Electronic Entertainment Design and Research has found titles that implement goals properly average significantly greater sales out of the retail gate.

For developers of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles, focusing on achievements and trophies may not guarantee blockbuster hits. However, there’s a strong correlation between games that sell well and games that offer numerous and diverse accomplishments, according to a new study from Electronic Entertainment Design and Research.

Looking at the first three months of US retail sales for all Xbox 360 games released through March of this year, EEDAR found that games with numerous achievements tended to move more copies. On average, games that included more than 30 achievements sold three times as many copies as those with 30 or fewer in-game goals. Developers are apparently picking up on the trend, as the first three months of 2008 saw more than 60 percent of Xbox 360 games released with more than 40 achievements, compared to 52 percent for all of 2007 and 42 percent for 2006.