4. Microsoft

FY08 Revenue: $7,734M (Entertainment and Devices Division), +25% (Rank: 3)
FY08 Operating Profit/Loss: -$574M (Rank: 19)
FY09 Revenue Expectations: $8,500M (Entertainment and Devices Division), +10%
Titles in Global Top 100: 3 (Rank: 9)
Units in Global Top 100: 11.5M (Rank: 4)
Review Average: 69% (Rank: 6)



Explanation of Ranking: Microsoft had a banner year for software with its flagship title Halo 3 and the acclaimed Mass Effect. It also published two key racing titles, Forza Motorsport 2 and Project Gotham Racing 4. (Note: Microsoft's fiscal year ends on 30 June, but for the sake of temporally similar comparisons in this article, we have computed their figures for the 12 month periods ending on 31 March--EDD mo posted a fiscal full-year profit.)

Microsoft Game Studios (MGS) is housed within the Entertainment and Devices Division (EDD) of the larger Microsoft Corporation. As such, we cannot directly see Microsoft's publishing figures and must rather look at the EDD revenue and operating profit/loss as well as external measures like unit sales for its titles.

Halo 3 was perhaps the single biggest game launch of 2007, second only to Guitar Hero III. The key difference, of course, is that Halo 3 launched on a single platform – the Xbox 360 – while GH3 launched on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. With over half the Xbox 360 userbase purchasing Halo 3 within the first few weeks of launch, Microsoft could not only claim one of the largest game launches of 2007, but in the history of the industry.

In November 2007, Microsoft Game Studios also launched Mass Effect, the role-playing game by acclaimed developer BioWare (now owned by Electronic Arts). The highly acclaimed game sold more than 1.6 million copies during the six weeks after its release. MGS also released two highly regarded racing games, Forza Motorsport 2 and Project Gotham Racing 4, the former of which made the top 10 sales list the month of its release in the United States, despite only a few days of sales.

Looking forward, MGS has a full slate of games for 2008: Gears of War 2, Halo Wars, Fable 2, Alan Wake and Too Human. With the EDD's first full-year profit, the $1 billion Xbox 360 warranty issue receding into the past, and a pile of anticipated titles to round out the year, Microsoft's prospects for FY09 are quite high.