The number of PlayStation Plus subscribers has almost doubled within the last 18 months, Sony has revealed, climbing from 10.9m users in January 2015 to 20.8m.

The new figure was revealed during a presentation held by Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Andrew House yesterday, where the platform holder said that it had seen a "continuous growth" in paid PlayStation Plus subscribers, and a 51% increase in network sales in FY2015 (April 2015-March 2016) compared to the previous year.

In comparison, figures released by Microsoft in April put Xbox Live's monthly active users at 46 million, although that is expected to include both free and paid Xbox Live Gold users.

A key factor in PlayStation Plus' growth is likely due to its requirement to access multiplayer in PS4 titles, similar to that of Xbox Live. A PlayStation Plus membership is not required to access multiplayer in PS3 or PS Vita games.

An annual subscription to PlayStation Plus costs £39.99.

Source: Sony IR Day 2016