While some have criticized Microsoft for not growing the Xbox brand, numbers from the company's latest financial report show growth in the gaming sector.

Microsoft saw an 18 percent uptick in revenue in their gaming division year-over-year, owing the growth to a rise in software sales on the Xbox One, especially among third-parties. This number includes revenue from things like season passes and DLC as well as just outright software.

The Xbox gaming division announced a few years ago that they were going to start measuring their success through engagement with their services, which the company reports is swelling. Xbox Live user numbers raised 13 percent to 59 million across Xbox One, PC, and mobile.

As a result, Microsoft confirmed in their financial reports that the previous year included a big investment in the gaming sector, ending as a major chunk of their total operating expenses. They did not expound on what this was specifically for, so it could be anything from hardware R&D to publishing or marketing deals.

The company as a whole reported profits of $8.9 billion, beating analyst expectations.

[Source: Microsoft]

Our Take

I'm very curious to find out what the bump in gaming investment was. Microsoft has been pointing to this year's E3 as one to watch to see what they've been up to, so we might find out sooner than we think.