It’s no secret that Microsoft has a wealth of data at its disposal. With its own personal database, as well as access to data gathered by 3rd parties who survey people and ask about their gaming habits, Microsoft can get its hands on a plethora of data regarding who is using their products and how – all with ease.
Microsoft tends to utilize Bing data to judge the popularity of a game compared to other releases. It can also determine how its users are using its gaming consoles, which in turn helps advice Microsoft where to focus its efforts.
The results regarding the typical gender or age of gamers have been shifting since the introduction of mobile games. According to a study done in the UK by the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau), Microsoft can observe that 52 percent of gamers are female while the remaining 48 percent are male. In addition to more female gamers, there also seems to be a bigger age range of gamers, the largest group being between the ages of 25-44. This study shows how the arrival of mobile devices has enabled everyone from all ages to game wherever they are. This being said, the definition of “gamer” has now been update to include players of casual mobile games like Candy Crush or Flappy Bird.
What you can take away from all this is simple – a game’s initial popularity can now be tracked by following web search results, a process Microsoft uses Bing data to accomplish.
The release of Destiny marked a big day for gamers, which is apparent when analyzing search results (above). Destiny was launched around the same time as the Sims 4 and FIFA 15, however it had a dramatically higher number of searches regarding it. Using data like this, Microsoft can focus their advertising and offer deals to boost sales.
By following the activity of Xbox One consoles, Microsoft discovered that in the last month 91 percent of consoles were used just for gaming, 45 percent of them were used for video, 43 percent socializing, 38 percent internet, 37 percent music, and 12 percent live TV. It’s clear that gaming consoles are used for much more than purely gaming; however gaming is still its dominant use.
