Xbox 360 sales hit 28 million worldwide

By Ellie Gibson Published 6 January, 2009

"We're widening our lead," says exec.

Microsoft has announced that sales of Xbox 360 have now reached 28 million.

Speaking to the LA Times, executive Aaron Greenberg said, "This was the best year in the history of the Xbox, despite the tough economy."

According to the report, Sony has sold around 20 million PlayStation 3s globally, while last quarter, Microsoft was leading its rival by five million consoles. "We're widening our lead against PlayStation 3," claimed Greenberg.

He reckons games such as Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead have boosted sales, along with the success of Xbox Live - which now has 17 million subscribers. The majority of those, Greenberg said, pay for Gold membership.

Microsoft stated Xbox Live sales were up by 84 per cent in 2008. In total, subscribers have now spent more than USD 1 billion on Live.

Just yesterday, the company announced sales of Xbox 360 have reached 8 million in Europe - claiming a lead of "more than one million" over PS3.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (50) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Ryze #1 3 years ago

    Very nice.

  • DFawkes #2 3 years ago

    8 million Europeans that they just don't give a monkeys about. Not that that's a Microsoft problem, no console manufacturer likes Europe and it's host of territories. Though to be fair, I can't remember being screwed over recently by MS.

    Regardless, I still feel the 360 is the best value for money out of the current gen consoles.

  • space_ace #3 3 years ago

    wiidening?

  • MonkeyMagik #4 3 years ago

    well played MS - Well deserved.

  • Eraysor #5 3 years ago

    They're still far superior to Sony.

  • CaptainScarlet #6 3 years ago

    Considering last generation of course Microsoft are happy that they have crawled out of last place.

  • Dizzy #7 3 years ago

    "8 million Europeans that they just don't give a monkeys about. Not that that's a Microsoft problem, no console manufacturer likes Europe and it's host of territories."

    ?? MS has been rather good to Europeans. Most games are released here on time (with some exceptions).

  • jonsaan #8 3 years ago

    Yeah. You can say a lot of things about MS. But their attitude to Eu is one of the reasons the 360 has done so well. It's kind of refreshing actually.

  • Widge #9 3 years ago

    ?
    I thought you're meant to MOAN yourself senseless when execs state any sort of sales performance.

  • stedaman #10 3 years ago

    A lead over the PS3 with a year extra release ...really?????

    I hate this we are better than them blah blah rubbish.

    All three consoles are great but the wii is the market leader in terms of sales, with the ps3/xbox360 being on par.

  • the_dudefather #11 3 years ago

    @Widge

    Only when its Sony, Nintendo or Peter Molyneux

  • mazzl #12 3 years ago

    it's good to see xbox perform so well, since i own one, but the wii stomps all over both sony and ms.

  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #13 3 years ago

    @mazzl: Shame about the games, though.

  • mazzl #14 3 years ago

    i would like world of goo on live Arcade .... see even the wii has (some) good games ;)

  • MrChuckles #15 3 years ago

    I still can count the games i would play on the Wii on a few fingers, and one of those is a Wiiware game.... So very disappointing....

    The PS3 isn't that far ahead of it for me either.

    For a mainly Strategy and RPG Geek with a bit of Sim Racer and Footie Gamer thrown in, the 360 is way ahead of the competition. Well, apart from the DS which is pretty awesome too.

  • Domovoi #16 3 years ago

    Too bad the media features are still useless in most of Europe. Video Marketplace is still laughable and a European Netflix-like service is probably never going to happen on the 360. Community Games, as far as I can tell, still not available here either. It's a shame, because otherwise it's a great console. Good to see them doing so well.

  • M4RKYB #17 3 years ago

    Domovoi, Community Games are here and my gosh are they good! Actually I played one I quite enjoyed the other day, Air Legends or something, I was wishing it had Live multiplayer tho.

    Anyway my PS3 and Wii are fighting over who gets the biggest collection of dust. 360 and DS are the winners for me.

  • chrisjm #18 3 years ago

    'How many million were replacement units? '

    3 year guarantee on the old RROD fault so they would be replaced/fixed and not classed as a sale.

  • Rash' #19 3 years ago

    vorlon, you missed RE4, No More Heroes, Lost Winds and World of Goo. Wii unjustly gets a bad rep' amongst the dedicated. Bring on Madworld!

  • Chalee #20 3 years ago

    I think that gamers who come to the Wii late (as I have) will find that most of the gripes from the hardcore about it 'having no games' are a bit stupid. True Wii doesn't get hardcore games as frequently as xbox and ps3, but by now it has built a nice catalogue of 'proper games' that should keep a hardcore gamer occupied for ages. Oh and Okami on the wii is the best game ever made.

  • Rash' #21 3 years ago

    Chalee, i bought a wii on day of release and i'll be honest more often than not it's collected dust. but, as you point out, unlike most earlier adopters i kept faith in the design of this wonderful box and the abilities of devs to unearth it's strengths through great game design. that faith has been rewarded.

