We love starting the New Year out with a bang! On the eve of CES 2010, Steve Ballmer and Robbie Bach announced in Microsoft’s keynote address that 2009 was a great year for Xbox and 2010 will be the biggest year ever in Xbox history.

In 2009…

• Xbox sold more than 10 million consoles last year and we have now sold 39 million Xbox 360s around the world.
• Xbox Live continues to redefine and lead social games and entertainment:
  • Xbox  LIVE enjoyed its biggest week ever at Christmas time, with a new member joining every second.
  • Xbox LIVE saw record peaks of more than 2.2 million people using the service at the same time.
  • The addition of new social features like Facebook, Twitter and 1080p instant on movies has been a huge success with nearly 10 million members utilising entertainment content on Xbox LIVE. 
  • Over 1 million new friend connections have been made since the launch of Facebook on Xbox LIVE. 

For 2010…

• As announced during the keynote, “Project Natal” will be hitting living rooms this holiday (2010).  “Project Natal” – which will work with every Xbox 360 – ushers in an entirely new category of games and entertainment, turning YOU into the controller.
• 2010 will deliver our biggest line-up ever of exclusive blockbuster releases.  Kicking off the first-half of the year with back-to-back Xbox 360 exclusives like Splinter Cell Conviction, Crackdown 2, Mass Effect 2, and Alan Wake.  Our holiday line-up of games includes the highly anticipated Fable 3, followed by Halo Reach, which is expected to be the biggest title of 2010.
  • With Xbox LIVE, we’re changing the face of social entertainment.
    • A new Xbox LIVE experience, “Game Room,” will be the ultimate destination for reliving the glory days of the classic 1980s arcade. “Game Room” will offer a library of 30 original arcade and console classics including “Centipede®,” “Asteroids Deluxe®,” and “Super Cobra,” which are shown in their original cabinet designs.  Buy once and play on both your Xbox 360 and Windows-based PC.

For additional Xbox news and assets for CES, please visit www.microsoft.com/ces.