Chew on these successful XBLA stats and figures

by Dustin Burg { Dec 22nd 2008 at 3:45PM }

Feeling a bit reflective, today Microsoft put out a press release with the sole reason of gloating about the success of the Xbox Live Arcade over the years and especially in 2008. Read over the bulleted list and try to guesstimate how many Microsoft points have been spent on XBLA titles over the years.

1.25 billion Gamerscore unlocked to date.
100 million achievements earned to date.
60+ XBLA titles score 75 or higher on metacritic.
Braid is highest rated XBLA game of all time.
110 million trial XBLA games have been downloaded to date.
The Summer of Arcade saw a 58% increase in unique members purchasing game titles.
August broke revenue record by 67%.

Tags: braid, x3f-twitter, xbla

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jonman @ Dec 22nd 2008 3:51PM

Captain Maths to the rescue!!

# 1.25 billion Gamerscore unlocked to date.
# 100 million achievements earned to date.

So, each of those achievements is worth 1025 Gamerscore? Something smells fishy, and indeed, doesn't add up.

lynch @ Dec 22nd 2008 3:55PM

1.25 billion = 1250 million.

1250 million / 100 million = 12.5, so the average achievement value is ~ 12.5 gamerscore. Very believable.

Drew @ Dec 22nd 2008 3:58PM

Don't quit your day job, Captain Maths (unless math IS your day job).

Jonman @ Dec 22nd 2008 4:08PM

I've demoted Captain Maths to Lieutenant Maths for his error.

MrMuggs @ Dec 22nd 2008 4:30PM

Capt Maths has been further demoted to Private Floor Sweeper.

imbecile pete @ Dec 22nd 2008 3:56PM

why did braid score so high?
i tought it was kind of crap and there is a load of xbla games that are much better so....what is so good about it?

SadisticHam @ Dec 22nd 2008 4:03PM

For example..

Sarth @ Dec 22nd 2008 4:12PM

Did you collect all the Puzzle Pieces? If so, did you use a guide? The is game makes you use your brain and if you cheat, it'll take all the fun out.

Andrew @ Dec 22nd 2008 4:33PM

Staring at a screen trying to solve a puzzle is not fun, it's frustrating. To me, anyway. The game's just not for me.

Evan @ Dec 22nd 2008 5:03PM

Staring at a screen trying to shoot at players who are always moving is not fun, it's frustrating.

Staring at a screen trying to press buttons on a plastic guitar in rhythm to music is not fun, it's frustrating.

Staring at a screen trying to make a plumber jump on top of a turtle is not fun, it's frustrating.

A game is all about staring at a screen doing something that is difficult.

turkeybaster @ Dec 22nd 2008 7:50PM

I see Braid as a fine wine of a videogame. Some people will just think "ugh, some kind of tart fruity little thing. Thank god it's over," and some people will savor every little bit of it and take it as an all-encompassing experience. I'm one of the latter, but it's perfectly fine if you're one of the former. It's a game that means different things to different people, and I think that maybe that was also part of the designer's intent.

myabsolution @ Dec 22nd 2008 4:01PM

Some of the arcade games I got over summer...

WOTB: Commando 3
1942 Joint Strike
Mega Man 9
Golf: Tee it up
Bionic Commando: Rearmed
Fable 2 Pub Games

myabsolution @ Dec 22nd 2008 5:57PM

oopsie i forgot castle crashers :X

Andrew @ Dec 22nd 2008 4:32PM

Arcade games I bought in the last year:

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Rez HD
Castle Crashers
Geometry Wars Evolved²
Ikaruga
Brain Challenge

Jcarpio @ Dec 22nd 2008 5:08PM

I might have gone a bit overboard with XBLA this year.

Pub Games, Bionic commando, Castle Crashers, Age of Booty, Penny Arcade: ep 1 and a Kingdom for Keflings

adam @ Dec 22nd 2008 5:23PM

These numbers don't tell us anything ... and it's interesting that MS doesn't share actual sale numbers ... it could vary greatly!

for example:

if an average of 6 achievements were unlocked per game it would mean that over 16.6 million games were bought.

if an average of 8 achievements were unlocked per game that number falls to 12.5 million.

if the average is 10 = 10 million (which is unlikely)

then take into account that there are 60+ games have 75+ ratings and it could be guesstimated that the above average seller could see 200,000 games sold on XBLA.

Considering this is going back 3 years, is it really THAT good??

imbecile pete @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:17PM

captain maths is back....

Bobluling @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:43PM

Dang, this makes me want to give Braid another shot, I downloaded the trial and played it about 2 minutes and quit thinking it was another crappy arcade game without actually playing it.

Krilekk @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:31PM

adam: The majority of Xbox Live Arcade titles barely sell 100.000 copies. There are some like UNO that have sold about 500.000 copies and still sell well. However I'm surprised with how well XBLA is doing. About 14 million sold XBLA games is a huge success (and it fits with the 110 million trial downloads) for a pretty new service which is still growing fast. I wonder how well Community Games will sell.