We know that Xbox Live is a cash cow for Microsoft but have you wondered if Xbox Live Arcade is bringing in any money? Well that answer is YES. The service is bringing in money for both Microsoft and those who develop games for the service. Read on for some stats.

Forecasting and Analysing Digital Entertainment (FADE) released a report stating that Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) has become a healthy source of income for Microsoft

Based on FADE’s estimates, during 2009 the service racked up $103.4 million in revenue, an increase of 34% over 2008′s figures.  This may have been helped by a rise in the average price of games, which went from $8.33 in 2008 to $9.12 in 2009.

By listing the revenue accrued by the service’s best-selling games, FADE was also able to give us an idea of sales figures, something usually elusive for those following the fortunes of downloadable titles and the platforms they’re available on.

For example, it’s estimated that Battlefield 1943 sold over 800,000 units, while Castle Crashers might have sold over a million copies, and that’s just during 2009.

FADE’s complete top ten for estimated XBLA sales in 2009 is below.

* Battlefield 1943 (EA Dice) – $12.5 million ($15.00)
* Castle Crashers (The Behemoth) – $7.3 million ($15.00)
* Trials HD (RedLynx, LTD) – $7.1 million ($15.00)
* Shadow Complex (Chair Entertainment / Epic Games) – $6.1 million ($14.38)
* Family Game Night (Hasbro) – $4.2 million ($9.53)
* Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (Capcom) – $4.2 million ($15.00)
* Magic: The Gathering (Stainless Games) – $2.8 million ($10.00)
* Worms 2 (Team 17) – $1.8 million ($10.00)
* Peggle (PopCap Games) – $1.8 million ($8.86)
* Turtles in Time: Reshelled (Ubisoft Singapore) – $1.7 million ($10.00)

So in my opinion, we are helping the economy with our XBLA purchases.  So lets keep growing the economy by playing video games.

-Wingman709