Pachter: Modern Warfare 2 Price Hike Not Related To Weak Pound News

Despite suggestions that Modern Warfare 2's price hike could be related to a weak pound, industry analyst Michael Pachter has indicated that the game's £54.99 UK pricing is merely a "business decision" by Activision.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Pachter noted that the pound is stronger today than it was when CoD5 launched last year and suggested that Activision is simply increasing the price because it can, rather than because it has to as a result of market forces.

"Activision knows it has a 'hot' game, knows that the market will pay an additional 10 per cent, and has decided to increase price accordingly," said Pachter. He then described the question of whether or not this is fair as "a difficult one" to answer.

"My guess is that this is a one-time test for Activision," continued Pachter, "and that they will re-think the strategy after seeing if it angers consumers. If there is no consumer backlash, I think we may see higher pricing on other games, regardless of the GBP/USD translation rate."

You heard the man! Make with the backlash before every publisher thinks it can rip-off the UK consumer with £54.99 RRPs. We're in the middle of a depression for crying out loud!