charts are deceptive… the last update from Microsoft touted 17 million Xbox Live members. How many are there now?
Today, Microsoft made a surprising press release. Months after the Playstation network announced that they hit 20 Million, Xbox Live has achieved that they, too, have arrived at the 20 million member milestone. But that’s little more than a footnote in this announcement. The highlight was just how well the console is selling during this “global economic recession.” According to NPD numbers, “Xbox 360 achieved the highest percentage growth in hardware sales of any console so far in 2009, up 28 percent over the previous year.”
30 million consoles sold. 20 million on Xbox Live. Sales that are far above the pace that was set by their best year of sales, back in 2008. On target to trounce their record year, the Xbox group also pointed out, in the press release, that they have generated more retail sales for third party developers than Sony and Nintendo combined. Microsoft must be more than a little pleased.