Xbox 360 hits 28 million units sold worldwide

Not content with boasting about their apparent successes in Europe, Microsoft have now released some statistics to prove how superior the Xbox 360 is (against the PS3 at least) across the whole of Planet Earth.

The Xbox 360 has now sold over 28 million consoles worldwide, a figure which according to Microsoft means their console has a lead of 8 million units over the Playstation 3. Of course there was no comparison to the Wii included in the press release…

There are now 17 million Xbox LIVE members, and although Microsoft wouldn’t confirm how many of those are Gold subscribers, they did state that it was ‘the majority’ of those 17 million people who paid for the full service.

Since the launch of the Xbox 360 just over three years ago, a total of $1billion has been spent on Xbox LIVE, and online consumer spending on the service increased 84% from last year.

“For Xbox, 2008 will be remembered around the world as a pivotal growth year at retail and online — even in the face of tough economic conditions,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Worldwide, a record number of players flocked to our broadest games and entertainment lineup ever, while the New Xbox Experience thrilled millions of fans by making our console even more engaging. And yet, we’ve only provided a glimpse into the new world of interactive entertainment that we’re imagining. The best of Xbox 360 is yet to come.”

Between Christmas and New Years Day, Xbox LIVE experienced its busiest week ever, with a record of more than 1.5 million concurrent members online. There were also none of the connection and stability problems that the Xbox LIVE service suffered with in the same period in 2007. This perhaps suggests the service has been improved to handle increased numbers of players online at the same time.