As October 2009's NPD U.S. charts debut, Microsoft claims "the only console showing year-to-date [hardware] growth" in the Xbox 360, up 7%, and 2 million simultaneous Xbox Live users after
Modern Warfare 2's debut.
The company's official statement, released just before NPD's debut, noted that Xbox 360 featured with a total of six titles – including two exclusives,
Forza Motorsport 3 and
Halo 3: ODST from Microsoft Game Studios – in the console top 10 list this October.
According to Microsoft, the other Xbox 360 titles in the top 10 console games were
NBA 2K10 and
Borderlands from Take-Two, as well as
FIFA Soccer 10 and
Brutal Legend from Electronic Arts. (
Brutal Legend is listed
outside the NPD software Top 10, which also includes a Nintendo DS game.)
Microsoft also noted that "third-party titles continue to find success with Xbox 360, generating more sales than any other system, topping $151 million in October."
It added: "We expect this sales trajectory to continue – just two days ago, Activision launched
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the most anticipated game of the year. Shortly after the launch, Xbox Live reached a new record of more than two million people on the service at the same time.
Overall, U.S. console sales of 250,000 units in October contributed to a 7 percent rise in year-over-year sales for the first ten months of 2009. Xbox 360 "remains the only console showing year-to-date growth", Microsoft notes, and consumers spent $289 million on Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories in October, "more than any other platform."
In a separate announcement released alongside NPD, Microsoft also revealed that Xbox 360 reached 10 million units sold in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), an important milestone.
