Microsoft: Gaming hours on Xbox One doubled in May 2016 compared to last year

Microsoft sent out a new statement on the Xbox One's status during May 2016, stating that gaming hours on the console "more than doubled compared to last year."

Gamesindustry.biz reports that Microsoft's statement came from Mike Nichols, the company's corporate vice president of Xbox marketing. It was its official response to the May 2016 U.S. gaming retail sales numbers from the NPD Group:

In May 2016, gaming hours on Xbox One more than doubled compared to last year, driven by the launches of 'Overwatch' and 'DOOM' as well as the addition of 'Call of Duty: Black Ops' to the catalog of Xbox 360 titles playable on Xbox One. Minecraft also hit a significant milestone with total sales to-date surpassing 106 million and an average monthly unique player rate of more than 40 million across all platforms. We are just days away from E3 2016 and we're excited to share more details on what Xbox fans can expect this year and beyond. We expect this to be a special E3.

Sony's PlayStation 4 was the number one best selling game console in the U.S. in May 2016, according to the NPD Group's numbers. As usual, the NPD, Sony and Microsoft all declined to offer specifics on the number of consoles each company sold last month.

The NPD Group did state that U.S. retail stores sold a total of $509.3 million of game consoles, software and accessories during May 2016, up 4% from the same period a year ago. The PlayStation 4 exclusive game Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was the number one best selling game in the U.S in May, followed by the reboot of Doom in second place and Blizzard's Overwatch in third place. Battleborn debuted in the number four spot, and Grand Theft Auto V continues to sell well nearly three years after its debut, coming in at the number five spot in May.