68% Of Xbox Live Gold Subs Purchased Via Retail

Microsoft has revealed that a staggering 68% of Xbox Live Gold subs are purchased in retail.

Robin Burrowes, marketing manager for Xbox Live explained to MCV:

We are very respectful of the retail environment, in that we have a window between the release of a retail game and the digital one. There’s no immediate plans to change that.

We are continuing to talk to retail in different ways. We are looking to introduce new digital innovations to drive more business. We’ve been testing electronic software distribution in a couple of places.

He continued:

We will be testing point-of-sale activation, which is similar to buying cards in store and being able to redeem that code at the point of purchase. We are introducing new digital tokens and are working very closely with retailers," he concluded.

The figures are quite intriguing mainly due to the fact that the digital market has seen massive success in recent times, with even some publishers stating the future is digital and game disks will fail to exist. However, Microsoft's Xbox Live service, which is a crucial part in Xbox 360's growth, seems to have commercial success in retail.