Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Xbox Live set new record in January

Plus: console sales up a third year-on-year.

Microsoft has said more people than ever signed up for Xbox Live during January in the US, a month that recorded 309,000 Xbox 360 sales - 33 per cent more than January 2008.

The company, responding to NPD results, pointed to top DLC performers Fable II and Fallout 3 as reasons for the surge.

Microsoft also said that more than 2 million people downloaded the Halo Wars demo a week after being made available on 5th February.

Games for Xbox 360 occupied five of the top 10 software spaces for January. Left 4 Dead was fourth, Call of Duty: World at War fifth, Skate 2 sixth, Guitar Hero World Tour seventh and Lord of the Rings: Conquest tenth.

Microsoft added that attach rate now stands at 8.1 games per console, and that Xbox 360 generated more life-to-date sales at retail for third-party publishers than "competing consoles".

And numbers are expected to grow as Microsoft prepares for the launch of Xbox 360-exclusive GTAIV downloadable episode The Lost and Damned on 17th February.