Xbox Live is an online gaming service created and operated by the IT industry giant Microsoft Corporation. Ever since the release of the popular gaming console Xbox, there has been a constant increase in the number of games and subscribers to Xbox. Presently, It is the only online gaming service based on consoles that charges fees to users, to allow them to engage in multiplayer gaming. The Xbox system was launched in 2002 and an updated version in the Xbox 360 console was made available in 2005. In 2007, the service was extended on Windows platforms and enabled Windows machines to connect to the Xbox Live gaming community.
Currently, Microsoft is planning to further extend the Xbox Live service to the Microsoft mobile platforms including mobile phones and handhelds as part of their total domination plan in their Live Anywhere initiative. Microsoft is driven to come up with extensions of the service due to the popularity of this gaming service.
Since 2006, Xbox Live has been extremely successful. The data that Microsoft gathered was that more than half of the gamers who bought the console also used their service. About 85% of those who bought consoles also used the console to download exclusive content from the online marketplace. The service has also been used as a social network tool with chat, voice chat and video chat capabilities.
The popularity of Xbox Live enabled this gaming service to accumulate around 30 million subscribers in which 10% or 3 million are always active at any time. The large user base is another advantage this gaming service offers, as there are plenty of competitive players to have matches with 24 7.
The boom has generated several off-shoot projects for Microsoft and third-party developers and manufacturers. There have been plenty of devices that were made based on Xbox Live games that are essential to the gaming experience like the Xbox rapid fire controller which enables the user to fire their weapons at a much faster rate than the usual controller.
With the continuous growth and increase popularity of Xbox Live gaming services, Microsoft has become determined to fully develop itself as a one-stop shop for the online needs of people. One of the latest developments enables users to listen to music while playing a game via the XMB.
Due to the success of the Guitar Hero game, there are plenty of game developers who are integrating a multiplayer feature into to their games that needs access from the gaming service. For the developers of Halo, Call of Duty and Gears of War series, it has become a good move as they have become the top Xbox Live gaming series to date. Rest assured, there will be newer and better games as many game developers will try to get a piece of the market share.
In the past, fantasy games like Final Fantasy were the most popular games but with the onset of multiplayer games such as 1st person shooter games like Call of Duty, the gaming industry has changed. If you have been able to play at least one of the first or third shooter games, you will know why they have become so addictive and highly engaging.
