Xbox Live Arcade doubles revenue in 2012

Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service saw strong growth in 2012, primarily due to the popularity of some big games.

Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) pulled in the big bucks, and earned Microsoft a cool $290 million, which was double that of 2011’s revenue.

Minecraft was one of the big hitters, and the sandbox block-building game roped in an estimated $97.4 million, and sold more than 500,000 copies in December 2012 alone.

“Minecraft has been beyond impressive”, said Benjamin Schlichter, Director of Research & Analysis at Forecasting & Analyzing Digital Entertainment (FADE). “Not only is it the top-grossing title in XBLA history, it achieved the feat in approximately three weeks”.

There were some other impressive showings on XBLA in 2012:

Estimated Top Ten XBLA Titles in 2012, Ordered by Gross Revenues

Minecraft (4J Studios) – 4,997,000 Units / $97,388,000
Trials Evolution (RedLynx, LTD) – 1,002,000 Units / $14,298,000
The Walking Dead (TellTale Games) – 2,615,000 Units / $10,277,000
Counterstrike: GO (Valve) – 273,000 Units / $3,973,000
Castle Crashers (The Behemoth) – 252,000 Units / $3,778,000
Gotham City Impostors (Monolith Productions) – 258,000 / $3,698,000
I Am Alive (Ubisoft) – 245,000 Units / $3,609,000
Tony Hawk’s PS HD (Robomodo) – 226,000 Units / $3,261,000
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (Remedy Entertainment) – 206,000 Units / $2,903,000
Trials HD (RedLynx, LTD) – 203,000 / $2,799,000