Stephen Toulouse, who heads up Xbox Live policy at Microsoft’s Live Services Group, has said that achievements help drive game sales.
"It's been statistically shown that games that have achievements and implement them well sell better," he stated in Major Nelson’s podcast.
A 2007 study by Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) backs up Toulouse’s claims.
Focusing on the Xbox 360 achievement system and the impact it has on review scores, sales and profitability, “the results showed a strong connection between a game title’s diversity of accomplishment types with that game’s profitability – pointing to the idea that the more diverse the accomplishments available to the user, the more enjoyable the game, higher review scores, more units sold.”
EEDAR also found that titles that incorporate online elements into their achievements generate 50 percent more money than those that don’t.
During Major Nelson’s podcast Toulouse also outlined Microsoft’s latest strategies for tackling cheating on Xbox Live.