Xbox breaks US sales records

A report indicates that Microsoft has smashed sales records in the US market, thanks to a strong launch line-up.

Microsoft’s blockbusting US launch line-up for Xbox has paid dividends across the pond, with the NPD Group reporting that Xbox has posted a sales increase of 131% in the US in the two months following its $100 price cut.

Of the three US console price cuts during May, Xbox had the largest percentage gain as a result, and perhaps thanks to that, both Project Gotham Racing and Dead or Alive 3 have joined Halo: Combat Evolved in having sold more than one million copies worldwide. This makes Xbox the first videogame system ever to have three million-unit-selling launch titles after just eight months on the market.

The NPD Group has also confirmed that Xbox has sold more than ten million software units in its first eight months, the most sold for a new system in the US for the same period of time. Microsoft hopes for gamers to have more than 200 games to choose from by the holiday season, no doubt increasing its chances of doubling the figure in another eight months.

The Xbox games roster currently has 300 titles in development in toto. Microsoft plans to launch Xbox Live, a broadband connected gaming service, in the autumn.

© gamesindustry.biz