Redmond (WA) - Larry Hryb, the director of programming at Xbox Live, recently posted on his blog that the number of logged downloads on the Xbox Live marketplace have passed the 50 million mark. Just three months ago, that number was 25 million.

The wildly popular Madden NFL 07 headlines this achievement, with more than 600,000 downloads for that game recorded in the first week after its release. The Xbox Live Arcade title Texas Hold ’Em also set an impressive record as the most widely downloaded XBL Arcade game in the first day of release, averaging over 100 downloads per minute in the first 24 hours.

Xbox Live has made a name for itself since its introduction in 2002. In the past four years, over 2 billion hours have been spent on the online service, and approximately 1.3 million text/voice messages are sent through Live every day.

The Xbox 360 has been monumental in putting online console gaming on the map. More than 60% of Xbox 360 consoles are reportedly connected to Xbox Live, and 65% have downloaded at least one Xbox Live Arcade title. In total, 8 million XBL Arcade downloads have been purchased since the launch of the Xbox 360 last November.

Related article :
Microsoft : Xbox Live "way ahead of Sony"