Microsoft says Xbox Live engagement reached an "all-time high" of 3.9 billion hours in 2016

Microsoft has released some interesting numbers regarding player engagement across its Xbox brand.

According to the company, during November and December 2016 Xbox Live engagement reached an "all-time high" with 3.9 billion hours spent using the service - a 23% increase year-over-year.

Microsoft attributed part of this growth to Xbox One S being one of the top-selling products over the holiday season, not to mention the over 400 new games made available in 2016 for Xbox One systems.

Xbox One owners spent 265 million hours playing Xbox 360 games in 2016 via Xbox One Backward Compatibility, and Windows 10 users spent 2.5 billion hours playing games in November 2016 alone. This is a 127% increase for Windows 10 compared to the same period in November 2015.

Forza Horizon 3 has well over 14 million players on Xbox One and Windows 10, and 23 million Versus Multiplayer and Horde matches have been played in Gears of War 4 on Xbox Live since launch.

Xbox One users also created over 2.4 million personalized Xbox Wireless Controller designs via Xbox Design Lab in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Microsoft concluded its Xbox One stats report by stating that new add-on content or expansions for Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, ReCore, Dead Rising 4 and Minecraft are on the way in 2017.

The firm also said it is "excited to show more" of what's in store for users this year, and is looking forward to unveiling Project Scorpio "in the coming months."