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Wednesday, 17th October 2007 at 11:48 am

Do more Achievements equal greater sales?

by Ben Parfitt | Email a friend | Print

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Do more Achievements equal greater sales?

Study concludes that more Achievements in 360 titles equal better reviews and higher sales

CVG reports that a study by analyst Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) suggests that Xbox 360 games which feature a higher number and greater assortment of Achievements not only score higher in reviews but also perform better at retail – in the US at least.

“Consumers want their games to include both variety and abundance of Accomplishments,” EEDAR boss Geoffrey Zatkin stated. “Our research shows that incentives such as Achievements impact sales choices such as which game title to buy and which platform to buy it on; they also extend the replayability of a title.”

The firm also adds that there is evidence that some gamers take the time to research the available Achievements in a title before deciding on whether or not to purchase.

For those of you baffled by the above, Achievements are a system incorporated into all Xbox 360 titles that rewards gamers with points for reaching certain goals in a given game, such as completing a level. A gamer’s Achievement Points total, taken from the points earnt across all games that have been played, is then permanently displayed next to their online profile on Xbox Live.

Sony has said it will be introducing a similar system as part of its PS3 Home initiative next year, whilst upcoming Nintendo title Metroid Prime 3 boasts its own in-game ‘Accomplishment’ system.

Article continues below

Koch

Image courtesy of www.technology-ninja.com

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Comments

9 comments | Add a Comment

You better not be lying

posted by Graeme Oct 17, 2007 at 1:01 pm

If I don't have my 500 points when I go home I'm gonna come on here tomorrow and complain, false advertising MCV!

On a more serious note from real experience people tend to buy games with fewer/easier achievements because they are gamerscore *****s. Though yeah some of us prefer the challenge.

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Re: You better not be lying

posted by Hamish_McHam Oct 17, 2007 at 1:47 pm

It's not really a surprise that when a company puts in more effort that it gets better reviews...

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Re: You better not be lying

posted by Neodhanjal Oct 17, 2007 at 3:53 pm

I actually buy Xbox titles over the PS3 ones at the moment just because of the achievements...so there is definately a selling point..

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Re: You better not be lying

posted by OTWarrior Oct 17, 2007 at 4:11 pm

I have both a powerful PC and a xbox360, and for multiformat games, I have to choose between cost of game (eg: stanglehold was £17.99 on play for pc, but £39.99 for 360), The graphics (marginally better on PC), or whether I want achievements.....

...It can be very difficult to choose sometimes :(

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Re: You better not be lying

posted by Oct 17, 2007 at 4:19 pm

achievment points are a very underestimated marketing ploy, i i know so many people who will buy 360 multiformat releases over others because of them. im ashamed to admit that i am one of these people.
I need help.

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Re: You better not be lying

posted by scottmpamp Oct 17, 2007 at 9:57 pm

I am guilty. I bought King Kong (second hand) because I knew the 1,000 achievement points in this game was guaranteed with little effort.
The game wasn't terrible, but I probably wouldn't have bothered with it if there weren't any achievement points in it.

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Re: You better not be lying

posted by CyberRazorCut Oct 17, 2007 at 10:08 pm

I'm quite sure MS could sell a disc that would do no more than just give you one thousand points and return you back to the dashboard. It'd probably sell a ton. (and have more depth and be more fun than halo 3.. :-) )