MS and Sony reveal numbers of online users

Both Sony and Microsoft have been bigging up their latest online user numbers, following the release of the latest NPD sales figures for the US.

On Sony's official blog, president and CEO Jack Tretton said the Sony service now has more than 40 million users, reiterating the previously released information that the service grew 155 per cent in December.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has said its - paying - users now total 23 million. The company also claims numbers of users logged in at once reached an all-time high in January, reaching 2.3 million and setting a new record for the service.

Microsoft has just announced its Xbox Live Arcade Game Room - a new addition to the service - will go live in March.

Sony has previously revealed that future plans for the PSN service will include an experience unified across Sony's Blu-ray, TV and PC product range.