  • rotmm #22 3 years ago

    @DFawkes, "8 million Europeans that they just don't give a monkeys about. Not that that's a Microsoft problem, no console manufacturer likes Europe and it's host of territories."

    I'm not sure that's entirely true. Out of the three, I think it's only MS who have made a major effort to treat the EU consumers as equals in the console market. They were the only ones who launched the machine at about the same time as elsewhere. They are the only ones who ensure that the big (exclusive) platform releases occur at about the same time in Europe.

    More importantly, they are the only ones who aren't fleecing Europe on pricing of the consoles and accessories compared to the US pricing. For example, an 80GB PS3 is $399 in the US, €399 in mainland Europe and £299 in the UK. The US price is without sales tax, so taking off the 15% VAT for the UK and (using Germany as an example) 19% for Europe, you have prices of £254.47 and €339.57.

    Sorry this is so convoluted. But therefore you get with todays exchange rate:

    PS3 80GB US $399, EU $454, UK $372
    360 Arcade US $199, EU $203, UK $160
    360 Elite US $399, EU $340, UK, $285
    Wii US $249, EU $283, UK $222

    The UK pricing looks very good across the board, but that's only because the value of the £ has crashed in the last couple of months. But if you look at the EU pricing for the PS3 (agruably the region where Sony gets the most love) they are charging $54 more that in the US. Even with the recently collapsed £ the PS3 is only £27 cheaper than the US, with the basic 360 model coming in at $39 cheaper and the similarly priced Elite coming in at a whopping $114 below the US MSRP.

    And it's a similar situation with Nintendo and its pricing for the Wii.

    So I would say that MS is the only manufacturer that looks to Europe as an equal to other territories. Sure, there are some issues in that not all regions get the same (movie service for example) due to licensing issues, but there is little they can do with that in all reality. And MS is definately ahead of the others in attempting to engender equality in the download sphere.

    Long post to say that, sorry, I disagree with your original point ;)
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 12:12

  • leftlion #23 3 years ago

    "He reckons games such as Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead have boosted sales" (from article)

    Urm...I don't really see that as increasing the sales....after all, they are both shooters, and whoever likes shooters would have already bought an xbox years ago to play one of the billions of shooting games on it! More like it being the lower xbox price and christmas as the main causes of sales increase.

  • Chalee #24 3 years ago

    Rash, I on the other hand was 'lucky' enough to come to the wii late, and found a pile of great games ready to play, so I didn't even have to go through the whole 'sticking with it' pain :)

    *hugs wii

  • Domovoi #25 3 years ago

    Domovoi, Community Games are here

    They are? I'll have to revisit the Dashboard/NXE then. I'm pretty sure that they announced it to be US only, though. Maybe they meant the ability to submit games to CG?

  • Domovoi #26 3 years ago

    I regularly use a broom nowadays, my vacuum cleaner is just collecting dust.

  • Chalee #27 3 years ago

    Dust collecting consoles would be awesome! All we need now is car washing consoles.

  • Les #28 3 years ago

    It took a huge price cut for 360 to actually increase units sold compared to 2007 but even then it sold only about as much as it did in its first year on the market. Increasing installed base came at a huge expense, which must be recouped by future game royalties. MS now has to find ways to turn the recent adopters into people that buy games on a regular basis. Might be a challenge.

  • M4RKYB #29 3 years ago

    Frankblack needs a console that pours him a coke and gives him a smile and tells him to shut the f** up.

  • Domovoi #30 3 years ago

    MS now has to find ways to turn the recent adopters into people that buy games on a regular basis. Might be a challenge.

    Since the 360 has a much higher attach rate than other consoles, that challenge might not be as big as you think.

  • Dizzy #31 3 years ago

    >Increasing installed base came at a huge expense

    No it didn't. These things get cheaper to make as time flies by.

  • Albull #32 3 years ago

    It occurs to me that a console collecting dust is a console in use. My xbox is very dusty because it is out on my desk. However, if I had a Wii which I wasn't using I'd put it in its box so as to save on desk space and power points etc.

    Maybe it would be more accurate to say "my Wii controllers are gathering dust" as I for one certainly can't be arsed to hoover half the time, let alone dust off my consoles. Not really something which occurs to me to do in preperation for a night of gaming

    "Ooh I've just got Rock Band, I'll phone all my mates... but *gasp* *horror* my xbox is dusty... oh the potential shame should someone see it thus!" - This never happens.

  • muscleblade #33 3 years ago

    @Les "MS now has to find ways to turn the recent adopters into people that buy games on a regular basis. Might be a challenge."

    Where have you been??? The 360 owners clearly buy a lot more games than owners of Wii and PS3. With good reason too.

  • Gaol #34 3 years ago

    @rotmm

    The cost of distribution in the EU does not equal the cost of distribution in the States.

    You're comparing the consumers' currencies with no regard for the manufacturers'. The strength of the Yen is an issue for Sony at the moment, the exact opposite of the 90s when the Yen was weak.

    Finally, and most importantly, the average wage in each territory is completely different. You can't just compare the cost of goods, you need to look at spending power when making comparisons. In the UK we get paid more (though we pay higher taxes).

