MS: Xbox 360 has sold 39m units

By Robert Purchese Published 7 January, 2010

Ballmer outs latest global total.

Microsoft head honcho Steve Ballmer has told a CES 2010 audience that there are over 39 million Xbox 360s in homes around the world.

Microsoft also announced that more than 2.2 million people played on Xbox Live at the same time between Christmas and the New Year, and one new user appeared every second.

And half of Xbox Live's 20-million strong user-base have logged onto the new social features Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm, Sky, Canal and Zune.

Those figures kick-started a delayed keynote, the beginning of which was plagued by technical difficulties.

But while they were recovering, Microsoft's press site was publishing, spilling the beans on a "holiday 2010" release date for Project Natal and announcing the Xbox Game Room for Xbox Live.

More as it happens.

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About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • olinn #1 2 years ago

    And I wonder how many of those are actually rebuys, people replacing their RROD/E74'd xbox?

    Between me and my brother, we've owned 6 xbox360's since 2006, 4 of them have died, and with 2 of them the warranty was over.

  • Lusterpurge #2 2 years ago

    While you may mark him and me down, it's true that almost everyone I know that has a 360 does own or has owned multiple boxes.

  • ybfelix #3 2 years ago

    Replacement RROD'd boxes don't count.

    Besides, there really would be more XBOX's out there compared to PS3, since despite piracy and RROD, 360 version of a game generally sold more than PS3's

  • scotsman767 #4 2 years ago

    Yep I'm on my 3rd 360 and soon to be 3rd PS3 all my friends that have owned this generations Xbox, Playstation are on to at least their 2nd console. It really is a joke that this generations hardware just isn't up to the task it was designed for. So gloat all you like Ballmer but everyone has seen the pictures of pallet loads of dead 360s waiting to be scrapped. There might be 39 million 360s out there but I'd wager at least 10 - 12 million of them are lying in landfills, back of peoples cupboards, sitting on e-bay for spares or in your return centres as nothing more than expensive paper weights. All we ask is we have a consistently reliable platform for our gaming just like your company promised next time get it right.

  • NotSoSlim #5 2 years ago

    Should read shipped 39m units but whatever, Great figures but would prefer number of consoles actually sold

    http://news .vgchartz.com/news.php?id=6446

  • Bill Gates is Evil #6 2 years ago

    Regardless of how many Xbox's have broken, the 360's software attach rate still far exceeds that of the PS3.

  • NotSoSlim #7 2 years ago

    MS need to invest in first party developers not DLC. It will come back and bite them in the arse...guaranteed

  • Bill Gates is Evil #8 2 years ago

    Microsoft is trying to unload 1st Party developers, not create new ones. Microsoft is all about supporting the third party. 1st party sales cannibalize sales on a console... just look at 3rd party abandonment on the Wii.

    Heavier 1st party development would certainly help console sales in the short run, but Microsoft likes 3rd parties keeping their console as the center of attention. It ensures more broad-based resource allocation to their console, even if much of that will trickle down to the PS3. Admittedly exclusives are big sellers for consoles, but when they're too much of a focus is shoves out the little guys. I actually quite like Microsoft's grassroots-friendly approach and will be a huge benefit in the long run for them.

  • JensonJet #9 2 years ago

    Can you hear that sound? That's the sound of all the shareholders and investors rubbing their hands together. That other sound is a Sony executive slamming his fist on a table. At least I think it's his fist.
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/10 @ 05:55

  • NotSoSlim #10 2 years ago

    Okay supporting 3rd parties is great and its worked mainly due to friendly dev tools but when most 3rd party games are near identical (i said most) it makes exclusive most more crucial as a selling point.

    Throwing money will only get you so far no matter which way any one looks at it. To appeal to a wider audience you need variety and MS have only just caught on to this imo.

  • Bill Gates is Evil #11 2 years ago

    "Okay supporting 3rd parties is great and its worked mainly due to friendly dev tools but when most 3rd party games are near identical (i said most) it makes exclusive most more crucial as a selling point."

    But also consider this: it's generally accepted that if a game comes out for the 360/PS3, the 360 is the vast majority of the time the better version. Gamers know this. People who own both PS3 and 360 rarely buy the PS3 version because of this perception, even if it's not true.

    Seemingly having the 'better' versions of multiplatform titles is, in a way, like an exclusive.

  • MizzouGaming #12 2 years ago

    Did I see someone citing Vgcharts? lol

  • NotSoSlim #13 2 years ago

    @ Bill Gates

    Fair point but its nowhere near as bad as it was say 2 years ago. You get the odd crap port i.e Bayonetta but now it seems more to do with what the console offers as to which version people buy. Mult plat games are great but i still think exclusives are what sell consoles and should be invested in, i am not saying concentrated on like Wii but with if you can get most games on both consoles then other than online and community and price what else seperates the machines?

    360 has the upper hand with Live granted but even that is not much of a incentive now as it was imo

    @ MizzouGaming

    I did! They suck but my point was are the numbers in peoples homes or to retailers?
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/10 @ 06:26

  • bioreit #14 2 years ago

    Returned consoles - either to retailers or to manufacturer - are not counted in these tallies. There may be a bit of overlap as units work their way through the system, but you're only talking about being a month or two out.

    Although this doesn't include all those models which are bought as in-home back-ups, or dead/dying consoles flogged on Ebay, which certainly would go towards the grand total. I mean, I've got 3 360s myself and one of those was bought almost purely as a replacement machine if one of my other 2 had to go away for repair, thus minimising downtime.

    But the comment about attach rates is certainly fairly accurate in my case - I've got 40+ games on 360 and less than half a dozen formy PS3, so even per 360, I have more. Hell, I think I have more games for my Wii than my PS3 - not that I've played anything on it since Excite Truck!

  • Lee_Morris #15 2 years ago

    So only 2.2 of their 39m console were taken online over christmas? Am I reading that wrong cause it seems a really low percentage.

  • NotSoSlim #16 2 years ago

    @ Frod

    Other than MW2 what game recently has sold more than its relative install base?

    Just wondering

  • Whizzo #17 2 years ago

    You're misreading it, it's 2.2 million simultaneous connections to Live not total.

  • originaljohn #18 2 years ago

    when all is said and done , at the end of the day microsoft will never be number one this gen

  • muscleblade #19 2 years ago

    "Regardless of how many Xbox's have broken, the 360's software attach rate still far exceeds that of the PS3. "

    I wonder why? Not.

    I love Bayonetta btw. The best game this gen imo.

  • BiscuitBase #20 2 years ago

    I'm still on my first 360 which was bought on release day, although I had to send it back once for the inevitable RROD.

    I'm thinking of getting another one though to have either in my bedroom or at work.

    Still on my first PS3 as well, although that is mainly a blu-ray/dvd player.

    Sold my Wii last year due to lack of use.

    Those are the latest official BiscuitBase game console facts.

  • HiredMan #21 2 years ago

    "when all is said and done , at the end of the day microsoft will never be number one this gen"

    Of course not, and neither will Sony.

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #22 2 years ago

    olinn, that argument has been done to death you old WUMmy troll!

    ;-)

  • olinn #23 2 years ago

    CHAZ: I'm no troll, I'm just stating the facts about my ownership of xbox360, I own one today and love playing on it, but I still feel a bit jaded because of the fact of having to have shelled out for another one.

    Mind though, that during PS2's reign, my first PS2's dvd died, and I had to buy a new one.

  • Quixz #24 2 years ago

    It does really matter if they are rebuys or not they have still sold 39mil.