By Hector Cortez May 28, 2009, 14:23 GMT
Microsoft announced today that sales of Xbox 360 consoles have passed the 30 million mark globally, with Xbox LIVE surpassing 20 million active members.
After the biggest year in its history in 2008, Xbox 360 achieved the highest percentage growth in hardware sales of any console so far in 2009, up 28 percent over the previous year.
Over the course of this console generation, U.S. consumers alone have spent $14.5 billion across all categories on Xbox 360 at retail. To date, consumers have downloaded nearly 1 billion pieces of content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace, including movies and TV shows.
In addition, Xbox 360 generated $5.9 billion in sales to date at U.S. retail for third-party publishers, which is more than those of current-generation consoles combined. Xbox 360 also leads current-generation consoles in game purchases, with consumers owning an average of 8.3 titles each.
Activity on Xbox LIVE surged following the launch of the New Xbox Experience in November 2008. Since that time, the community has recorded a 136 percent increase in new members; TV and movie downloads have more than doubled; and purchases of games, Game Add-ons and more on Xbox LIVE Arcade have increased by 70 percent.
Xbox LIVE reaches 26 countries worldwide and is now in more homes than any satellite television provider. Before the end of the year, the number of Xbox LIVE members will surpass the number of subscribers to the largest cable provider.
Your Talkback on this Story