GoKawiil
Tech News
Microsoft reported $92.3 billion in revenue, up 19% year-over-year, marking its tenth consecutive record quarter. Net income rose 32% to $36.6 billion, driven largely by Microsoft Cloud revenue of $63.9 billion, with Azure contributing $33.2 billion and $10 billion specifically tied to OpenAI. Capital expenditures hit a record $45.2 billion, while Devices and Consumer revenue fell 3%.
Microsoft posted a jump in quarterly profit, driven by faster growth in its cloud computing business. The results came as investors had been watching closely for signs of returns on the company's heavy AI-related spending.
Microsoft has restructured Xbox Game Pass into four tiers—Essential ($9.99/month), Premium ($14.99/month), PC Game Pass ($13.99/month) and Ultimate ($22.99/month)—each offering different game libraries and features. Throughout 2026, Microsoft adjusted subscription prices and altered cloud gaming access, including new streaming limits, changing what subscribers get at each price point.
Starting in November, Microsoft will limit monthly Xbox Cloud Gaming playtime for Game Pass subscribers: five hours for Essential, 10 for Premium, and 15 for Ultimate. Once users hit these caps, they'll need to buy additional hours from the Xbox Store to keep streaming games, though downloading and playing titles locally remains unlimited. Microsoft has not yet revealed pricing for extra playtime beyond the cap.
Microsoft announced it will cap monthly cloud streaming hours for Xbox Game Pass tiers, ending years of unlimited access. Ultimate subscribers get 15 hours, Premium gets 10, and Essential gets 5, with an option to buy additional hours once limits are reached. The change takes effect in November, and non-subscribers will also be able to purchase cloud streaming time for games they already own.
A Hacker News 'Ask HN' post questions whether Anthropic's Model Context Protocol, despite early hype, is actually being deployed in production systems. The poster asks respondents to share specific use cases and explain what benefits MCP offers over traditional APIs, direct tool integrations, or CLI-based workflows.