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Microsoft Says Recent Ars Technica Series On Xbox Live Statistics Is "Grossly Inaccurate"
Update: Microsoft has issued a statement concerning Ars Techinca's findings, calling the results of the study "grossly inaccurate." Here is the statement in full:
We’ve carefully reviewed Ars Technica’s article, and have completed our own analysis of the actual data using identical parameters. Based on our findings, Ars Technica’s analysis and conclusions are grossly inaccurate and misleading due to an incomplete set of data and drawing conclusions about actual usage from data that approximates usage. As an example, we specifically know, based on our complete view of Xbox Live usage data, players are highly engaged with backwards compatible game titles. It’s why we continue to support this well-loved feature and the games that use it. We appreciate the work and effort by Ars Technica to share more information about the Xbox community and we are continually looking for ways to do so that also protect the interests of gamers and our partners.
Original Story (June 6 at 3:00 PM CST) Tech site Ars Technica has run a series called Steam Gauge that centers around the sampled data from Steam. Ars Technica has followed that series up with another one focused on Xbox Live. It's a large study "conducted with a third-party" based on more than 900,000 Xbox One users so it might be best to take these results with a grain of salt, but if the findings are accurate, they reveal of findings you'd expect as well as some surprises.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from Ars Technica's research (which you can read in full here):
- 54.7 percent of Xbox One users tested spend the majority of their time playing Xbox One games while 16.5 percent users spend the majority of time watching Netflix.
- Sampled Xbox 360 users spend 34.7 percent of their time watching Netflix.
- Only 1.5 percent of the time sampled was spent on Backwards Compatible titles.
- The most popular games played online include obvious heavy hitters like Battlefield 1 and Madden but also some surprises: Rainbow Six Siege and Forza Horizon.
The whole study is fascinating and you should check it out if you want a brief window into why Microsoft might be making the decisions it does when it comes to balancing games and streaming services.
Our Take
Like we said above, it's probably a good idea to take these results with a grain of salt. Still Ars Techinca is a reputable site and these results are interesting, especially just how unpopular Backwards Compatibility is.
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