14 DAY TRIAL // According to Microsoft, the customer set for the Xbox console is expanding. The head of Microsoft's Game Developer Group, Chris Satchell revealed that the Xbox 360 has been adopted by customers that had not previously owned an Xbox. Not only that, but Satchell revealed that more than half of the existing Xbox 360 customers did not buy an Xbox console before November 2005.
"To take the console business - as we said in the keynote - we're super-happy with where we're at. We've sold 10.4 million, but the stat you may not have heard is that over half of those sales are from people that didn't own an Xbox 1. So there're lots of new people coming in, which kind of surprises you. What we're actually finding is that our customer set is broadening, which we think is important," Satchell explained to GI.
"What we're finding is that to have a strong PC gaming platform, you also need a strong console business. You need both," added Satchell talking about the relation between the console and the PC via the ubiquitous Live services. In fact, Satchell praised the Live community and the portfolio of content that users can access.
"If I was going to give them one piece of advice it would be to copy Xbox Live a little more closely," Satchell said. "My honest opinion is that it's pretty much a disaster. They keep saying that they have a free online service. Well, if they don't have anything, of course it's free. And you know what: what's free about $600? You can buy our system for $400 and then have four years of Xbox Live. $4 a month for really good match-making, really good protection - you know the games haven't been hacked, you know it's a really secure online environment. People are quite happy to pay that."