Microsoft defends Games on Demand full-price model

Microsoft have defended their Games on Demand business model, which allows gamers to digitally purchase full retail games 6 months after their release. At full retail price.

According to Xbox Live UK product manager Pav Bhardwaj, people are still stupid enough to do this, so why change it? Okay, that’s not exactly what he said. This is:

“It comes down to choice. 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].

“We don’t do Games on Demand on day one, we focus on boxed retail for day one. That’s where our focus has always been and will remain that way for the foreseeable future,” he explained.

This is the beautiful union between maximum profit and minimal effort. The games industry after all is like any other, the goal is making money. If consumers want something to change, they have to vote with their wallets. As Bhardwaj himself puts it, “It’s a successful model, so why change something you don’t need to?”

Do you think Games on Demand is a fair release model?