As all three of the next-gen consoles develop their premium content offerings and the sector continues to gain momentum on PC, the firm claims that the perks of digital distribution are now becoming obvious to all in the industry.

“Downloads is a young market, but is increasingly informing the strategy of publishers,” Metaboli’s business manager for UK and Northern Europe Paul Howes told MCV. “I can see how it’s beginning to influence how they position products. 12 months ago we were chasing the publishers, but now it’s the other way round.

“Digital definitely extends the life of a game. At retail games have a very short shelf life, but digitally we can list these titles indefinitely, breathing new life into back catalogue titles. Publishers are realising this.”

And as users continue to buy into new digital distribution initiatives, companies like Metaboli are benefiting from the emergence of these new technologies.

“We have around 50,000 European subscribers paying between £6.95 and £12.95 per month,” Howes added. “We’ll be up to around 100,000 users by the end of 2007, and will also be moving into new territories. Co-branding is also big news for us, with people like GAME, Orange and Future – we have about 40 partners in Europe. They’re all interested in this type of delivery.”