EA: Gamers still afraid to buy online following PSN hack

A significant number of gamers are still reluctant to give out their credit card details online following last year's PlayStation Network hack, according to EA exec Peter Moore.

Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2012 Global Technology Conference yesterday, as reported by Gamasutra, Moore argued that traditional retail is still an important part of its business given that many customer are afraid of digital portals like PSN and XBLA.

"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," he explained.

"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.

"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."

Moore also argued that traditional stores are a great way for publishers to push DLC add-ons through launch day offers.

"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 you selling a $60 game, you're selling $20 DLC, so the sale becomes $80," he said.

For more on the fallout from the PlayStation Network hack, head on over to our recent one-year-on investigation.