The news comes at a time when profitability is of paramount importance for most Microsoft-owned studios even as waves of layoffs continue to affect employee morale.
Machine Games, the Swedish studio behind the Wolfenstein Series and the recent critically acclaimed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, has reported a modest 6% net margin for 2024.
The financial report was discovered by Timur222 and shared by TweakTown’s Derek Strickland on X on July 20. According to the 2024 financials, Machine Games reported net sales of $44.325 million and a net profit of $2.679 million.
2024’s been a lean year for Xbox’s first-party studio, which was praised for its incredible Ray-Tracing and visual accuracy in portraying Raiders of the Lost Ark in its intro sequence.
Yet, the financial report doesn’t exactly denote any success or lack thereof of any specific project or game developed by Machine Games. This is because Machine Games is a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, which owns everything under Bethesda’s umbrella, including Arkane, BGS, id Software, and ZeniMax Online.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s revenue contribution in the 2024 financial report is a bit murky, considering the game debuted on Xbox Game Pass day one, which tends to reduce direct sales. According to the report, operating expenses were $41.53 million, which leaves little wiggle room for profit in an industry where development budgets can easily balloon past the $100 million mark.
In comparison, Machine Games achieved peak net sales of $49.1 million in 2021, which means that 2024 was a step down despite a major AAA release. The studio’s 6% revenue margin pales in comparison to other industry giants like Nintendo, which reported a 30% profit on $11.6 billion revenue for the fiscal year of 2024.
With over 9,100 layoffs at Microsoft recently, further cuts are foreseeable. Margins matter more than ever, and pressure is likely mounting on multiple developers working under Microsoft’s Xbox arm even as reports indicate that comparisons are being drawn against Microsoft’s more profitable Azure business segment.
While ZeniMax Media operates with limited interference from Microsoft when it comes to maintaining its books and staff decisions, project cancellations and studio closures inevitably rest in the hands of Xbox and Microsoft which has been on a war footing to maximize profitability since the start of 2025.
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Rahim Amir Noorali – Tech Writer – 72 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2025
I am a UAE-based tech writer who likes to build and benchmark PCs both professionally and as a hobby. I contribute to multiple tech publications, including TechRadar and NotebookCheck, as well as Game Rant, where I focus primarily on news, commerce, and buying guides. When I’m not scouring the internet for the latest in tech stories, you will find me playing a game of Civilization or DotA with friends and frenemies alike while dropping recommendations for Apple TV+’s Foundation to everyone I come across.
Rahim Amir Noorali, 2025-07-21 (Update: 2025-07-21)
