MS touts 60% Live attach-rate

By Games Industry.biz Published 18 July, 2006

Thanks to two-tier strategy.

Microsoft has confirmed the latest figures denoting the continued success of its Xbox Live service, citing an attach rate of 60 per cent as the company strives to add further functionality and user benefits.

Significantly outperforming the service offerings on the original Xbox console, which only managed approximately a 10 per cent attach rate amongst console owners, the next-gen machine is drawing in serious crowds.

The company attributes the growth to a combination of offering free "Silver Level" access to all Xbox 360 owners and its comprehensive Marketplace and Live Arcade services.

According to Microsoft, the Live service has hosted over two billion hours of gaming, including over 500 million games of Halo 2. It's also handled over 900,000 voice and text messages per day, and now that the Xbox 360 is readily available at retail, the numbers are only expected to grow.

The Xbox 360 was recently given its biannual service upgrade, offering much requested functionality to the Live service such as background downloads and a better organised interface.

Marketplace content, such as game expansions, demos, game and movie trailers etc have been key drivers to the success of the service, as have the casual games available through Xbox Live Arcade.

The Arcade service is set to expand rapidly over the coming months. Microsoft announced Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays earlier this week, which will provide five new games in as many weeks and could help to increase the free-download to paid purchase content conversion rates, currently at around 21 per cent.

As part of Microsoft's ongoing commitment to the online community, the Live service is set for further expansions in terms of both functionality and available content, pushing the firm rapidly towards its projected target of six million Live accounts by 2007 and opening up immense potential for additional revenues through the now Microsoft owned in-game advertising specialist, Massive Inc.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 6 years ago

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  • tiddles #1 6 years ago

    What's the attach rate of Gold level subscribers? Would be interesting to compare that with Xbox...

  • Steroyd #2 6 years ago

    i've noticedthat to... as much as MS is touting their 60% attacth rate what percentage of them are coughing up the cash via Gold accounts and XBLA.
    Surely they're the figures that matter most aren't they?

    I've been saying for ages that a free service quickens the adoption rate, expect Sony to spout some meaningless 90% adoption rate when their Service is active.

    /rolls eyes

  • Eighthours #3 6 years ago

    Even if everyone was on Silver, 60% would still be a very impressive performance. These kind of figures can only increase publisher commitment to delivering Xbox Live content in the form of trailers, demos, additional content etc., and more content will mean more people using the service.

    To achieve such a massive jump in numbers immediately in the new generation of consoles is colossal in terms of impact. The whole "hardly anyone cares about online" argument used by many people last gen is crumbling in front of their eyes.

    Btw, this number is actually UP on the 53% figure bandied about 3 months ago.

  • Furbs #4 6 years ago

    From and advertising/developer point of view overall uptake is a much more important figure than Gold subscribers. It shows that they can release a demo/trailer and know what sort of figures they can expect to hit.

  • Glitch #5 6 years ago

    Yeah, you cant have silver and not eventually get gold. I mean its £40 a year, its so worth its weight in gold (get it? ;))

  • octo #6 6 years ago

    Yes, the one stat we'd all like to know is the only one they won't tell us. 60% sounds so much better than 10%.

  • KingOfSpain #7 6 years ago

    But who wouldnt have a gold account. you can pick one up now for nearly half the price of just one game.

    If you dont have a gold account there really is no point (sorry someone had to)

  • reality_cheque #8 6 years ago

    I can't believe that 40% of the 360 owners out there haven't taken their xbox online! Poor buggers must live in the sticks where there is no internet :(

  • KingOfSpain #9 6 years ago

    so what % of 360 owners have downloaded a arcade game. That would be interesting. (or am i just that sort of person that likes numbers)

  • Bluetooth #10 6 years ago

    So rather than saying it has a 60% attach rate, which suggests the majority of 360 owners are using Live, it just means that 60% of 360 owners have a high speed net connection. Most of these no doubt are Silver, and of these a lot have probably only logged in the once, at the time of registration when they thought it was needed.

  • spidermanalf #11 6 years ago

    Especially with things like this (when it is not sold out!)


    [link url=http://www. play.com/Games/Xbox/4-/169478/XBox_Live_Starter_Kit_+_Projec t_Gotham_Racing_2/Product.html
    ]http://ww w.play.com/Games/Xbox/4-/169478...[/link]

    I bought it, sold the game and headset on fleabay for 15quid! 1 years Gold for approx 10 quid!

  • trevd72 #12 6 years ago

    here is what i dont get.....
    i bought a xbox starter kit from play for £17.99. I sold the pro evo 5 and headset on ebay for £15.00 so it cost me £3 for a year sub in the end. What pisses me off is that the auto-payment went through in march and charged me £40. If it wasnt for the fact i dont know what i will be playing in 18months+ time i would have bought another one. which would mean i get 2 years sub for less than 1 year even if i dont sell off the stuff that came with it.

