Last 12 months have seen record growth for XBL, says Burrowes

Robin Burrowes, Xbox Live's EMEA product marketing manager, has said Xbox Live memberships and increased adoption rates have swum alongside each other since the launch of Kinect.

Speaking with CVG, Burrowes said in the last 12 months, more people joined the service than ever before and it now has over 35 million members.

"The last twelve months has been our biggest in terms of acquisition [of new members] in the England, Middle East, and Africa region and globally," he said. "And we're actually forecasting the next 12 months to be even bigger.

"We've certainly got aspirations in the console space to be number one in terms of market share. Those aspirations are clear. We're exceptionally confident that the 12 months ahead will spark [Xbox Live's] growth. We're making sure we're aligned behind the core games that have been the lifeblood of Xbox Live. With Modern Warfare 3, FIFA 12, Gears 3, Forza 4 and Halo Anniversary all coming in a very action packed period , it's a very strong time for us.

"But the second wave of Kinect titles will have a deeper, more obvious Xbox Live component to them, from multiplayer in Kinect Sports [2] to co-op modes in Dance Central [2] - suggest we will be harnessing the power of those games more with Xbox Live."

Burrowes also said Microsoft is preparing announcements for a "whole bunch" of new partners in the fall.

Microsoft noted in it's latest financials release the firm had shipped 1.7 million Xbox 360 consoles in Q4 and the game division was up 30 percent for the quarter and 48 percent to $2.7 billion for the full year.

The firm shipped 13.7 million Xbox 360 consoles total fort its FY11.