwide comparison including every mobile market, storefront, or distribution channel.
- Period: December 2024, not a fiscal year or a current 2026 ranking.
- Measure: Estimated consumer spending, not publisher revenue, profit, units sold, or players.
- Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam.
- Publisher counted: Microsoft, including Activision Blizzard.
“Biggest publisher” is therefore accurate only when attached to that period, metric, and platform set. It should not be read as a timeless industry-wide title.
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Why Microsoft finished first
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 supplied the biggest force
The result was driven primarily by Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, released in October 2024, alongside spending across Microsoft’s wider catalog. Call of Duty combines premium game sales with ongoing in-game spending and a large returning audience. Ampere-related reporting said Call of Duty HQ had 38 million monthly active users in November 2024; that figure is attributed to Ampere through secondary industry coverage, rather than Microsoft’s annual report.
The same coverage reported that roughly 64% of December spending on Microsoft-published games came from PlayStation. That estimate is also attributed to Ampere through secondary reporting, not presented as a Microsoft disclosure. It underscores the central point: a Microsoft-published game can contribute to Microsoft’s publishing position even when a player buys or spends in it on a rival console.
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The Activision Blizzard acquisition changed Microsoft’s scale
Microsoft completed its approximately $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October 2023. The deal brought franchises and businesses including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, Diablo, Overwatch, and Warcraft into Microsoft Gaming. Its importance was not simply a larger list of studios: it added a major annual console-and-PC franchise and a substantial mobile business through King. Microsoft’s completion announcement describes the transaction; the company had announced the proposed acquisition in 2022.
Microsoft’s publishing perimeter also includes Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Mojang and Minecraft, as well as publishing activity across Xbox, Windows, Steam, and selected PlayStation releases. The Activision Blizzard portfolio was the decisive change behind the December ranking, but Ampere’s result reflects the publisher’s catalog rather than a single game in isolation.
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The PlayStation paradox: publisher strength is not console strength
Microsoft’s December lead is evidence of reach beyond Xbox hardware, not evidence that Xbox won a console contest. The company increasingly operates in several roles that should not be collapsed into one:
- Console maker: sells Xbox hardware in competition with Sony and Nintendo.
- Platform and service operator: runs Xbox, Windows gaming services, Game Pass, and cloud-gaming offerings.
- Publisher and content owner: owns and publishes games that may reach Xbox, PC, mobile, and rival platforms.
- Distributor: sells games and subscriptions through its own and third-party storefronts.
Publishing on PlayStation gives Microsoft access to players who do not own an Xbox, while the storefront owner retains its role in the transaction. The trade-off is strategic: wider reach can boost game sales and engagement, but if important games are available elsewhere, fewer players may need to buy Xbox hardware specifically to play them. Microsoft can therefore improve as a publisher while its hardware business faces pressure.
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That distinction is visible in Microsoft’s fiscal 2025 reporting. The company said gaming revenue increased by $2 billion, or 9%, and Xbox content and services revenue rose 16%, while Xbox hardware revenue declined. Microsoft identified Activision Blizzard and Game Pass among the contributors to content-and-services growth in its FY2025 annual report. These are broad Xbox business measures, not publisher-only figures, and they do not turn the December spending estimate into Microsoft revenue.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does this make Microsoft the biggest game company?
No such conclusion follows from Ampere’s monthly ranking. “Publisher,” “gaming company,” “platform holder,” and “console maker” produce different comparisons. Microsoft itself said when it announced completion of the acquisition that Microsoft Gaming would become the world’s number-three gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. That earlier company-level comparison and Ampere’s later, platform-limited monthly publisher ranking use different measures.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →| Question | What the evidence supports | Why it is not the same comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Who led Ampere’s December 2024 consumer-spending ranking? | Microsoft, with $465 million across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam. | A single month and a defined set of platforms, not an annual or all-market league table. |
| Who is the largest gaming company by broad revenue? | Not established by this ranking. | Companies report gaming differently, and broad totals can include hardware, services, mobile, and other activities. |
| Who leads in mobile gaming? | Not established by this ranking. | It does not provide a complete comparison of mobile stores and markets; Tencent and NetEase are important competitors. |
| Who leads in console hardware or platform use? | Not established by this ranking. | Publisher spending does not measure console shipments, installed base, or platform loyalty. |
Tencent illustrates why broad comparisons are difficult. Its 2025 results reported RMB 77.4 billion in international-games revenue, up 33% year over year, but that is only one part of a gaming business spanning domestic China, international markets, mobile, PC, and investments. It is not directly comparable to Ampere’s December consumer-spending estimate. See Tencent’s 2025 results announcement.
Company filings do not make the comparison straightforward either. Microsoft’s broad gaming category includes more than its published games, while EA’s fiscal 2026 filing reports company-wide revenue and net bookings for a publisher with franchises including EA Sports FC, Madden, Apex Legends, Battlefield, and The Sims. Those measures cannot be substituted for a single month of consumer spending. EA’s filing is available from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
What the result reveals about Xbox’s direction
The December ranking fits a strategy in which Microsoft seeks to monetize games and services across more than its own console: Xbox, Windows, Steam, PlayStation for selected releases, mobile, subscriptions, and cloud distribution. That expands the audience for Microsoft-owned games, but also means the Xbox brand is not simply synonymous with Xbox hardware or exclusives.
The ranking does not show whether this approach is more profitable than an exclusive-console strategy, nor how much of the spending reached Microsoft after platform fees and other deductions. It does show that Microsoft’s publishing position can benefit from players on competing hardware. In that sense, the company’s potential advantage is increasingly its portfolio and distribution reach, not necessarily the number of Xbox consoles sold.
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How to read the headline without overreading it
- It is fair to say Microsoft was the biggest publisher in Ampere’s December 2024 ranking by consumer spending across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam.
- It is not fair to convert that into “Microsoft is the biggest gaming company,” “Microsoft earned $465 million,” or “Xbox won the console war.”
- December’s holiday timing and a major Call of Duty release make the result a poor basis for assuming Microsoft would lead every month or across a full year.
- The ranking does not provide a complete mobile-market comparison, an annual publisher-only revenue table, or a profit comparison.
- Because the cited ranking concerns December 2024, it does not establish Microsoft’s position in 2026 without newer comparable data.
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