EA are merely offering consumers a choice to unlock parts of a game, says Chip Lange, Vice President of Online Commerce at EA.

The Godfather is one such game with Marketplace cheats
The Godfather is one such game with Marketplace cheatsThe Godfather is one such game with Marketplace cheats

Speaking to Microsoft's Major Nelson during his latest podcast, Lange has defended EA's recent move to charge for cheats on Xbox Live Marketplace. He stated that EA is offering consumers with a choice: play through 40-hours of game to unlock an item or get it instantly by paying for it.

Lange argued that websites which offer cheats for free make money from advertising, seemingly missing the point that visitors don't actually need to pay to get the cheats. He also said that there will "still be a healthy business around hint guides, magazines, websites... I just look at the Marketplace as yet another extension of ways in which consumers are going to be able to access the content they want."

On the subject of removing cheat codes from Xbox 360 games that are present in the current-gen versions, only to charge for the cheats via Marketplace, Lange gave a suitably cagey response, stating, "I don't know if that's right or not. That's not something I've actually gone in and researched."