Halo gives Microsoft reasons to smile

Halo gives Microsoft reasons to smile

Halo and Microsoft’s gaming console Xbox has given Microsoft a lot of reasons to smile this year. It has practically led to doubling of profits in their latest quarterly results. The profits reported by the world’s largest software maker touched USD 3.62 billion compared to USD 1.55 billion in the same period last year. This was also the first time their home and entertainment division went profitable!

The main reasons behind this climb is said to be their recently released updated version of the game Halo that generated USD 300 millions in sales alone. This resulted in the entertainment division of Microsoft generating a profit of USD 84 million as compared to a loss of USD 397 million last year. Xbox on its own contributed a lot to these sales earnings in itself.

Microsoft’s representative Robbie Bach told the media: “Not only did we achieve record software sales with out strongest games line-up to date, but we sold more consoles than our competitors during the critical holiday sales seasons in the US”. However, Microsoft has expressed doubts that the department would not remain profitable in the coming quarters considering the Halo Effect will not be existing to counter the expansion plans they have at the moment.

They expect to reach genuine levels of profitability only in 2007 for their home and entertainment division.