Greenberg: Consumer spending up 84% on Xbox Live last year, success in Europe

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 13th 2009 at 9:29AM }

Aaron Greenberg, director of product management at Xbox, stated in a recent interview that the company saw consumer spending on Xbox Live grow by 84% last year. Speaking with G4, Greenberg noted that (as was announced during E3) Live had achieved a billion dollars in sales over three years. He calls it the "silent phenomenon" because NPD doesn't report it, retailers don't discuss it -- but third-party partners have seen the earnings.

Greenberg continued to point out that the company's last major push took place in Europe last year, when it "overinvested" and did "launch level marketing." He believes that after starting the year neck and neck with its competitor, the Xbox 360 now has a million unit lead on the PS3 in the region.

[Via MCV, CasualGaming.biz]

Tags: aaron-greenberg, microsoft, xbla, xbox-live

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

therpham @ Jan 13th 2009 9:46AM

I know I spent a lot more money on XBL last year than I should have, mostly on Rock Band DLC.

baby sea tuna @ Jan 13th 2009 11:15AM

I seriously don't want to know how much money I spent on Rock Band last year. I think the feeling is similar to my coworker who refuses to see how much time he's spent on WoW. Denial's a helluva thing.

oolz @ Jan 13th 2009 9:53AM

He would be correct, 360 passed the ps3 by 1.3 mil in EU. Way to go MS.

LordChimp @ Jan 13th 2009 10:16AM

I wish I did not have wireless internet right now since if I want to play on XBL, I need that adapter for $100. I can't stand to spend the money on something like that but meh, I think I may bite soon.

Vcize @ Jan 13th 2009 10:21AM

Wait, you wish you didn't have wireless? You know wireless routers have wired ports as well, right? You can still hard wire it if you want to even though you have a wireless network..

Also, there are much cheaper solutions (~$20 or so) for connecting your 360 via wifi than MS's expensive adapter.

LordChimp @ Jan 13th 2009 11:15AM

I know that about wireless routers and that they have wired ports but that is the problem. I do not have access to a wired port in my room. In my house, the only wired port is near the basement and that is on the first floor while my 360 is on the second. My only solution is wireless or to buy a really long ethernet cable to run throughout the entire house (which I do not want to do).

DEEZNUTZ @ Jan 13th 2009 12:05PM

You don't need to spend $100...

http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WGA54G-Wireless-G-Gaming-Adapter/dp/B00009X6DT

And if you look around, you can find the same one or something similar for even less. I bought the linksys adapter for the OG XBOX, and it works for the 360 since it uses ethernet. There is absolutely no need to spend $100 on a wireless adapter.

ill trooper @ Jan 13th 2009 12:12PM

I'll say it again: I think all of this is a good reason to stop charging for LIVE. There's a lot of advertising every time I turn on my 360, and a lot of content being sold.

343 Guilty Fart @ Jan 13th 2009 1:19PM

I love how the next Avatar over has the name 'LuckLaster'

KindaGamey @ Jan 13th 2009 1:26PM

Well, I did purchase Wall-E in high-def FOR 14 DAYS (tiny print: or 24 hours after you watch it, whichever comes first.) Surprise, surprise, surprise! It was disabled the next day when I wanted to share it with my family.

And that was the end of my purchasing movies via my xbox 360. What a gigantic ripoff. I'll stick with the Netflix freebies or TVersity streams.

Teph @ Jan 13th 2009 2:47PM

This is called a rental... which, traditionally, are temporary.
You can't currently buy movies through any of the console media
services.

Also, the print seems reasonable to me... hell, they note it as a
rental all over the place. it's like they scream it in your face
right before you hit GO.

KindaGamey @ Jan 13th 2009 3:15PM

I know it was a rental, dude.

What I didn't know was that THE 14 DAYS they kept putting in my face was complete bullsh*%^#! I had to go back the next day and find the place where it says 'or 24 hours, whichever is shorter.'

Whoo hoo! I can buy a new car and have it for 14 DAYS! (but if you drive it you can only drive it for one and then it disables itself.) That is deceptive business practice. They are banking on the fact that we see 14 days, we assume 14 days, and we hit buy. (Which I did.) OR, they are banking that my dad sees Indiana Jones, clicks it, and buys it without even knowing what he is doing. (Which he did.)

If they wanted a repeat customer out of me they should have been more upfront with their actual offer. That's what pisses me off.

If I rent from any other establishment I get more than one view, or more than one day. It seems like a poor exchange for the money.

It's getting nuts now-a-days. Are we buying an actual product (i.e. a painting), or are we buying the plastic physical medium, DVD, which represents a license granting the rights to borrow someone else's intellectual property even though it still belongs to them, or are we buying the rights to look over someone else's shoulder at their artwork for a certain amount of time? Now I buy a DVD and it seems I'm buying advertisements that are forced down my throat everytime I put the damn thing in. And yet if I made a mash-up of that advertisement that I paid for it would get removed from youtube because I violated someone else's intellectual property rights.

Can you sell the same goat twice to two different people? I guess so.