Microsoft Claims 17.7 Million Xbox 360s Sold Worldwide

Officials from Microsoft have announced that a total of 17.7 million Xbox 360s have been sold worldwide since the console first went on sale in late 2005, with 4.3 million consoles sold in the last three months of 2007. According to estimates in September, the Wii had sold around 13.2 million units worldwide, and the PlayStation 3 5.6 million units. Microsoft also announced that Xbox 360 exclusive Halo 3 has now sold 8.1 million units worldwide, suggesting that almost half of all Xbox 360 owners have now purchased the game. Sales for BioWare’s action role-playing title Mass Effect were put at 1.6 million worldwide since launch. As is common with sales announcements from console manufacturers there is no clarification as to whether the figures refer to the number of consoles sold or the number shipped to retailers. However, new monthly independent hardware and software sales figures for North America will be available from NPD Group later this month. Although specific figures were not provided, Microsoft also claimed that the company had kept its lead over Nintendo and Sony in terms of total dollars spent on hardware and software.