Xbox Live's virtual gameshow 1 vs. 100 has been downloaded by a staggering 2.5 million users since entering beta in June, Microsoft announced today.

Based on the television gameshow of the same name, 1 vs. 100 sees one Xbox Live Gold member competing against a 'mob' of one hundred others--all in avatar form--answering trivia questions in the hope of winning up to 10,000 Microsoft Points ($125).

Continuing its numerical assault, Microsoft boasts that 1 vs. 100's North American best of 114,000 players at once trounces the Guinness world record for most TV gameshow contestants--80,799 in the 1983 All-Japan High-School Quiz Championship, fact fans.

1 vs. 100's 'beta season' has been extended by two weeks until September 13, and will once again be opened up to Live Silver members too on the weekend of August 29.

As the beta for Microsoft's online quiz show 1 vs. 100 continues in North America, the company today revealed that it will begin offering actual prizes on Friday, July 10.

Those selected to be "The One" can earn up to 10,000 Microsoft Points ($125), depending on how many members of the 100-person "Mob" they can outsmart when answering trivia questions. Should "The One" choose incorrectly when less than 60 members are left in "The Mob," the remaining Mobsters will split the prize.

While players are somewhat-randomly selected to be "The One" or... Read more

The beta for Microsoft's television-inspired online quiz show 1 vs. 100 will be temporarily open to those with free Xbox Live Silver accounts from today until Sunday, June 28.

Currently underway in the United States and Canada, participation in the beta previously required Xbox 360 owners to have bought or redeemed an Xbox Live Gold membership.

Once out of beta, the surprisingly addictive trivia game will offer skill-based prizes, including virtual Microsoft Point funds and Xbox Live Arcade games. The more members of the 100-person "Mob" that "The One" outlasts by correctly answering questions, the higher the payout, with the remaining "Mob" receiving prizes if they outsmart "The One."

The better a player performs in the scheduled "Extended Play" sessions, the more likely they are to be chosen as "The One" or in "The Mob" during live sessions, with everyone else still able to participate and answer questions from their spot in "The Crowd." In recent sessions, the game has seen tens of thousands of simultaneous players.

The beta for Microsoft's Xbox Live game show MMO "1 vs 100" will begin Monday, June 1, the company announced today.

The large-scale game will see one player competing against a mob of 100 others in a series of trivia challenges for a Microsoft Point prize. The live game is hosted by Chris Cashman, with "Extended Play" sessions open for competition when the show is not airing.

1 vs 100 offers contestants an increasingly high payout as the trivia progresses. The longer the single player answers questions correctly, the more the prize increases, with the "mob" of 100 thinning as they answer incorrectly. The single player can choose to take the prize at any time; if the "one" answers a question incorrectly, the mob splits the purse. The max payout stands at 10,000 Microsoft Points ($125).

The Xbox Live crowd can also compete, with the top three audience members taking home prizes at the end of each show. The top crowd members also raise their chances of being selected to play as a mob member, or as the one.