Microsoft: 2.5 billion Achievements served

In a Gamasutra article discussing the use of Achievements in video games, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg let it be known that, to date, gamers on the Xbox 360 have unlocked 2.5 billion Achievements, nearly 150 Achievements for every Live subscriber. Furthermore, 360 gamers have accumulated a gamerscore of 54 billion points. Said Greenberg, "We never anticipated this reaction... where there are Achievement fan sites and people playing games that they would never play."

The article goes on to examine the implementation of Achievements throughout the game industry. The piece notes that games with more Achievements actually sell better than those with seven or fewer, though Achievement numbers also correlate with production budgets. Several developers chime in on the best way to create Achievements, including Infinity Ward, Black Box, Turn 10 Studios and Naughty Dog.

All the developers use Achievements in different ways, encouraging different play styles, rewarding players for trying new features or just patting users on the back for doing something cool. Turn 10 is even using Achievement data it's gathered to help improve its next title. Anyone interested in the psychology of Achievements should give the article a read. You should also play this, right now.