@Jethuty: really not trolling, sorry if it comes off that way, just trying to have a conversation about the man that doesnt devolve into F him F that and F activision, thats all.
@blackbird415: just had a conversation about this with a friend this morning, bringing tony hawk into the xbla universe, starting with tony hawk 2 to test the waters and then making all future games in that style. Great point!
“His obligation is to his shareholders. Well, he doesn’t have to be as much of a d*ck about it, does he? I think there is a way he can do it without being a total pr**k. It seems like it would be possible. It’s not something he’s interested in.”
So there we go, lets for a second put all the brutal legend publishing drama and even Tim's so called repeal of this quote (read it closely its even more insulting) aside and what do we have here. One dude calling another dude a dick. Gamers round the world rally to Tim's side and love that someone big in the industry takes big bad Bob down a peg. Bobby of course not backing down replied.
“Tim Schafer. The guy comes out and says I’m a prick. I’ve never met him in my life – I’ve never had anything to do with him. I never had any involvement in the Vivendi project that they were doing, Brütal Legend, other than I was in one meeting where the guys looked at it and said, ‘He’s late, he’s missed every milestone, he’s overspent the budget and it doesn’t seem like a good game. We’re going to cancel it.”
Now Bobby seems to think that Tim's criticism stems purely from the Brutal legend cancellation and I'm inclined to agree even though Brutal Legend got made there was a whole shit storm of publishing BS that everyone got involved in. But lets just look at the quote, Bobby's obligation to his shareholders is basically his job. However he wants to approach this is completely up to him. He could try being nice but perhaps being a dick is the reason why Activision as of 2009 is worth upwards of 19 billion dollars. Lets not be naive here folks, when that kind of money is involved it takes a shrewd business sense and I'm sure being nice is pretty much at the bottom of Bobby's to do list. Now the argument could be made that the Call of Duty franchise is solely responsible for Activisions rise to glory however, game franchises must be handled with the utmost of care, from a marketing standpoint. Yes a good game could sell on its own merit but Black Ops sold 8 million copies in one month. I dont care how good a game is it doesnt hit those kinds of numbers without some crafty marketing and a serious look at maximizing profit short and long term. Be it through the way a development studio is monitored and managed as well as pricing for DLC (15 bucks for maps is insane i know but they wouldnt do it if people didnt pay) and thats why being a dick pays, thats why its necessary and thats why Bobby should keep doin what hes doin.
2. The Bungie Quote.
"Bungie are a very unusual company," he said. "They're probably the last remaining high quality independent developer. It's very hard to [pause]... that has sort of has institutional skills and capabilities. And they're a real company."
Oh boy, even when I first read this the facepalm couldnt come fast enough, but lets take a look at the context.
It was a shareholder call people.
Who cares if hes right, who cares if he believes it, who cares if every gamer in the world stands up and screams out the numerous great independent developers who he basically just shit on.
The only people that matter during these calls are Activision and the people who have chosen to invest in their company. Bungie are extremely talented developers, there is no doubt, signing a 10 year deal with Actiblizz was a huge deal for them and for everyone involved. With the infinity ward split and the waning sales of guitar hero and tony hawk that company needs a new revenue stream to compliment those unholy CoD numbers. What better way to set shareholder minds at ease than to tout their hot new dev partner as not only the best in the business but the last great ones. Whatever Bungie is working on im sure its huge but probably wont see daylight for a while let alone a release in the near future, Kotick had to say it, he absolutely had to...this is a major investment for the company and for the future of Bungie as well. Look at it from the dev team standpoint too, they signed a huge deal with a huge company...how would it look if the boss just goes "yeah were excited, theyre pretty good" thats a pretty quick way to end the honeymoon phase. If you get hired for a job you wanna know that your boss is 100% behind you, especially for a company with a dubious reputation. Critics can bash all they want, it was a business decision to say what he said, during a business call.
3. The great divide.
The infinity ward saga is well detailed and easy to find a complete reference anywhere on the net so im not gonna take a long look at this. For the sake of this argument lets just say that all parties involved are guilty of the accusations being thrown around.
My defense is quite simple, as a Manager youve got an employee who is unhappy, wether or not its your fault you have a decision to make, either you do whatever you can to fix it, make that person happy and move on or you fix it by making a managerial decision and cutting that person loose. We cant say really whose to blame anymore in this case, in the beginning it looked like Activision was the big bad and were just taking advantage of their employees. New information weaves a tale of corporate espionage that makes the whole thing sound completely ridiculous. Either way, as a manager myself I look at an unhappy employee like a poison, it will slowly spread to everything around it and it can be treated but never cured. Cut that arm off and move on. Activision is a hugely successful business and those who cried their downfall after the IW split were quickly silenced by Black Ops staggering sales numbers and Bobby never missed a step, he played the whole thing like a businessman because thats what he is.
Who am I? I'm nobody, just a gamer trying to look at the bigger picture, the naivety of our still young gaming culture sees these things and immediately tries to find a villain to fight, a boss battle with a QTE finisher. Things are never so simple and I dont want to change anyones mind about how they feel, but remember those two sides to every story and when large amounts of money are involved neither side is very pretty.
thats all of it, and like it says, were not trying to change anyones mind and our personal feelings about bobby dont come into play, defending bobby is like defending bp oil, we feel dirty. thanks to anyone who reads it. feel free to flame and discuss.
ive started a new gaming blog that takes a look at controversial topics in gaming, our very first post was defending bobby kotick, now personal feelings aside it just seems like nobody has taken the time to look at his side of the story. link: http://theunpopulargamer.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-defense-of-kotick.html
sample: Bobby Kotick may very well be the most hated man in video games. Often criticized for "being a dick" Robert has made himself into a real-life villain for many gamers and even some developers. But for today lets look at the other side of the story, the side that so many outspoken gamers constantly ignore.
The business side.
Today I wanna take a couple of the biggest Kotick controversies and examine his side of the story, personal feelings aside and look at it as pure business. Saving the biggest and most complicated drama in gaming history for last.
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