Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick recently exposed himself to some harsh criticism from the gaming community when he and Activision Publishing Head Michael Griffith were discussing Blizzard's earnings, noting that Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Guitar Hero beat their quarterly expectations with $1.04 billion in revenue. When asked about their comfort level with game pricing and new expensive controllers for upcoming games, Kotick made a statement that has been catching him a lot of heat for his response:

“And Tony, you know if it was left to me, I would raise the prices even further.”

This week Gamasutra's Kris Graft examines the "Raise the price" comments and the impact pricing is having on AAA games.

Perhaps this easily-prompted outcry in response to Kotick’s price comment is an audible manifestation that reflects just how carefully the $60 price tag rides the line drawn between guarded consumer acceptance and perceived price gouging by the games industry.

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