New deep-dive study analyzes the playing habits of Xbox Live users

UPDATE: Microsoft has since disputed the accuracy of the Ars article. In an email to Gamasutra this week, a Microsoft spokesperson stated:

"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 alsoprotect the interests of gamers and our partners."

Original story:

The team over at Ars Technica have put together an interesting report that analyzes how millions of Xbox Live account holders use their consoles. 

In a similar fashion to Ars' well-received Steam Gauge series, the new deep-dive study randomly sampled a huge amount of publicly available Xbox Live info using a third-party API to find out more about the user habits of Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners. 

The resulting report contains a number of fascinating findings. For instance,it suggests that the majority of Xbox One users spend just over 50 percent of their time actually playing games (as shown in the chart below). 

The rest of their time is split between media and non-game apps like YouTube and Netflix. That split is even more pronounced on the Xbox 360, with those still using the ageing console spending 60.3 percent of their time on non-game apps. 

It's hardly a surprising revelation, as you'd expect most players to have made the Xbox One their gaming system of choice by now. Still, it perhaps show why huge game companies like Microsoft have attempted to turn their consoles into full-fledged media hubs in recent years. 

The full report is well worth checking out, and is packed with reams of data spotlighting everything from the most popular backwards compatible titles to the most played Xbox One releases on the market right now.