Redmond (WA) - The Xbox Live service has topped six million users, Microsoft announced today.

The new target has been reached four months sooner than the company originally had predicted. The number includes subscribers to the original Xbox Live service, as well as both the free (silver) and $50/year (gold) versions of the Xbox 360 service.

Microsoft also revealed some other statistics about Xbox Live. In total, 2.3 billion hours have been spent on online gaming, with over 2 million messages now crossing the XBL servers every day.

Halo 2 continues to hold its spot as the game with the most total hours spent online. Gears of War and Xbox Live Arcade title Hexic HD are currently in the #2 and #3 spots, respectively. Finally, Microsoft said that over 70% of people who have connected their console online have purchased a game from the Xbox Live Arcade.

Microsoft did not break down statistics like how many of the six million are paying subscribers, are on the Xbox 360, or how many have paid for the wireless adapter.