Having its Xbox LIVE community swelling to more than 20 million active members, Microsoft Corp. revealed the fact that sales of Xbox 360 consoles have passed the 30 million mark globally. Growing up 28 percent over the previous year, Xbox 360, coming after the biggest year in its history in 2008, achieved the highest percentage growth in hardware sales of any console so far in 2009.
With Xbox LIVE being now considered the world’s largest global entertainment network, the success of the platform can be measured across the business.
The main reason sustaining the growth of Xbox LIVE membership and the reason Xbox continues to expand offerings on the platform has been the increasing consumer desire to connect with friends, download and enjoy blockbuster movies and TV shows, and extend the life of their favorite games.
Senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, Don Mattrick, stated: “We’ve always been confident that Xbox 360 offers more entertainment value than any other console on the market, and these latest numbers show that consumers agree,” He continued: “We expect our growth to continue to accelerate. Our news at E3 next week will underscore our commitment to bringing blockbuster entertainment experiences to everyone and to growing the Xbox entertainment brand globally.”
U.S. consumers only have spent $14.5 billion across all categories on Xbox 360 at retail since the launch of this console, reflecting strong interest in a comprehensive entertainment offering which includes the ability to connect with others socially and to digitally download entertainment, whether it's about games, TV shows or movies. Along with a broad array of premium high- and standard-definition movies and TV shows from top studios and networks around the world, consumers have already downloaded nearly 1 billion pieces of gaming and entertainment content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
In addition, generating $5.9 billion in sales to date at U.S. retail for third-party publishers, being more than those of current-generation consoles combined, Xbox 360 is still the platform of choice for the industry’s top games. With its consumers owning an average of 8.3 titles each, Xbox 360 also leads current-generation consoles in game purchases.