    All corporations set their price in a particular market with a view to profit and shareholder value; nothing else. They might take different short term pricing strategies to chase market share, but their long term goal is one and the same.
    Edited by 2 at 06/01/09 @ 15:27

  • Les #35 3 years ago

    "Since the 360 has a much higher attach rate than other consoles, that challenge might not be as big as you think."

    I think it'll be quite big. Before the price cut the machine only attracted the hardcore, hence high attach rate. There's no reason to assume that the people that got a 360 after the recent price drop are going to buy as many games. In fact, there's every reason to assume they won't (either because it's an 'insurance console' or because the people that bought them have hobbies besides gaming).

  • Feanor #36 3 years ago

    Did you really just write that?

  • Apologie #37 3 years ago

    PS3 have such a strong line of games for 2009... 2008 have been amazing but Uncharted2, GT5, God of War2, Killzone 2 etc... just to name a few, ultimately blows the competition away.

    I feel sorry for all the Xbots out there, that are too blind and narrowminded to give themselves the privilege and oportunity to play the best games of this generation... by the way, i dont give a f*** about wich one sells more, i just want good games and reliability, and i get both with the PS3.

  • BadBoyBonner #38 3 years ago

    My new console the "Dyson Cyclone 360-3-Wii" collects dust like a mo-fo!!!

  • Apologie #39 3 years ago

    farticusmaximus = angry fanboy

  • Apologie #40 3 years ago

    farticusmaximus

    "Apolol, you laughing stock of the EG forums. You king of retards"

    -----

    men, that shit is ofensive, you'r hurting my feelings pal :) by the way, you really are angry... and a fanboy.

  • Calgon #41 3 years ago

    Haha I was wondering if Les would bother... I enjoyed reading his predictable reply, seems much less enthusiatic in his FUD now... perhaps he's starting to see that its not looking so bad for the Xbox devision despite his desperate wish to see them "pull the plug"... Sony are in the worst position in every regard right now... they take the most losses on hardware, 360 sells more games and breaks even on hardware sales. They wont need another price cut... they can concentrate on the games perhaps some bundles, personally I dont think even when Sony can afford(which is the ONLY reason they havent) to drop their price it will make a big enough difference... it will certainly increase sales but it will be too little too late by then(blu-ray advantage looking less and less appealing as time goes by with stand alones getting cheaper and more compact).

    Isnt it great to speculate especially when you make good points instead of stupid ones? ;)
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 16:54

  • man.the.king #42 3 years ago

    So, BAU on MSGamer and it's MSFlock then?

    A MS exec said something? OMG, it must be Scripture!!! A Sony/Nintendo exec said something? Hahah! They must be talking outta their arse.

  • bonker #43 3 years ago

    "Microsoft stated Xbox Live sales were up by 84 per cent in 2008. "

    If true, that's an astonishing figure for a service that wasn't exactly struggling to begin with ...

  • bonker #44 3 years ago

    "8 million Europeans that they just don't give a monkeys about. Not that that's a Microsoft problem, no console manufacturer likes Europe and it's host of territories. "

    I don't get these comments about Europe, I really don't.

    Console manufacturers *LOVE* Europe cos we buy 2nd rate gear at much higher prices than the rest of the world would ever put up with.

    As long as 'we' keep buying the shit they're shovelling (I'm looking at you Sony and N here, primarily), the longer it will stay that way ...

  • Charlie_Miso #45 3 years ago

    28 mill sold - 17 million online = 11 mill sold as RROD fatality replacements

  • BonzoBanana #46 3 years ago

    I don't know how to factor it into these figures but there is a massive piracy scene on the 360 and many pirates have had to buy replacement 360s because they couldn't use the RROD warranty. All things considered though if its helped Microsoft sell consoles and there is still a good software attachment rate its certainly not doing Microsoft any harm.

  • JDub #47 3 years ago

    Most of us pay for gold because we can't do much without it - i.e. online play...

    I wonder how much of that $1B total includes membership fees?

  • JackB #48 3 years ago

    @Stadaman

    A lead over the PS3 with a year extra release ...really?????

    ==================================

    Microsoft had about 15% market share last gen. Sony had about 70%, so yeah this is a big success for Microsoft and a massive failure for Sony.

    If you're celebrating Sony's success this generation, then you should work for Sony's PR department. You already have the right mentality.... :-)

  • Penguinzoot #49 3 years ago

    MS should be putting all their efforts into releasing a reliable system ...

    The 360 reliability issue has been addressed a long time now - but you already knew that, didn't you?

    ... and not hitting us with fictional sales figures.

    You're right. If only there was a way for corporates to publicly lie about company performance to shareholders, investors and regulators.

    /rolls eyes.
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/09 @ 10:18

  • bonker #50 3 years ago

    "I don't know how to factor it into these figures but there is a massive piracy scene on the 360 and many pirates have had to buy replacement 360s because they couldn't use the RROD warranty. All things considered though if its helped Microsoft sell consoles and there is still a good software attachment rate its certainly not doing Microsoft any harm. "

    Piracy sells systems, always has, always will ...