Microsoft records 'blockbuster' Xbox 360 sales

Microsoft sold 4.3 million Xbox 360 videogame consoles in the last three months of 2007, helped by hit titles such as Halo 3 and Mass Effect, according to company data released on Thursday.

A total of 17.7 million Xbox 360s had been sold worldwide since it first went on sale in late 2005, Microsoft said. Earlier sales data from the software giant showed 13.4 million consoles sold by end-September.

"Holiday 2007 was a blockbuster season for the gaming industry," the company said, adding that the Xbox 360 kept its lead over rivals in terms of total dollars spent on hardware and software.

Microsoft competes against Nintendo's wildly popular Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 consoles for dominance in a global video game industry thought to be worth around $40bn (£20bn) in revenue in 2007.

Nintendo and Sony have not released Christmas sales figures for their machines, but by end-September, about 13.2 million Wiis and 5.6 million PS3s had been sold globally.

Microsoft has counted on its Xbox Live online service to set its console apart from rivals. The service lets users download hundreds of games, as well as television shows and movie rentals.

The company also said Halo 3, the final installment of its popular sci-fi shooting game that went on sale in late September, had sold 8.1 million copies by the year-end.

Another Microsoft title, epic sci-fi role-playing game Mass Effect, had sold 1.6 million copies since its late-November release. The games typically cost $60 (£30) per copy.

Microsoft's announcements came ahead of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this weekend, when Chairman Bill Gates and other executives are expected to give a peek into the future of the company's products, including the Xbox 360.

Story Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.