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Kotick: EA Is Suffocating Studios

N

neorej

ERMYGERD!
'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.'
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'Unless Double Fine wants to change it into a Guitar Hero spin-off, because we care about studios and their culture. And after EA decided to publish the game and launched a full-blown marketing-campaign, we decided we wanted the IP and the game back, because we suddenly saw potential.'

Yeah Kotick, you're not convincing. Try harder.
 
shaowebb

shaowebb

Member
miladesn said:
What we like about a developer is that they have a culture, they have an independent vision and that’s what makes them so successful.
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Tell that to the Call of Duty guys Kotick. And stating In every case except two the original heads of the studios are still running them is retarded considering you only listed 3 studios. Dude sounds like an ass, but he is right on one point...Activision's business model really IS completely different than EA's.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
neorej said:
'Unless Double Fine wants to change it into a Guitar Hero spin-off, because we care about studios and their culture. And after EA decided to publish the game and launched a full-blown marketing-campaign, we decided we wanted the IP and the game back, because we suddenly saw potential.'

Yeah Kotick, you're not convincing. Try harder.
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I doubt Activision wanted the IP/game back, but they wanted their development money back. Because this was Schafer's baby, people made it personal, but Activision did the same thing with Ghostbusters and Chronicles of Riddick. They received money in those cases. Who knows if they did in this one.

Hell, the cases should have helped Brutal Legend's exposure. Perhaps it did. Then it came out...then we never spoke of it again. Then the next month, Call of Duty 4 hit..
 
T

TehOh

Member
LiK said:
Kotick needs to start a blog. I wanna troll it...HARD.
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Let's consult the Kotick Magic H8-Ball:

kotick2.png
 
S

seady

Member
Kotick's definition of 'not suffocating' a company: Let them keep their company's name.

I guess that's the only thing they have offered during the buyout or interview process. :lol
 
R

Rodhull

Member
Gotta love Schafer's response posted on Eurogamer.

Tim Schafer said:
"What's sad is that instead of just insulting me personally, he goes after the product of my hard-working team - a group of people he almost put out of work a while back," Schafer said. "But what's even sadder is that it took him two months to think of a comeback."
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S

Saty

Member
Speaking exclusively to Eurogamer, Schafer responded to Kotick, calling his comments "sad".

"It's sad is that instead of just insulting me personally, he goes after the product of my hard-working team - a group of people he almost put out of work a while back," Schafer said.

"But what's even sadder is that it took him two months to think of a comeback."
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http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-09-27-schafer-hits-back-at-kotick

First of all, Schafer doesn't have his hands clean with comments like that and continuing this nonsense.
Secondly, of course Kotick would go after Brutal Legend. That was the reason he rejected Schafer and his team. The game wasn't shaping well and wasn't handled as it should have.

Thirdly, Kotick was interviewed on many subjects and this was one of them. It's not like he was asked about if before.
 
I

I AM JOHN!

Banned
Kintaro said:
I doubt Activision wanted the IP/game back, but they wanted their development money back. Because this was Schafer's baby, people made it personal, but Activision did the same thing with Ghostbusters and Chronicles of Riddick. They received money in those cases. Who knows if they did in this one.
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Granted I don't know the specifics of Double Fine's deal with Sierra, but it's not exactly comparable. Ghostbusters and Riddick were properties Vivendi had licensed the rights to from their owners; Activision got money for them, but that's in part because Atari was buying out their contracts to the rights to produce games. Unless Sierra had a ownership stake in the Brutal Legend IP or a stipulation in the contract that stated that if Double Fine went somewhere else then they'd have to give Sierra back the money they gave them, Double Fine owed absolutely nothing to Activision once they were dropped.
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
At this point I don't know whether to laugh or shake my head.

Chairman Yang said:
Kotick is right about EA and Schafer, even if he's lying about himself and Activision.
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.

Rodhull said:
Gotta love Schafer's response posted on Eurogamer.
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That's actually a pretty weak response.... can you explain what exactly you love about it?


"Kotick’s relationship with studio talent is well documented in litigation," EA corporate communications VP Jeff Brown tells Gamasutra in a statement.

"His company is based on three game franchises – one is a fantastic persistent world he had nothing to do with; one is in steep decline; and the third is in the process of being destroyed by Kotick’s own hubris."
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Now THAT is a fucking smackdown... unexpectedly impressive shit talking from EA.
 
J

J-Rzez

Member
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick impressed by Kinect and Move, but reveals the publisher is working on new bespoke peripherals.
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I'm sure they're entertaining the thought of making their own console now too.
 
undu

undu

Member
So... here's EA's reply (taken from Gamasutra)

"Kotick’s relationship with studio talent is well documented in litigation," EA corporate communications VP Jeff Brown tells Gamasutra in a statement.

"His company is based on three game franchises – one is a fantastic persistent world he had nothing to do with; one is in steep decline; and the third is in the process of being destroyed by Kotick’s own hubris."
Click to expand...
 