    Why should the online transaction cost so much and how can retailers sell them off so cheap. I think even now Play.com has the starter kits @ £25.
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/06 @ 09:40

  • Steroyd #13 6 years ago

    so what % of 360 owners have downloaded a arcade game. That would be interesting. (or am i just that sort of person that likes numbers)

    no your not i want to know to, having such a highly impressive number only means something if you bring home some bling or brag about having a higher number of online gamers (as was the case last/current gen.)

    The whole "hardly anyone cares about online"

    Not that many people cared about online gaming, which was what PS2 v Xbox numbers are directly representing.

    But now that there's downloads, microstransactions, all the type of stuff other than online gaming, mixed into the fray, not to mention you can get an account just by hooking the Xbox 360 to the net, it's not saying much on how much people care about online gaming.

  • InterMeLocal #14 6 years ago

    "Sony already claim to have the most popular online console service"

    I don’t know anyone that plays online games with their PS2...the service was just so cumbersome and un-intuitive especially with the whole Central Station thing. Sony have obviously been watching how Microsoft have been handling Live so its going to be interesting to see how their service compares when its active..! - Anyone know what their plans are?

  • Steroyd #15 6 years ago

    The Xfire method of a unified Gamertag.

    And more people played on the PS2 than the Xbox ergo... more popular.

  • Max_Powers #16 6 years ago

    Even if everyone was on Silver, 60% would still be a very impressive performance.

    No, it wouldn't. That statement is nonsense.

    That's stupid thing to say, because the previous poster is right. For Microsoft it is most definitely not only about the Gold members.

    If 60% of the Xbox 360 buyers have decided to plug a broadband plug into the back of their machines, that's 60% of people that are always online when playing 360 games (be in single player of multi player). I do not believe that a big portion of this group only plugs it in once, then crawls back behind the tv and unplugs it again.

    60% of consumers that are always online via the Live service while playing gives Microsoft a massive (pun intended) opportunity to serve them ads etc.

    Furthermore 60% of consumers that are aware of you Live functionality is pretty impressive, even if they have only used it once. This means people are aware it is a core functionality of the product. This wasn't the case with Xbox Live and PS2 Network Gaming (Which is/was utter shite)

  • Darkedge #17 6 years ago

    more people played online on the PS2 than the Xbox?

    Thats the biggest lie since Valve said 30 September and sony said emotion engine.

  • del_86 #18 6 years ago

    I love xbox live :)
    To be honest, about 80% - 90% of my gaming time is now spent on Live, although it has been severly curtailed recently with the arrival of my baby son.

    Don't get me wrong i still enjoy single player games - maybe i am sad or in the minority, but for me (and tbh most of my "real" mates) its become the social norm.
    Friday night, crack open a couple of beers and get online for a few games of Pro Evo 5 or PG3.
    Mind you, i am now nearly 33 - is it an age thing lol

  • Eighthours #19 6 years ago

    No, it wouldn't. That statement is nonsense.

    It isn't, but never mind. You're entitled to your opinion.

  • neuroniky #20 6 years ago

    XBox Live was the only reason I kept my XBox. Now I don't have a broadband connection anymore, and so I've gifted my xbox to my bro. But... I'm still a Live subscriber, cause I'm not able to unsubscribe from their site. I guess my bro plays at my expenses... damn!

  • InterMeLocal #21 6 years ago

    I found it interesting that there wasn’t one mention of Gamer Achievements in the article which I believe is a fantastic feature of Live and I am sure it has contributed to the attach rate. It keeps the competition between friends fierce and serves as a useful tool to gain extra revenue through micro-payment sales of Live Arcade. - Genius.

  • Xerx3s #22 6 years ago

    What's the attach rate of Gold level subscribers? Would be interesting to compare that with Xbox...

    I don't think that it will rise alot above the normal growth rate. Last year it was something like 2 million so I guess that it would be something like 2.5 now.

    i've noticedthat to... as much as MS is touting their 60% attacth rate what percentage of them are coughing up the cash via Gold accounts and XBLA.
    Surely they're the figures that matter most aren't they?

    Silver users can buy content. In that way, ms is still making money on them. Besides, silver makes it very tempting to go gold. Me mate was very anti console online untill he had a one month gold subsciption followed by silver. He bought gold last week. I think that this can be applied to losts of ppl.

    But who wouldnt have a gold account. you can pick one up now for nearly half the price of just one game.

    Less than a 1/3 actually (20€/14quid(?)). If you do some smart shopping. ;)

    What pisses me off is that the auto-payment went through in march and charged me £40. If it wasnt for the fact i dont know what i will be playing in 18months+ time i would have bought another one. which would mean i get 2 years sub for less than 1 year even if i dont sell off the stuff that came with it.

