Activision CEO Bobby Kotick claims 23 million people are playing online games with friends today.

During the Activision Blizzard pre-E3 2009 press conference, Kotick cited the publisher’s recent research as proof that “the audience is changing”.

“An Activision study found that 12 million people played games online with friends 18 months [ago],” he said. “Today it’s 23 million people. Clearly you can see that [gaming] has gone from the solitary to the social.”

He attributed this growth to new interfaces, such as the company’s Guitar Hero titles, and predicted that Activision will become a billion dollar business by 2012.

Kotick also said the attach rates for each format is increasing, with the average number of games purchased per console rising by 17 per cent since the previous generation.