S

Saty

Member
"His company is based on three game franchises – one is a fantastic persistent world he had nothing to do with; one is in steep decline; and the third is in the process of being destroyed by Kotick’s own hubris."
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Is that Tony Hawk or Guitar Hero? :D
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
Would EA have issued that kind of verbal attack five years ago or would they have stayed above the fray?
In any case I think it's a good sign.

Saty said:
Is that Tony Hawk or Guitar Hero? :D
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Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk is already dead, not merely moribund.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
Felix Lighter said:
Guitar Hero, I believe. The Tony Hawk series is no longer in decline because it already hit rock bottom.
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Yes. But in fairness, it would have been much easier to decipher if they would made mention to a corpse that's dead, buried, and no longer worthy of any discussion.
 
S

Saty

Member
Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. You can say more or less the same on EA.
Most of their successfull IP's nowdays have nothing to do with them - they are made be other studios which EA bought. Mass Effect, Battlefield, The Sims. EA's most promising games are mostly via the EA Partners initiative so the only in-house successes are by large in the yearly sport games.
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
Sipowicz said:
yeah because EA dont rely almost entirely on battlefield/the sims and their sports games
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EA's attempting to create new franchises. Activision this year has released two new IP's (Blur and Singularity) and put very little effort into marketing either of them.
 
D

DuckRacer

Member
Rodhull said:
Gotta love Schafer's response posted on Eurogamer.
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The saddest thing is that he mislead dozens of gamers into thinking they were buying a quality game. Father Kotick is a saint for seeing through Schafer's deception.
Saty said:
Is that Tony Hawk or Guitar Hero? :D
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Guitar Hero 5 debuted at #1 in the UK; Warriors of Rock debuted at #5, behind some terrible soccer simulation. Consumers are stupid for ignoring Neversoft's swan song. :(
 
G

Grecco

Member
For EAs sake i really hope that Star Wars TOR does well for them. They have spent a hilariously large amount of cash trying to compete with Activisions three brands :(
 
Z

Zerokku

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
DuckRacer said:
The saddest thing is that he mislead dozens of gamers into thinking they were buying a quality game. Father Kotick is a saint for seeing through Schafer's deception.
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I never understood this mentality. It was EA/Marketing etc. that advertised it as an action game. Schafer came out and explained how it was a multiplayer centric sacrifice-clone/rts months before the game came out, and was demoing it etc. I bought it knowing exactly what it was, its not my (or schafer's) fault other people didn't.
 
B

Baller. PhD

Banned
KingDizzi said:
Kotick's job is to make his shareholders money and he is doing that very well.
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lolwut? I've been holding ATVI since 2008 and have yet to see any real growth. It's hovered around this same $3 range, very little actual movement. I definitely wouldn't say he's "doing very well" at making his shareholders money. Keeping them from losing money, sure, but I bought into Warcraft Inc. expecting banjamins.
 
A

Acosta

Member
I would pick Brutal Legend over any game produced by Activision last year (and in fact I did, I have not bought anything from the Activision side since the first Modern Warfare.) Flawed and all, it has more heart and is more inspired and fun than the rushed crap I see from them.

And what a waste for all those independent studios with responsible heads being focused on new ways to make the annual Call of Duty (three studios no less). Living the dream guys!
 
stuminus3

stuminus3

Banned
I wasn't particularly interested in jumping on the "boycott Activision" bandwagon... until Bobby Kotick somehow thought saying bad things about Brutal Legend was somehow a good idea.

Now they can fuck off. Seriously.

<3 Brutal Legend. <3 Tim. <3 Double Fine. BFF!
 
B

Boonoo

Member
Saty said:
Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. You can say more or less the same on EA.
Most of their successfull IP's nowdays have nothing to do with them - they are made be other studios which EA bought. Mass Effect, Battlefield, The Sims. EA's most promising games are mostly via the EA Partners initiative so the only in-house successes are by large in the yearly sport games.
Click to expand...

I don't think that you should look down on the EA Partners initiative so readily. EA taking a step back and supporting promising independent developers rather than buying them up is something worth supporting, and I think that it's something EA should be proud of. It's even been copied by THQ recently, and I'd be glad if Activision picked it up. It's just the sort of thing that the industry could really use.
 
S

sajj316

Member
Baller said:
lolwut? I've been holding ATVI since 2008 and have yet to see any real growth. It's hovered around this same $3 range, very little actual movement. I definitely wouldn't say he's "doing very well" at making his shareholders money. Keeping them from losing money, sure, but I bought into Warcraft Inc. expecting banjamins.
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You were late by a year and you bought it at it's peak. Kotick and other heavy investors cashed out in 09.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Jeff Brown said:
"His company is based on three game franchises – one is a fantastic persistent world he had nothing to do with; one is in steep decline; and the third is in the process of being destroyed by Kotick’s own hubris."
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Wow :lol
 
K

Ken Masters

Banned
I love how in 2010 we now act like EA is the up and coming indy developer who is run by people who just simply make all there decisions based on their love for games and gamers
 
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