John Riccitiello sees piracy as a "marketplace"

EA's John Riccitiello has told Kotaku that he sees game pirates as a way to sell more games to people, reasoning that pirates can "steal the disc, but they can't steal the DLC".

"The consumer seems to really like this idea that there is extra stuff," said Riccitiello. "The consumer wants more, and when you give them more or sell them more it seems to be extremely well received. There's a sizable pirate market and a sizable second sale market and we want to try to generate revenue in that marketplace.

"I don't think anybody should pirate anything. I believe in the artistry of the people who build [the games industry.] I profoundly believe that, and when you steal from us, you steal from them. Having said that, there's a lot of people who do."

Instead of "demonizing" consumers for pirating like the music industry does, he feels EA has an "obligation" to create games and communities that make it "increasingly less likely that people will pirate because there is so much value on the other side of the door."

Riccitiello hopes some pirates will eventually purchase the game that was pirated or at the very least the DLC associated with it.

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