Au contraire. According to a study by Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, games with more achievements generally receive better review scores and higher gross sales in the United States. The study focused on Xbox 360 games.
Achievements are special acknowledgments for specific feats or milestones within a game. The appear separate from any other score or measure of progress.
Geoffrey Zatkin of EEDAR:
Consumers want their games to include both variety and abundance of accomplishments. Our research shows that incentives such as accomplishments impact sales choices such as which game title to buy and which platform to buy it on; they also extend the replayability of a title.
The replayability comes in when gamers go back to earn accomplishments they missed after completing a game.
EEDAR concluded that gamers are more likely to purchase a title if they know in advance it contains achievements. Gamers on Xbox Live collect achievements to display in their gamertag, even if they are not excited about the game itself.
Game titles that incorporate online elements into their accomplishments generate 50% more money than those that do not.
The study identified 16 types of achievements; the most common type, at 26%, is the Completion Achievement.
Via Gaming Today.
One Comment
And why do you think Microsoft(TM/C anyone?) implemented such a feature? *Points at results* Realy, brag > money in bag. Aparently.