Microsoft: entertainment overtakes multiplayer gaming on Xbox

Along with launching new voice-controlled TV apps for Comcast and HBO Go today, Microsoft has also shared some rather interesting stats for its new entertainment apps on Xbox 360. Xbox Live Gold members in the US are now spending an average of 84 hours per month on Xbox Live, with entertainment app usage more than doubled year on year. Globally, this has led to a 30 percent increase in the total hours spent on Xbox Live around the world.

The result of this increased Xbox Live activity means that for the first time on Xbox, entertainment usage has surpassed multiplayer game usage. Microsoft says that Xbox Live members in the US are now spending more time watching TV, music, and movies than they are playing multiplayer games. Although the company doesn’t offer any stats for games usage on a whole versus entertainment apps, it’s safe to say that its Live TV platform is off to a fairly good start. Video game sales may have dipped 20 percent during February, but that hasn’t stopped the Xbox 360 holding onto its 14 months of best-selling console in the US, and with rumors of a new Spotify-like Xbox Live music service on the horizon — it doesn’t look like Microsoft has any plans to reduce its focus on Xbox entertainment.