Xbox Live revenues cleared $1 billion (£661m) in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010.
Bloomberg reports that Xbox 360’s online service “probably” hit the new milestone, but a source has confirmed with us that’s definitely the case.
Microsoft told the financial site that around half of Xbox Live’s 25 million users paid $50 for an annual Gold subscription membership, which lets users play games online and download media content, among other features. That would equate to $600 million (£397m) in revenue.
In addition, Xbox chief operating officer Dennis Durkin said that content sales topped subscription revenue for the first time, suggesting the business generated over $1.2 billion (£794m) in sales during fiscal 2010.
Goldman Sachs analyst Sarah Friar believes Xbox Live revenues hit $1.1 billion (£727m) in the business year just ended, up from $800 million (£529m) the previous year. She estimates that Xbox Live has gross margins (the percentage of sales remaining after deducting production costs) of about 65 per cent.
Xbox Live is currently available in 26 countries, although Microsoft said at E3 that it will rollout in nine new ones later this year. The service will also be launched on Windows-enabled mobile devices.
Last month Microsoft detailed a new Xbox Live family subscription option that will offer four XBL Gold memberships for $99.99.