Microsoft: No simultaneous digital releases for Xbox 360 games

Microsoft says it doesn't plan to follow Sony and Nintendo's lead with digital retail.

Sony saw the writing on the retail wall when it was planning the Vita’s release. Nintendo, while it isn’t there quite yet, agrees with Sony’s vision. Digital distribution is the future. Online connectivity isn’t absolute in living rooms across the world—just over 68% of U.S. households use broadband Internet access, still a far cry from ubiquity—but the days of video games chiefly being bought at a store are coming to a close. That’s why both Sony and Nintendo plan to make all games available for purchase online at the same time they go on sale at retail. Vita does it. Wii U will do it.

Why then is Microsoft refusing to go day-and-date with its digitally distributed Xbox games?

“It comes down to choice,” claims Xbox Live U.K. product manager says “The customer has the choice of going to retail on day on 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.”

Not all Xbox 360 games are made available as digital downloads on Xbox Live through the Games on Demand program, but those that do typically appear on the service around six months after their retail release. When they do appear, long after they’ve often been discounted at retail, they appear at the full price they initially sold for. PlayStation Vita titles meanwhile are made available simultaneously to physical releases and for $5 less on average.
Via-Digital trends

Posted in: Games,Microsoft,Xbox