Enlarge / Scale is important, especially when talking about relative console sales. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images) Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it made 31 percent less off Xbox hardware in the first quarter of 2024 (ending in March) than it had the year before, a decrease it says was "driven by lower volume of consoles sold." And that's not because the console sold particularly well a year ago, either; Xbox hardware revenue for the first calendar quarter of 2023 was already down 30 percent from the previous year. Those two data points speak to a console that is struggling to substantially increase its player base during a period that should, historically, be its strongest sales period.