XBL data suggest Halo 3 didn’t boost Xbox 360 sales

Some recent info from the broadband solutions company Sandvine implies that the release of Halo 3 didn’t help much with the popularity of the Xbox 360. According to their data, while there is an increase in peak bandwidth in Xbox Live traffic, the number of hosts remain the same.

The gathered data suggests that the game didn’t pull in new gamers, it just made old gamers play a lot more. In turn, this suggests that the Halo 3 release didn’t pull in as much sales in Xbox 360 consoles as was predicted.

When GigaOM asked for a comment, Sandvine replied that this is not a direct conclusion. They “do not track the number of consoles or whether the number of hosts are new or existing [ones].”

The data merely suggests that the increased traffic (of about 200% at peak times) can be “attributed to existing users” since there’s no increase in the number of gamers. However, the Halo 3 data was also compared to the ones gathered from Gears of War, whose release caused a surge in both bandwidth and users in XBL.

Some theories were suggested to explain the bandwidth surge and the stagnant player base: (1) New 360 owners may still be playing the single-player campaign which means they don’t go online and so don’t contribute to the data numbers, (2) Halo 3 appealed to the fanbase of the earlier Halo games which explains why the playerbase remained the same.

Also, according to the latest data from VG Chartz, the latest hardware sales for the Xbox 360 only increased by 19% on the week of Halo 3‘s release but as they point out, the reasonable conclusion is that the “Halo 3 boost has already occurred.”

This does not explain the small attendance rate in Xbox Live though. However, one of the best qualities that Halo 3 boasts is its long lasting playability factor so perhaps the real pull of the game will only manifest over time.

Some recent info from the broadband solutions company Sandvine implies that the release of Halo 3 didn’t help much with the popularity of the Xbox 360. According to their data, while there is an increase in peak bandwidth in Xbox Live traffic, the number of hosts remain the same.

The gathered data suggests that the game didn’t pull in new gamers, it just made old gamers play a lot more. In turn, this suggests that the Halo 3 release didn’t pull in as much sales in Xbox 360 consoles as was predicted.

When GigaOM asked for a comment, Sandvine replied that this is not a direct conclusion. They “do not track the number of consoles or whether the number of hosts are new or existing [ones].”

The data merely suggests that the increased traffic (of about 200% at peak times) can be “attributed to existing users” since there’s no increase in the number of gamers. However, the Halo 3 data was also compared to the ones gathered from Gears of War, whose release caused a surge in both bandwidth and users in XBL.

Some theories were suggested to explain the bandwidth surge and the stagnant player base: (1) New 360 owners may still be playing the single-player campaign which means they don’t go online and so don’t contribute to the data numbers, (2) Halo 3 appealed to the fanbase of the earlier Halo games which explains why the playerbase remained the same.

Also, according to the latest data from VG Chartz, the latest hardware sales for the Xbox 360 only increased by 19% on the week of Halo 3‘s release but as they point out, the reasonable conclusion is that the “Halo 3 boost has already occurred.”

This does not explain the small attendance rate in Xbox Live though. However, one of the best qualities that Halo 3 boasts is its long lasting playability factor so perhaps the real pull of the game will only manifest over time.