Xbox Live reaches six-million member landmark

Like a bionic man raging through a forest, everything else surrounding Xbox Live seems slower in comparison...

By Eugene Huang

At E3 2006, Microsoft promised that the Xbox Live user base would double from three million users to six million users by June 2007. But according to a recent announcement, it seems that they've reached that target four months ahead of schedule. Xbox Live has just recently registered its six millionth member, greatly exceeding even Microsoft's own expectations of the online service's rapid growth.

Microsoft has also posted several Xbox Live-related statistics, such as the most popular games on the service. Topping the list at number one is Halo 2, which is enjoyed by users of both Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. Following up at number two is Gears of War, with the XBLA title Hexic HD coming in at third. Also making it to the top five list are Call of Duty 2 and GRAW at numbers four and five, respectively.

Take that, despot!

Take that, despot!

It has also been stated that total download figures from Xbox Live Arcade have already exceeded the 25 million mark, and that nearly 70% of all connected Xbox 360s have downloaded at least one Live Arcade title. As for the most downloaded XBLA game, that title goes to Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting, followed by Bankshot Billiards 2 at number two and Marble Blast Ultra at number three. Popular card game UNO made it in at fourth place, with the classic FPS Doom also making it into the last spot of the top five list.

Microsoft also sees Live as not only a matchmaking service, but also as a legitimate social community, with an average of approximately two million text and voice messages passed between users on a daily basis. Furthermore, it's also reported that the typical Xbox Live Gold subscriber has an average of 22 gamers on their friends list.

What? Your friends list is below average? Way below average? Then stop being such a scrubby n00b and play nice for a change!!

[Note: The preceding message was brought to you by "The Gamers Who Are Tired of Playing Against Scrubby N00bs Foundation".]

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