Estimating the global Xbox 360 install base to be somewhere between 40 and 50 million units, Foundation 9 CEO James North-Hearn has suggested that around 30 percent of owners are "not only online and using Xbox Live, but all those and buying games." In a recent interview with Eurogamer, he claimed, "Certainly XBLA is past tipping point now." He also stuck up for XBLA's competition, the PlayStation Network. "Even though it's a smaller user base, and even though it's generally accepted as currently not being as successful or popular, it's definitely growing," he said. "There's less competition on PSN, but currently a smaller user base." As for the future, North-Hearn believes "the market will move to both online and to digital distribution at some point, almost exclusively."
And Foundation 9 likely hope that's the case -- its six studios developed roughly 15 percent of the games on XBLA, including Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. North-Hearn even seems to believe "cloud solutions" could come to XBLA and PSN at some point in the future, saying that's "where the market's going to go" and that both channels are "in a great position."
