Xbox Live downloads surpass 50 million mark

Downloads via Microsoftâs Xbox Live Marketplace have surpassed the 50 million mark, doubling the 25 million figure reached only three months ago.

The release of EAâs Madden NFL 07 has helped boost the numbers, with two million hours of gameplay logged in the first seven days and 600,000 in-game achievements recorded.

Xbox Live Arcade title Texas Hold 'Em has also set a day one record as the fastest downloaded item on Xbox Live Marketplace. It was also the first full game to be offered free if downloaded within the first 48 hours of release.

Other figures released by Microsoft make impressive reading. The currency used on Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft Points, has surpassed two billion units sold - with over 60 per cent of Xbox 360 owners now connected to Xbox Live.

An average of 1.3 million text and voice messages are sent via Xbox Live every day, with half a billion messages sent amongst the Xbox Live community per year.

Xbox Live Arcade is proving popular, as 65 per cent of connected console owners have downloaded and played the digitally distributed titles. More than 8 million Arcade games have been downloaded since the launch of Xbox 360.

Gamers across the globe have spent over two billion hours on Xbox Live since the service launched in November 2002.

More Xbox Live support is due over the coming months with the launch of the Xbox Live Vision camera, which will be available to buy on September 19th in the US and October 6th in Europe.