14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has talked about its Games on Demand service for Xbox Live users, saying it doesn’t want to see titles released digitally at the same time as their actual retail launches.
Digital distribution is becoming increasingly important on the PC, where it’s already a force to be reckoned with, but also on consoles, where Sony is offering day-one digital versions of PS3 games on the PlayStation Store.
Microsoft is also present in this business, thanks to its Games on Demand section on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Here, games are offered as full downloads at full price, roughly six months after their retail release.
As you can image, this delay isn’t exactly thrilling players who want faster access to digital games, instead of having to go to actual stores for Xbox 360 games.
Sadly for them, Microsoft’s UK Product Manager, Pav Bhardwaj, doesn’t believe such a strategy is feasible, as the current Games on Demand service is still quite popular.
"We don't do Games on Demand on day one, we focus on boxed retail for day one," Bhardwaj told MCV. "That's where our focus has always been and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. We release a game roughly six months after it arrives at retail at full ERP. That's our model and we'll be sticking to that. It's a successful model, so why change something you don't need to?"
"The customer has the choice of going to retail on day one if they really want to buy a particular title, or to wait a couple of months and buy it full price from the Xbox Live marketplace. It's a successful part of our business, we're very pleased with the growth and it continues to do really well. Clearly there's an audience out there who are happy to purchase a product at full ERP six or so months after [its retail release]," he said.
While Games on Demand is quite popular, it would no doubt become even more profitable for Microsoft if it’s going to launch digital games in a faster manner.
What do you think? Are you content with waiting six months to download a full game at full price?