Black Ops 2 was 2012's most popular Xbox LIVE game
Minecraft most downloaded XBox LIVE Arcade game, Castleminer Z tops indie list
Black Ops 2 has unsurprisingly emerged as the most played online game on Xbox last year, according to a list compiled by Microsoft's Larry Hryb.
Ranked according to the number of unique players connecting to a game's online portions each day, Black Ops 2 edged out Activision stablemate Modern Warfare 3 in second and Microsoft's own Halo 4 in third. Minecraft took fourth place and the original Black Ops fifth.
As well as placing highly on the service's most played list, Minecraft was also the most downloaded game from the Xbox LIVE Arcade, followed by Trials: Evolution, The Walking Dead, Pinball FX2 and Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
As well as charting so highly on these two metrics, Mojang's voxel masterpiece has clearly exerted its influence over the indie chart, with five of the top ten indie downloads owing some debt to the studio's iconic title.
Full tables are below. It's not made explicit whether downloads from the same user for various episodes, or individual tables in the case of Pinball FX2, count separately towards the total.
Most played Xbox LIVE games, by average daily unique users
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Halo 4
- Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
- Call of Duty: Black Ops
- FIFA Soccer 13
- FIFA Soccer 12
- Battlefield 3
- Halo: Reach
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Borderlands 2
- Assassin's Creed III
- Skyrim
- Madden NFL 13
- Gears of War 3
- NBA 2K13
- NBA 2K12
- Far Cry 3
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Forza Motorsport 4
Most downloaded Xbox LIVE Arcade titles (full version only)
- Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
- Trials Evolution
- The Walking Dead
- Pinball FX2
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Castle Crashers
- Gotham City Impostors
- I Am Alive
- Fruit Ninja Kinect
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD
- Trials HD
- Magic 2013
- Fez
- Dungeon Defenders
- Alan Wake's American Nightmare
- Peggle
- The Simpsons Arcade Game
- REAL STEEL
- Toy Soldiers: Cold War
- Full House Poker
Most downloaded Xbox LIVE Indie Arcade titles (full version only)
- CastleMiner Z
- CastleMiner
- Total Miner: Forge
- Avatar Deathmatch
- FortressCraft Chapter 1
- Murder Miners
- The Impossible Game
- Avatar Laser Wars 2
- The $1 Zombie Game
- Avatar Paintball
- Avatar Legends
- Fortress Wars
- Miner Of Duty
- Miner4Ever
- Avatar Laser Wars
- End Of Days: Infected vs Mercs
- Toy Stunt Bike 2
- Flight Adventure 2
- Don't Die Dateless, Dummy!
- Block World