Microsoft's Marketplace Business Manager, Rohan Oommen, took some time to explain details about the XBL Marketplace at the recent Gamefest.
Since the birth of Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft has seen over 40 million downloads. Three quarters of the Microsoft XBL subscribers have pulled down content from this service and the average user has downloaded twenty or more items. The selection is great, hosting 2,000 selectable downloads from the service itself.
What appeals to John Q. Public the most? Demos! People want to "try before they buy." Not only that, but this is a great promotional method to get your game concepts to the public so that they can interact with the developers creation; not simply checkout the back of the box and make a decision of a few glittery pictures.
When a new demo is released on XBL Marketplace Microsoft sees an average of 250,000 downloads on that item. Prey, itself, received 300,000 downloads in the first week due to a high anticipation for the game.
Microsoft says demo timing is everything. There was a 40% conversion rate between demo downloads and its actual purchase of Fight Night Round 3. Timing is everything.
Xbox Live Arcade consumers will purchase an arcade game they have pulled a demo for an average of 22% of the time. Oddly enough, 10% to 50% of the players who have downloaded a demo will later buy the full product.
The most significant success? Downloadable game content! People love add-ons and it shows by the statistics. Three titles in the Xbox Live content download have already pushed the USD $1 million mark in sales. That is 1 million dollars more than the product in its stand alone form. These impressive numbers will surely mean more developers jump on the add-on bandwagon.
Microsoft is not too flattered about the speed that users are getting their add-on content, however. They want to see new add-ons show up on XBL Marketplace 60-90 days after product launch. That means devoted teams that exist soley to make additional content for consumers to buy.
What about all those silly trinkets, profiles, and personalizations that Microsoft supplies? Don't you think they should be free as a promotional tool? Microsoft says no - it should be seen as a revenue stream and not a promotional opportunity.
Oommen continued by saying that videos concerning "behind-the-scenes" and "making-of" could be possible incremental revenue streams, although we've yet to have to pay for them. Will we need to buy them in the future? Not sure, but it may change the demand for them if it becomes a costly download. He went on to say that these videos help developers get in touch with their audience.
What of the future? Oommen says that Microsoft wants to see Marketplace developed into games themselves - as a feature. So that one could download a new item for their favorite RPG right in the game without having to back out into the Microsoft Marketplace to obtain them.
This is a big step, because many RPG fans spend hours in the game - not staring at the Marketplace content. I, for one, have not purchased any Oblivion add-on content primarly because I want to spend my time in the game not shopping "online." I have also found that once I'm enthralled in the RPG I lose track of time and before you know it mid-night rolls around; I power off and I go to bed. Completely forgetting to download that content.
Last revenue enhancer that Oommen talks about can be seen in many markets: Consumables. Items you can purchase that can be "consumed" over time and repurchased again later. This concept is utilized in almost every Massive Multiplayer RPG (MMORPG) and its fundamental value holds true in real life as well. Everyday consumers purchase items that degrade over time. This might be a rechargable battery pack, a pen, food, drink or even toothpaste. This concept has been implemented by many successful companies, such as Braun, Gillette and others. You can sell a razor for a small fee and recieve repeat business for years with the blades. Why should Microsoft be any different?
Thanks to Gamasutra for reporing all the tidbits from Microsoft Gamefest, see there take on the situation here.
Thanks to TANK for finding this cool information.
Since the birth of Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft has seen over 40 million downloads. Three quarters of the Microsoft XBL subscribers have pulled down content from this service and the average user has downloaded twenty or more items. The selection is great, hosting 2,000 selectable downloads from the service itself.
What appeals to John Q. Public the most? Demos! People want to "try before they buy." Not only that, but this is a great promotional method to get your game concepts to the public so that they can interact with the developers creation; not simply checkout the back of the box and make a decision of a few glittery pictures.
When a new demo is released on XBL Marketplace Microsoft sees an average of 250,000 downloads on that item. Prey, itself, received 300,000 downloads in the first week due to a high anticipation for the game.
Microsoft says demo timing is everything. There was a 40% conversion rate between demo downloads and its actual purchase of Fight Night Round 3. Timing is everything.
Xbox Live Arcade consumers will purchase an arcade game they have pulled a demo for an average of 22% of the time. Oddly enough, 10% to 50% of the players who have downloaded a demo will later buy the full product.
The most significant success? Downloadable game content! People love add-ons and it shows by the statistics. Three titles in the Xbox Live content download have already pushed the USD $1 million mark in sales. That is 1 million dollars more than the product in its stand alone form. These impressive numbers will surely mean more developers jump on the add-on bandwagon.
Microsoft is not too flattered about the speed that users are getting their add-on content, however. They want to see new add-ons show up on XBL Marketplace 60-90 days after product launch. That means devoted teams that exist soley to make additional content for consumers to buy.
What about all those silly trinkets, profiles, and personalizations that Microsoft supplies? Don't you think they should be free as a promotional tool? Microsoft says no - it should be seen as a revenue stream and not a promotional opportunity.
Oommen continued by saying that videos concerning "behind-the-scenes" and "making-of" could be possible incremental revenue streams, although we've yet to have to pay for them. Will we need to buy them in the future? Not sure, but it may change the demand for them if it becomes a costly download. He went on to say that these videos help developers get in touch with their audience.
What of the future? Oommen says that Microsoft wants to see Marketplace developed into games themselves - as a feature. So that one could download a new item for their favorite RPG right in the game without having to back out into the Microsoft Marketplace to obtain them.
This is a big step, because many RPG fans spend hours in the game - not staring at the Marketplace content. I, for one, have not purchased any Oblivion add-on content primarly because I want to spend my time in the game not shopping "online." I have also found that once I'm enthralled in the RPG I lose track of time and before you know it mid-night rolls around; I power off and I go to bed. Completely forgetting to download that content.
Last revenue enhancer that Oommen talks about can be seen in many markets: Consumables. Items you can purchase that can be "consumed" over time and repurchased again later. This concept is utilized in almost every Massive Multiplayer RPG (MMORPG) and its fundamental value holds true in real life as well. Everyday consumers purchase items that degrade over time. This might be a rechargable battery pack, a pen, food, drink or even toothpaste. This concept has been implemented by many successful companies, such as Braun, Gillette and others. You can sell a razor for a small fee and recieve repeat business for years with the blades. Why should Microsoft be any different?
Thanks to Gamasutra for reporing all the tidbits from Microsoft Gamefest, see there take on the situation here.
Thanks to TANK for finding this cool information.
