Originally Posted by
Drageuth
Considering how much most games cost to make, and how little most companies actually make off their games, they are understandable. Even with Triple A titles like Battlefield 3 and Uncharted 3, where you know they are making their money back and then some, people are still going to be playing those games on multiplayer long after the company is making any money off the sales of the games, and when it becomes a money sink for them to continue to maintain the servers. A year from now, both of those titles will probably be selling used in the $25-$35 range. But while they aren't making any money off them, the online servers still have to be maintained.
Not all of those companies handle the servers themselves, though. Activision owns the subsidiary Demonware (although I'm not sure if they bought them out or if they created them). They then have Demonware continue to maintain those servers. With games like Guitar Hero, micro transactions of songs and whatnot would help fund the costs, but when people aren't buying anything online, you still have to contribute something. It's times like those when I understand the online pass system.
The money doesn't go straight into the developer's back pocket. It goes to maintaining the service.