My boy Geoff has been busy: his new company has put out the following story.
Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) has just released a revealing new study based on the Microsoft Xbox 360 Achievement System. The study concluded that, in general, game titles that have a higher volume of Accomplishments correlate with both a higher Metacritic Metascore and higher gross sales in the United States. The data also indicated that not all developers are utilizing these design options. In fact, 29% of all Accomplishments are Completion Accomplishments; one of the easiest to develop and integrate – leaving way for additional opportunities within the Accomplishment categories.
The interesting part of this research is that it appears to compare XBox games with other XBox games. I think it would be more interesting to compare 360 games with their ports on other platforms with no achiever-like system. Example: Marvel Alliance. Another example: Madden ‘08.
I know that I personally have bought games for the 360 because, all other things equal, I’d prefer to pad my gamer score. I suspect I’m not alone.