Blizzard's Pearce: Retail "has things to offer that we can’t offer digitally"

Blizzard boss Frank Pearce has told Gama retail still has bigger advantages in comparison to digital.

He said it was mostly down to offering fans the fan service it deserved with its titles and Collector's Editions, like those seen in the recently-released World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and StarCraft II.

"Retail has things to offer that we can’t offer digitally – like the collector’s edition, which is always popular with our very passionate fans," said Pearce.

"We’re also planning midnight launches for the game at retail around the globe with our developers in attendance and signing autographs. You can’t get that experience through the digital purchase."

Pearce's comments come following those from fellow Blizzard honcho Rob Pardo, when he said following Blizzcon we'd be seeing a massive "shift" towards full game downloads on PC.

"I think you’re just seeing a shift in consumer behaviour, where people are slowly becoming more digitally distribution aware and wanting to get their games in that direction," he said at the time.