It’s been 10 years since the launch of Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online service for Xbox 360, which has a lot to celebrate having registered the most time ever spent on the service this week, no doubt fuelled by the release of Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
Users spent a grand total of 442m hours on Xbox Live from 6-13 November – the most time ever recorded by the service in a one-week period.
This follows the long-awaited release of Halo 4 on 6 November, which has been a resounding success, claiming more than US$224m in sales across the world within its first 24 hours. Within the Xbox Live community, users unlocked 43m achievements within the first five days of gameplay.
In an open letter to Xbox Live’s 40m-plus members in 41 countries, corporate vice-president Marc Whitten wrote: “If the last 10 years is any indication of what’s possible in the next 10 years, imagine the innovation yet to come. One thing is for sure – we will continue to offer some of the best entertainment, from premium games, sports, TV, movies, web to music.”
To reward fans, special anniversary promotions and deals are now available on Xbox.com, including limited-edition 10th anniversary consoles, free copies of Wreckateer (available today and tomorrow only), and 50pc off a selection of games until 22 November.
Major Nelson (also known as Larry Hryb, director of programming for Xbox Live) is also giving away free subscriptions every hour on Twitter.
