EA Sports’ Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore has said that a large portion of gamers are still hesitant to divulge their credit card details for online purchases in wake of the PlayStation Network hack.
Chatting at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2012 Global Technology Conference this week (via Gamasutra), Moore pointed out that traditional retail still remains an important component in EA’s business, as many consumers are still reluctant to take the digital plunge.
"We love what retail does for us. We love its ability to create massive launches and create excitement. GameStop probably sees three million hardcore gamers walk through their doors every day, and that’s a marketing opportunity for us," said Moore.
"A lot of our consumers don’t own credit cards. A lot of our consumers are still afraid of what happened to the PlayStation Network when 77 million accounts were accessed by Anonymous in 2011.”
He added: “A lot of our consumers prefer to go into retail to buy those Xbox Live or PlayStation Network cards, and retail gets a very strong margin on that. For retail, if they can evolve to be not just a physical media purveyor, but a digital media purveyor, it’ll play a very strong role in our business going forward."
Elsewhere, Moore observed that regular retailers offer a great way for publishers to capitalize on the push for DLC on launch day.
“When we sold Mass Effect 3 back in March, we saw a 40 per cent attach rate that first week to DLC at GameStop in the United States. Not only are only selling a $60 game, you’re selling $20 DLC, so the sale becomes $80,” explained Moore.