to the kotick haters.

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.

Well are you going to post your argument here?

Serious business? 

Fuck off, Bobby, we know it's you.

 1. Tim Schafer calls the guy a dick.

Ok, not exactly

“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.”

"Fuck off, Bobby, we know it's you.

                   

                "

Bobby is a business man, He does what he believes what will give him success in the future and what has given him and his company success in the past. Iam not a fan of his tactics, I think great franchises with great developers have gone by the way side with his tactics (tony hawk etc.). It shows well on a business end when your the largest video game publisher out there, but it also hasn't been the most friendly to the devoted fans and return consumer base. I loved the tony hawk series. If they can do a proper revival that would be good, but they games they have dont show promise and with the way bobby kotick works it will take some time for something like that to happen
 
I personally would like to see tony hawk to be an xbla type title with the resurgence of the original style of gameplay (i.e. tony hawk 1,2, and 3)

He's a business man making calculated decisions. Those who say he's "all about the money", no fucking shit. It's called a job.

man, the trolls are getting worse and worse.... 
 
also flagged

No one really hates Bobby, it's just that one day his black hear must be ripped out, still beating, by the invincible indie developer of legend if we are to ever reach the promised land. 
 
The hate is just kind of necessitated.

I don't care.

Pure business is bad. It leads to sweat shops, underage labor, improper safety, and a plethora of other issues. You have to have more than just profit sense as the head of a business. You have to achieve the goals of business within certain moral boundaries. Kotick continuously pushes those borders, and in cases like the Infinity Ward debacle, outright crosses them. Yes, he is a business man, and as a result, no one will ever love him 100%, and there will always be people that hate him. He would have to make decisions that were unpopular. But he goes way too far.

Video games. Its serious business.

" man, the trolls are getting worse and worse....  also flagged "

"He's a business man making calculated decisions. Those who say he's "all about the money", no fucking shit. It's called a job.

                   

                "

Kotick is in it to make money. He seems pretty good at that. As much as it's fun to hate on him for "ruining" games, I can't berate the man for doing his job. He comes off as dick, and I don't like him any, but I think it's silly to expect different from big business.

Who cares? Kotick is alpha as fuck.

Well he's here to make money. And he's good at that. Problem is I don't think his methods are very sustainable, as in I can't see Activision getting any bigger, without new properties to exploit. 

" @TheUnpopularGamer:  2 words , Valve Software ... a successful videogame company who arent a dick like Kotick is    Also when Brutal Legend was going to see the light effin Actimiltion wanted to deny its birth , also I blame all the people who bought COD blops , you are part of the problem :P "

posting up a new blog tonight, about how our control in gaming affects the way we behave in real life. Internet personas to match our favorite gaming personas or even in day to day situations turning our brains off and just powering through the day. Perhaps even our more overt criticism of things that arent games, stemming from our ability to do so with the medium. 
 
 
any thoughts?

My avatar seems relevant here.

" Well he's here to make money. And he's good at that. Problem is I don't think his methods are very sustainable, as in I can't see Activision getting any bigger, without new properties to exploit.  "

I'm sorry, but us gamers don't know "business". Unless we're playing EVE Online.

" @XII_Sniper said:

" Well he's here to make money. And he's good at that. Problem is I don't think his methods are very sustainable, as in I can't see Activision getting any bigger, without new properties to exploit.  "

Business is all about quarters, they don't seem to care about the long term. I don't think there's any company who isn't actively trying to run itself into the ground just for a quarterly profit. Also, I'm sure Activision can find a new property exploit; where there's a will, there's a way. Modern Warfare basically popped out of nowhere (okay, not nowhere, but it had an unprecedented amount of sales and popularity compared to previous COD games) and hit it real big with the mainstream market; their next property may surprise us in the same way. "

" @supermike6 said:

" @XII_Sniper said:

" Well he's here to make money. And he's good at that. Problem is I don't think his methods are very sustainable, as in I can't see Activision getting any bigger, without new properties to exploit.  "

