Kotick: Online passes aren't "in the best interest of the gamer"

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has claimed the publisher is not interested in introducing an online pass system to increase its revenues from the trade-in market.

"We can do some of these things that EA and others have done," Kotick told Joystiq. "We actually don't think it's in the best interest of the gamer, and so we've chosen not to.

"We're not doing anything to suppress used games today."

Instead, the publisher is focusing on appealing DLC, especially for its Call of Duty games. "The best way to keep people engaged in your game experience is keep giving them more great content."

Kotick hinted that the high pricing ($15) of Modern Warfare 2 DLC was related to attempts to profit from traded-in games.

"I think we've generally tried to do things like encourage our customers to used-game sales, probably more so than our competitors. But you know, we're very mindful of what's happening macroeconomically and I think that that plays a role when we're thinking about the price of our content."

Kotick also restated his earlier assertion that "Call of Duty games probably represent more than 50% of the total Xbox Live traffic."

While acknowledging that Activision took a small cut of Xbox Live subscription fees, he suggested that Microsoft put its burgeoning Live revenues into "the provision of a higher level of customer service [and] towards game enhancement."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...t-of-the-gamer