Microsoft turns 50 years

Microsoft Corporation celebrates its 50th anniversary. The history of one of the largest software manufacturers began on April 4, 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when two young programmers — Bill Gates and Paul Allen — joined forces to create their own company. Over the course of half a century, Microsoft has released many products that have become an integral part of the world of personal computers, and has grown into one of the most valuable companies on the planet.

But long before the advent of Office, Windows 95, Xbox and modern developments in the field of artificial intelligence, the Altair BASIC interpreter was written – and from it began the path of Microsoft. “The coolest code I’ve ever written,” – this is how one of the company’s founders described his work in his personal blog. In honor of the anniversary, Microsoft has opened access to the Altair BASIC code, from which its history began.

In December 2024, Microsoft became the leading publisher of games on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. User spending on the company’s projects amounted to $465 million. This amount is largely due to Microsoft’s policy of releasing games on the maximum number of platforms, which led to the fact that the largest share of the costs fell on PlayStation owners. This is reported by VGC.

According to the Ampere report, one of the most notable games of Microsoft in December was Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, but the main income was brought by Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. This game, released in November, managed to attract more than 38 million unique users. According to the study, 64% of all funds spent on Microsoft projects fell on the PlayStation audience.

The company significantly bypassed its closest competitor. Publisher EA, which received $ 366 million in December, lost almost $ 100 million to Microsoft. The largest contribution to Electronic Arts’ financial performance was made by the sports simulator EA Sports FC 25.

The Ampere report also contains data on player activity during the holiday period. On Christmas Day, users spent 30 million hours playing Fortnite, averaging 2.3 hours per game. Call of Duty saw 20 million hours played that same day. During the same period, Marvel Rivals had 29 million active users, and Path of Exile 2 brought in $148 million in revenue.