Business is all about quarters, they don't seem to care about the long term. I don't think there's any company who isn't actively trying to run itself into the ground just for a quarterly profit. Also, I'm sure Activision can find a new property exploit; where there's a will, there's a way. Modern Warfare basically popped out of nowhere (okay, not nowhere, but it had an unprecedented amount of sales and popularity compared to previous COD games) and hit it real big with the mainstream market; their next property may surprise us in the same way. "

I think the key there is that it'll surprise Activision way more than it'll surprise us. They're gonna get a hit by forcing it down our throats. COD has had a steady buildup into 4, but I never expected that level of populariyy. I just don't think they have a development team as skilled as Infinity Ward was. I mean short of Blizzard, who seems to be the only part of Activation with more than a year's foresight. So I don't know from where or two their next big hit will come . "

" He's a business man making calculated decisions. Those who say he's "all about the money", no fucking shit. It's called a job. "

" @EpicSteve said:

" He's a business man making calculated decisions. Those who say he's "all about the money", no fucking shit. It's called a job. "

People don't hate him because he wants to make a profit., it's that he often sacrifice's the quality of the products his company provides or angers consumers by his pricing strategy to help maximize his profits. "

" @CitizenKane said:

" @EpicSteve said:

" He's a business man making calculated decisions. Those who say he's "all about the money", no fucking shit. It's called a job. "

People don't hate him because he wants to make a profit., it's that he often sacrifice's the quality of the products his company provides or angers consumers by his pricing strategy to help maximize his profits. "

He doesn't seem to have any kind of ethic. That's the real problem.  "

" @Jeust said:

" @CitizenKane said:

" @EpicSteve said:

" He's a business man making calculated decisions. Those who say he's "all about the money", no fucking shit. It's called a job. "

People don't hate him because he wants to make a profit., it's that he often sacrifice's the quality of the products his company provides or angers consumers by his pricing strategy to help maximize his profits. "

He doesn't seem to have any kind of ethic. That's the real problem.  "

Welcome to the world of business. "

 Bungie are a very unusual company    

I feel like the thing a lot of people are missing is that not only is Kotick a cold-hearted businessman and head of one of the most corporate-feeling producers out there, but he's utterly unashamed about presenting himself as someone who will pull any corporate scheme in the book to make a little money. I believe it's the latter far more than the former which has earned him the reputation he's got.

Being a businessman doesn't excuse someone from also being being an asshole.  Just because money is involved doesn't mean it's O.K. to toss morals and long-term goals.

" Being a businessman doesn't excuse someone from also being being an asshole.  Just because money is involved doesn't mean it's O.K. to toss morals and long-term goals. "

I don't hate Activision or Bobby Kotick. They do what they're supposed to do... eeehhhh most of the time. What does get to me though is some of the developers. It's been proven over and over again that indie development works. That they don't need publishers. I understand that publishers come out saying if they join them then they can have all of their games on all the platforms and advertise it to the bone. The best thing is that we gamers strive on word of mouth. We know advertisement is the devil (except for those damn Wii families). Take a look at Torchlight, Recettear an Item Shop tale, or successful mods for video games. This is exactly like the recording industry, where it has been proven that you don't need to work with a record company. Thanks to the internet you can take care of that all by yourself. Hell, look at Steam. They literally give help people into putting games on their platform. 
 
The downside is that I believe PSN and XBLA is the tough place to get on. But hey, we all know that anyone can put a game on PC for free. You know... Minecraft?

Whenever someone attempts to calm me down on my feelings on Kotick, I read this: 
 
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=128252  
 
What EA did to Bullfrog and Westwood is something I'll never forgive, even if I buy their games today - and each and every step Kotick takes on my precious market, I will hold against him. It's very, very simple.

I hate when people play Devil's Advocate, but even moreso when they don't fully understand either side.  Everything you've posted to "defend" Kotick is common knowledge or common sense.  Everyone on the opposing side understands these points and it doesn't change their opinion.  So what's the point in using them for this argument?  Sounds like your website either needs to be rethought, or some better writers.
 
Sorry, it's just... years of Garnett Lee on the1UP Show have made me truly despise bad devil's advocates.

He definitely knows how to find talent and then drive that talent into the ground with the same game every year.

I feel like this may help remind everyone of some of the problems of being purely motivated by profit, and why MAYBE JUST MAYBE it doesn't excuse you from the charge of being a dick.