How Microsoft Will Report Xbox Numbers Going Forward

As part of Microsoft's latest earnings announcement on Thursday, the company did not share a new Xbox One shipment number. As it turns out, this was by design. GameSpot has been informed that Microsoft will focus more on Xbox Live usership figures instead of console shipment numbers going forward.

In its briefing Thursday, Microsoft announced that Xbox Live had 39 million active users in the latest quarter, up 28 percent year-over-year. An active user is defined as someone who has signed into Xbox Live in the past month. In a post-earnings financial call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella added that about half of all Xbox One owners log into Xbox Live every day.

Revenue generated from Xbox Live rose 17 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft said this was driven by more total transactions, as well as higher revenue per transaction.

This isn't to say Microsoft is totally doing away with talking about console shipment numbers, only that it will place greater emphasis on "engagement" with Xbox Live. We've been told Microsoft sees this as a way to more accurately measure engagement with the Xbox ecosystem.

For Microsoft's latest quarter, total revenue from hardware fell by 17 percent compared to last year. Microsoft attributed this downtown "mainly" to fewer Xbox 360 consoles sold. By comparison, during the same period last year, Microsoft shipped 2.4 million combined Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles.

Overall, however, strong game sales (up 66 percent), helped Microsoft's gaming business post-year-over-year gains.