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Does Nintendo (or Sony or MS) know when you play their consoles and which games?

Salamiaddict

Member
May 15, 2018
463
Northern Germany
Hello everybody,

I have a question that I can't find an answer to online:

Does Nintendo know WHEN and WHAT you are playing on WHICH console?
I've read somewhere that they are able to see which game you start first on your Switch. But I was wondering if they can actively just ..."look up" how many players are playing and what they are playing? I guess it of course depends if your connected to Wifi.
But is that generally allowed or does it fall under some kind of privacy protection law?

Thanks for any answer on this in advance!
 
pswii60

pswii60

Member
Oct 27, 2017
26,677
The Milky Way
Sony and MS has know this since the introduction of Xbox Live / PSN. They know everything, and the data proves useful in their plans.

As for Nintendo, probably not until the introduction of Nintendo Switch Online.
 
cw_sasuke

cw_sasuke

Member
Oct 27, 2017
26,401
If your device is connected to the internet - the plattform holders knows what you been up to.
This goes for most devices not just consoles - information of how and when customers interact with a device is very valuable.
 
Last edited:

Deleted member 10234

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,922
pswii60 said:
Sony and MS has know this since the introduction of Xbox Live / PSN. They know everything, and the data proves useful in their plans.

As for Nintendo, probably not until the introduction of Nintendo Switch Online.
Click to expand...
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You were able to see what your friends were playing on the Switch before NSO was launched, so obviously Nintendo had that information.
 
elenarie

elenarie

Game Developer
Verified
Jun 10, 2018
9,823
Same goes for most games, actually. Telemetry in multiplayer games is highly valuable.
 
fourfourfun

fourfourfun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,686
England
I knew - as of a few years ago - that Sony had PSN pumping into Marketing Cloud. So it could introduce you onto marketing journeys, the example given - you're playing Burnout on Vita, as you hit 14 trophies, you meet criteria for liking driving games, so you start receiving marketing collateral for PS4 & Driveclub launching later in the year.

Just by gaming online, you've got a huge marketing footprint in terms of building a demographic. If you can tie that together with social experiences, then you've got a huge 360 degree picture.

RE: data privacy, as long as the data is not sensitive, it can be gathered. In terms of marketability, you have to be provided with the ability to opt out of marketing communications. Although there are interesting scenarios where you are allowed to push through service update communications regardless of opting out.
 
Eoin

Eoin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,103
Not just what game you're playing and when. They know how often you use you console, and what games you play most frequently and for the longest sessions. For many games they can tell what you're doing in-game:

yLrTJCo.png


Sony and Microsoft also have access to your trophy/achievement information (and that's pretty much public, so you can assume anyone who really wants that information can also get it). That, by itself, would tell them your favourite games/series/genres, allow them to estimate playtime per game, and give them a pretty good idea of how good you were at different types of games. Even if they only had trophy data that would allow all kinds of other things to be extrapolated.
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,611
Eoin said:
Not just what game you're playing and when. They know how often you use you console, and what games you play most frequently and for the longest sessions. For many games they can tell what you're doing in-game:

yLrTJCo.png


Sony and Microsoft also have access to your trophy/achievement information (and that's pretty much public, so you can assume anyone who really wants that information can also get it). That, by itself, would tell them your favourite games/series/genres, allow them to estimate playtime per game, and give them a pretty good idea of how good you were at different types of games. Even if they only had trophy data that would allow all kinds of other things to be extrapolated.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I love to check achievements percentages.
 
Black_Stride

Black_Stride

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
7,389
Salamiaddict said:
Hello everybody,

I have a question that I can't find an answer to online:

Does Nintendo know WHEN and WHAT you are playing on WHICH console?
I've read somewhere that they are able to see which game you start first on your Switch. But I was wondering if they can actively just ..."look up" how many players are playing and what they are playing? I guess it of course depends if your connected to Wifi.
But is that generally allowed or does it fall under some kind of privacy protection law?

Thanks for any answer on this in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

So you want to connect to their network anonymously and do whatever you want without them seeing?
Of course they are keeping track of who is on their network and doing what.
 
OP
OP

Salamiaddict

Member
May 15, 2018
463
Northern Germany
Black_Stride said:
So you want to connect to their network anonymously and do whatever you want without them seeing?
Of course they are keeping track of who is on their network and doing what.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

No, no, don't get me wrong. I actually don't mind being glassy like that! I know what I buy myself into.

I was just wondering if they can track me not playing my switch and playing my 3ds instead ^^

and thanks for all the answers guys!
 
Dr Pears

Dr Pears

Member
Sep 9, 2018
2,674
Pornhub used to have statistics and reported that PS4 users watch the most porn compared to other consoles.

If Pornhub has that data, then imagine the platform holders.
 
Yep

Yep

Member
Dec 14, 2017
531
Yes they know, they even know precisely what app you use, how you navigate on your console, in the eshop/PSN/XBL about which product you are curious (even without wishlisting it)
They are allowed to do that, but to use them they have to anonymize them or/and aggregate (they can communicate that 5 people have bought a product without naming them, developp an app which automatically send an email if you have bought a particular game for example) but precise data about someone are very restrained (only you and particular service can consult them)
 
Ojli

Ojli

Chicken Chaser
Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,652
Sweden
Yes. I would assume even if you are offline, logs are stored locally and synched if you ever connect it online.
 
Bleu

Bleu

Banned
Sep 21, 2018
1,599
I know the ps3 used to upload an xml of everything you did offline ( app, games, how long...) every time it re connects to the net. (CFW made those things obvious)
 
PadPoet

PadPoet

Lead Community Manager at Socialpoint
Verified
Oct 28, 2017
151
Barcelona
Without detailed analytics on user behaviour and actions taken in-game no company would be successful nowadays.

Game wise, they know everything. Some examples:

How much time you've spent playing a game
How many times you have used the X feature of the PS4 console
What type of games you usually play and which ones you are likely to play in the future
How often you login, what times do you login, how much does each play session last, etc

The list is endless.
 
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