by Erik “Z thirteen07″ Johnsen
You could say that it would be an understatement that the Xbox Live Marketplace system was a successful venture into the online micro-transaction world. But the impact of this phenomenon might be a lot bigger than you imagine. And it’s getting so much bigger.
Speaking at the company’s Gamefest event, Microsoft’s IEB manager Kevin Salcedo said, “Right now we have over 12 million users in over 26 countries, with $240 million in transactions revenue so far, with $180 million in the last 12 months alone.”
And they’re just warming up.
Salcedo spoke of DLC for retail games and how this extends the life of a game over previous generation and games that do not offer DLC to enhance the gamer experience, “On average, titles that have downloadable content on XBL marketplace have seen a 16 percent [longer] period of people holding onto that title, which keeps them from selling to secondhand stores.”
Offering DLC within the first 30 day window of a title launch is a major plus, especially in the revenue stream for the developer/publisher. Games with the paid downloadable content available in this time frame have seen, on average, $21 million in sales.
It’ll be interesting to see if the reverse can make a major impact. Lionhead Studios will be releasing paid DLC before their widely anticipated title, Fable II, is available. The DLC will be available as a separate XBLA title to generate in-game money for the main adventure.
Source: Gamasutra
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