Kotick jokes about 'even higher' prices

Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, has taken a shot at critics of the next Call of Duty's higher than standard price point by joking about pushing them up "even further".

The quip came as part of the publisher's Q2 earnings conference call, when Piper Jaffray's Tony Gikas asked about the company's "comfort level regarding pricing of some of your new games".

Mike Griffith, Activision Publishing CEO, replied: "On the pricing, we've had for all of our launch titles in the back half of this year, some of which contain peripherals, as you point out, very strong retailer acceptance and support for all parts of our plan, including our merchandising plans, our marketing programs, and our price points."

To which Kotick then added: "And Tony, you know if it was left to me, I would raise the prices even further."

Those comments, while not to be taken seriously, may however be seen as insensitive at a time when consumers are likely to be feeling the economic pinch.

The publisher reported higher-than-expected revenues of over USD 1 billion for the three months to the end of June this year.