Fable III to also be released in Episodes

In an interview with Tech Radar, Peter Molyneux appeared to confirm that Fable III, like it's predecessor would be released in episodes with the first one being free. Whilst Fable II Episodic dodged the question coming about only after the disc release, the knowledge that this is already the plan for Fable III begs the question; will the first or indeed all of the Fable III episode(s) be available day and date with the retail release and what does this say about Microsoft's transition to digital distribution?