Video Game Developer’s Price Hike Pounded in U.K.

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Activision Blizzard Inc.’s recent decision to increase the price of an upcoming video game in the United Kingdom has sparked consumer grumblings there and calls for a boycott of the title.

Santa Monica-based Activision announced last month that it would set the price of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” a highly anticipated game due for release this November, at 55 pounds, or roughly $90, instead of the usual 50 pounds, or $80, that most new games cost in the United Kingdom. Activision, which is said to have decided on the higher price due to recent weakness of the British currency, has not increased the price in the United States, where the game will sell for the standard $60.

The price hike has sparked an outcry among U.K. consumers. Last week, a group of protesters claimed to have gathered more than 10,000 signatures for an online petition threatening a boycott if Activision does not lower the price. Gamers can preorder the game so that they’re sure to get a copy upon release.

“I believe we are in what we call a ‘recession,'” the petition organizers wrote. “What the consumer needs is not more expensive items, but less expensive.”

An Activision spokesman said the company would not comment on its pricing strategies.

Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc. in downtown Los Angeles, said Activision claimed the price hike was necessary because the pound had depreciated against the dollar.

It is doubtful consumer ire will ultimately put a dent in game sales because “Modern Warfare 2” is so highly anticipated that buyers will ultimately dig deeper into their wallets to buy it, Pachter said.

“Frankly, I’m surprised no one’s had the balls to raise the price of a game before,” he said. “It seems to me if you have a hot game, why not charge $70 for the first guys who buy it?”

It’s an interesting time for Activision to boost any price. Video game sales overall have fallen this year by 12 percent, according to data from Port Washington, N.Y., research firm NPD Group Inc.

But “Modern Warfare 2” is expected to be one of the best-selling games of the year. Pachter projects it will sell about 6 million copies in North America and 2 million in the United Kingdom.

Assuming those sales figures, Activision could reap an extra $16 million to $20 million in revenue by hiking the price in the United Kingdom by 5 pounds.

Activision’s stock price climbed to about $12.40 last week, thanks to the success of its current catalog of games.

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