NPD: Hardware and digital sales surge for Microsoft

Microsoft was understandably upbeat following the release of NPD’s March statistics, which showed that Xbox 360 was the only console to see year-on-year hardware sales increases.

The 360 sold 330,000 units throughout the month, a 25 per cent increase on the same month in 2008. The numbers, the platform holder stated, were in contrast to double-digit declines posted by Wii and PlayStation 3”.

The firm added that sales of third party games on Xbox 360 totalled $185m, which was more than on any other console throughout the month.

There were also some impressive Xbox Live numbers thrown about, with Microsoft boasting a 128 per cent increase in unique users compared to the same month last year. Since the beginning of 2009, there has also been a 220 per cent increase in the numbers of 360 owners purchasing game add-ons – indeed, the number of downloadable add-ons released in the period has also increased 62 per cent year-on-year.

2009 marks the year that we’ve take online console gaming and entertainment to new heights through downloadable games and Game Add-ons,” a statement read.

Game add-ons give Xbox 360 owners the ability to extend the life of their favourite games, whether it’s new song tracks for music games, The Pitt expansion for Fallout 3 or the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack, which launched April 9.”