Microsoft Xbox Live use grows 26%

Monthly active users of Microsoft’s Xbox Live service grew by 26% year-over-year to 46 million during the company’s fiscal third quarter.

Announcing its results for the three months ended March 31, Microsoft said that growth in the entertainment service  – which gives Xbox owners access to exclusive games, HD films and TV shows, live events, music and sports, along with entertainment apps – was driven by the growth of Xbox One and Windows 10.

“Xbox One continues to outpace prior generations in both reach and engagement. At the same time we continue to create synergies between Xbox One and Windows 10 devices,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on the company’s earnings call.

“Bringing top Xbox One titles to Windows store helped grow gaming hours on Windows 10 by 50% over last quarter. And starting this summer Universal Windows Apps will run on Xbox One making it easy to build applications and games that work across devices.”

The news comes in the same week that Microsoft said that it will now stop manufacturing its 10-year old Xbox 360 console. However, the firm said it will sell existing inventory of Xbox 360 consoles and will continue to support the platform.