Microsoft Gauging Interest In Virtual Goods Options For Avatars

Microsoft is doing consumer research surveys about potential additions to the avatar feature of its Xbox Live service and appears to be seriously considering going the virtual goods route, as reported by Kotaku. As of this writing the avatars are customizable, but the items used to do so are all free. In the new Microsoft customer survey, users are asked to answer a variety of questions regarding different ways to obtain more virtual items for their avatars.

The proposed new features for avatar virtual goods outlined in the survey are the option to unlock avatar items by doing particular things in a game (similar to the current Achievements system), the ability to create avatar animations and clothing to share with other users, new types of avatar items like "pets and cars," and the ability to spend Microsoft Points virtual currency on premium avatar items. That is perhaps the most dramatic potential change to the way avatars currently work, as they were launched as a "free is free" service.

There is one question that seems to make it clear why Microsoft is thinking of expanding its range of avatar items and the way it monetizes them. Question J on the survey asks users if they would like "to be able to interact with others via avatars in a 'virtual' social setting." That sounds like the Home service that Sony offers on its competing PlayStation platform. As you've read here in the past, Sony has been releasing some very impressive revenue numbers and user stats for Home. Unlike Microsoft's avatars, Home was focused from its inception on selling virtual goods to consumers.

Statements made by avatar-developers Rare, regarding user-generated items and earning avatar items as Achievement rewards, indicate that the technology for implementing these proposed new features may already be complete. At this point, it seems Microsoft is in the phase where it's trying to figure out what consumers would think of the changes before rolling them out. Hardcore gamers can be notoriously resistant to microtransaction pricing schemes and Microsoft is probably concerned about upsetting the community gathered around Xbox Live (which is already a paid service).

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