    You can reclaim your subscription. Also, remove you credit card so it doesn't auto resubscribe.

  • Skooch #23 6 years ago

    I really would like to know more about the details of Sony's online offering, if anyone has any links etc. it would be much appreciated. I think the key foundation of XBL is the centralised service allowing x-title invites, a standardised service offering and a feeling of continuity that wouldn't be available through publisher hosted servers (I know EA and a couple of other publishers host their own games but the vast majority are run on MS servers). How is Sony going to compete with that as I understand that their service will be free but publishers would be free to charge what they want? Isn't a single payment that covers all publishers so much better for the consumer?

    I also think experience counts for a lot in this game (excuse the pun), and XBL has been running successfully for around 5 years - it's going to take a lot for Sony to challenge that.

  • BigE0n #24 6 years ago

    Hmm the article seems to me to be a little misleading as only 10% of all XBOX 1 owners attached to LIVE, and 60% of current 360 owners have attached to LIVE according to the article.
    What these stats dont show is the actual figure this percentage represents ie the XBOX currently has sold alot more machines than the 360 therefore the 10% figure could actually represent more LIVE users than the 60% 360 figure.

    i.e.
    If the XBOX sold 20 million machines then 10% represents 2 million attaches to LIVE

    whereas ...
    If the 360 has sold 2 million machines then 60% represents only 1.2 million attaches to LIVE

    Then you have to wonder how many of the 360 attaches are just original xbox owners attaching to LIVE with there shiny new 360's?

    Edited by 1 at 18/07/06 @ 14:09

  • skillian #25 6 years ago

    This whole thing is rather odd to a PC gamer who's been playing online for more than a decade.

    I always thought it was strange when industry peeps said no-one cares about online. Console gamers aren't that different from PC gamers, and it was surely obvious online gaming would grow and grow as the service became simpler and cheaper/free.

    I still kinda find it odd that Xboxers accept paying to play online, when they know their friends with PCs do it for free. I guess the gamerpoints and stuff go someway to justifying the cost, but still...

  • smelly #26 6 years ago

    60% is kinda expected though isnt it? Without live arcade, there would be very little for most 360 owners to do.. :-)

  • Lonestar #27 6 years ago

    How many people want Live compared to Live being a necessity for people?

    How many patches (Call Of Duty 2, Oblivion) will be released for future games ? Don't you need Live and a hardrive for updates in order to enable backwards compatabilty.

  • skillian #28 6 years ago

    You can't play games online with a Silver (free) account, you just get demos/trailers/patches etc.

    edit: answering that made me wonder - can you play online demos with a Silver account?
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/06 @ 12:22

  • ChromeMud #29 6 years ago

    "can you play online demos with a Silver account? "

    Demo's probably not unless there is a system link option but
    any game with a system link option, you can.
    Performance will vary depending on your connection and the people
    who your playing with (Their connection).
    You don't even need a Silver account,it connects through your PC.
    Gamespy tunnel is one such tool to get you online for free.
    There are similar tools elsewhere that do the same.
    You will need your friends to use the same software to find each other though.

    [link url=http://www.gamespyarcade.com/support/tunnel_xbox.shtml
    ]http://ww w.gamespyarcade.com/support/tun...[/link]
    Edited by 2 at 18/07/06 @ 13:17

  • reality_cheque #30 6 years ago

    whereas ...
    If the 360 has sold 2 million machines then 60% represents only 120 thousand attaches to LIVE
    60% of 2 million is 1.2 million, not 120,000.

  • reality_cheque #31 6 years ago

    I still kinda find it odd that Xboxers accept paying to play online, when they know their friends with PCs do it for free. I guess the gamerpoints and stuff go someway to justifying the cost, but still...
    Sorry, the PC vs Console debate is ancient. I pay for online, you pay for upgrades. Swings and roundabouts mate :p

  • Feanor #32 6 years ago

    "I still kinda find it odd that Xboxers accept paying to play online, when they know their friends with PCs do it for free."

    The hackers are also free on PC online games, though.

  • BigE0n #33 6 years ago

    Cheers reality_cheque ironic name (:-)), should have multiplied by 100 not 10 DOH! have edited the post
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/06 @ 14:11

  • projectmayhem #34 6 years ago

    there are less 360 owners the xbox owners, obviously. as this is the first year, 360 owners are all more likely to be previous xbox owners, and they probably are the die-hard fans, who probably had live accounts before anyway.

    these figures are meaningless PR fodder

  • Fatnick #35 6 years ago

    "I can't believe that 40% of the 360 owners out there haven't taken their xbox online! Poor buggers must live in the sticks where there is no internet :("

    Some people just can't be bothered with it sadly. With the 360 its a hell of a lot easier than the Xbox, but if things can go wrong it can be be a bugger to sort out if you aren't familar with networking stuff.