Xbox: The ability to sell our console is critical

Xbox Games on Demand senior business manager Erik Yeager has talked about the delay between a game's release and its appearance as a digital product on Xbox Live, suggesting that relationships with retailers and the importance of consoles are a factor.

"We really strongly believe it's important to have these retail partnerships and the ability to sell our console is the most critical thing for us. If you don't sell the console, you can't sell anything else," he told MIT Business in Games conference, as reported by Joystiq.

"We have a lot of strong partnerships with retailers, we really need them to do a lot for us"

"We have a lot of strong partnerships with retailers. We really need them to do a lot for us. They're the ones out there selling the consoles, selling the peripherals and, in this time, we're trying to figure out how to fit that in to the whole digital landscape shift. We're just taking a bit of a measured pace with it."

Of course the real interest is now firmly focused on the future of the Xbox brand, with the announcement of the much discussed next-gen Microsoft console expected in the next few months.