Microsoft sold 4.3 million Xbox 360 video game consoles in the last three months of 2007, helped by hit titles such as "Halo 3" and "Mass Effect", according to company data released on Thursday.
A total of 17.7 million Xbox 360s had been sold worldwide since it first went on sale in late 2005, Microsoft said. Earlier sales data from the software giant showed 13.4 million consoles sold by the end of September.
"Holiday 2007 was a blockbuster season for the gaming industry," Microsoft said, adding that the Xbox 360 has kept its lead over rivals in terms of total dollars spent on hardware and software.
Microsoft is competing against Nintendo's popular Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 consoles for dominance in a global video game industry that is thought to have approached $40 billion in revenue in 2007.
Nintendo and Sony have not released holiday sales figures for their machines, but by the end of September about 13.2 million Wiis and 5.6 million PS3s had been sold.
"Halo 3", the final instalment of Microsoft's sci-fi shooting game that went on sale in late September, had sold 8.1 million copies by the end of the year, the company said.
Another Microsoft title, epic sci-fi role-playing game "Mass Effect", had sold 1.6 million copies since its late November release, it said.
Microsoft's announcement comes ahead of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this weekend, where chairman Bill Gates is expected to give a peek into the future of the company's products, including the Xbox.
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