Bobby Kotick Wants to Take the Fun Out of Making Games

[ThisWasAWaste]

Ok, thats it, I am now officially boycotting activation titles. This includes any titles from the blizzard half too.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

I'm inclined to call hyperbole at this point. He must know he is the most hated man in the industry at this point, I honestly think he's just saying these things now, well, for teh lulz. No man can truly be that calloused.

You mean he has a lot of blisters?

I honestly can't imagine how Bobby Kotick went from not being that notable to one of the most hated figures in the game industry. As some have said above, though, no publicity is bad publicity. Maybe he's rich enough that he doesn't give a frak what the popular opinion is, so long as he can draw enough attention to himself, and his company. Who knows, honestly?

 

[Dectilon]

That's possibly the most punchable face I have ever seen, apparently he made sure to get an appropriate personality to go along with it.

 

[John Funk]

On the one hand, I can sort of see where the man is coming from, given the context of his quote. Especially in a recession, if you don't develop games with the idea that "hey, we're a business" in the back of your mind, you won't be around to develop much longer. Look at Ion Storm for the perfect example of what Kotick wants to avoid - a "rock star" group of developers that putzed around all day and just had fun, but then fell apart at the seams.

So in all fairness, that's probably close to what he had in mind. But ALL fun? If people don't like what they do, then they won't do it for very long. Yes, there needs to be a focus on the business side of things too rather than just the creative, but to take all enjoyment out of the process seems foolhardy. But then again, they're raking in money hand over fist.

 

[Cowabungaa]

That face, that smile, together with those truly horrible comments. What monster is this, it's truly evil incarnate. Evil of the vile, dirty and slimy kind, not the awesome kind I want to share maniacal laughs with.
I stand in awe and utter disgust.

And yet, under his watch Activision has grown to become the industry's one true behemoth. So maybe he's on to something. Maybe, at the end of the day, evil works.

Yes it works for their pockets, not us gamers.

 

[paketep]

Hey, Bobby, we already know what an stupid ass idiot you are. You can shut up now.

 

[benylor]

Prototype was a great game, and I very much enjoyed it. It somewhat saddens me that it will be the last Activision game I buy.

What is all this pretentious high-business bullshit anyway? In the end if you truly believe in it, everybody moves over to that model and you're back to square 1 except the quality of the product and the happiness of the workers are greatly reduced. There's no point in doing this.

Viva la VALVe.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

You mean he has a lot of blisters?

Heh, you know what I meant.

You mean you've never heard the word calloused used to describe one's attitude towards others?

 

[Magus44]

Just makes no sense. Well it does.. but then not.
What happens when people all stop buying shovel ware.
I'm assuming people get into game development because they enjoy it. Taking that away seems silly. I'm just astounded he said that.

 

[Dash-X]

I can understand where he's coming from... but I disagree.

He wants to make Videogame Making an entirely corporate, profit based persuit rather than the mad collective of Programmers and Artists that currently make up many games studios (yes even casual ones, I know someone working in a local studio and they're still all crazy artists and programmers, not corporate hot shots).

He wants to make Activision the Disney of Videogaming, cranking out generic, intensely "focus group designed" games, which is not "fun" so to speak. He wants a videogame assembly line to maximize profits and what he described as his work environment is one way to do that.

However, my girlfriend works for a man with the same outlook as good old Bobby... and this gentleman's company is failing due to his inability to hold on to knowledgable staff, the unmotivated nature of the workers (people won't work REALLY hard for you if they hate you) and the environment of extreme favoritism and backstabbing that leads to the occasional "sabotage" of jobs.

This...

He pretty much understands the basic idea of economy but not the nature of the beast he is trying to control. There is a reason that Disney cranks out so much direct to video shit and why only idiots buy it. Activision is going to end up in that limbo of cranking out crap without Disney's legion of obsessive princess fans.

I agree with these two gentlemen. It'll only make matters worse at Activision, in the long run. Why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y This explains better than I ever could. It's a speech about the science of motivation; Something this Kotik whoreson seems to know nothing about.

Only a moron would use "Sharper sticks and sweeter carrots" as a viable strategy for long-term growth in a creative medium. He is doomed to fail. Without the proper motivators, the product is gonna suck. If your product sucks, additional production value will only help your sales marginally (because no matter what, there's always some moron who goes, "Oooh! Shiny!"...).

I don't think I wanna work for Activision now... Of course, that means that I'm gonna have to screen each studio to which I apply to make sure the Activision tendrils are not there. But, then again, I should have been doing that anyway... I was neutral to them, but reading this has made it a value judgment...

 

[somekindarobot]

That man honestly looks like a palette-swapped Joker. Just dye his hair green, drain the color from his skin, and put him in a purple suit, and they look identical... I think Bobby Kotick is the Joker in disguise as part of a plot to... be an asshole, or something. Batman will save us!

Why so amused? Let's put a frown on that face!

OT: Wow, doesn't he sound like someone that would be fun to work for? /sarcasm

 

[Cowabungaa]

You mean he has a lot of blisters?

Heh, you know what I meant.

You mean you've never heard the word calloused used to describe one's attitude towards others?

Calloused? He sure as hell doesn't look and sound battered and worn through years of experience in the business. He just looks, well, evil. Really, he does. I can't look at that face (not joking here) without feeling, literally, slightly nauseous. How can someone be like that guy? I just learned that he was the CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, why does that nót come as a surprise? That company was just as vile!

PS: Just found this picture of him:

Gods that's even worse than that "Joker smile" picture in the OP. Look at that smug face, look at it and don't tell me you don't want to punch that.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

what a douche, the funny part is no one will end up doing the right thing and voting with their pockets and stop buying activision games

 

[Kollega]

Did anyone expect something else from him? Honestly. He's so obviously EEEEEEEEEEVIIIIIIIIIL that it isn't even funny. I think he'll be able to rival Hitler someday.

And oh,yet another reason to hail Valve and praise Insomniac - they don't do or say bullshit like that.

 

[The Great JT]

That shit-eating grin on his face says the story.

What, does someone have to paint a twirly mustache on this guy before we get the message that he's evil?

 

[VincentX3]

Nothing good comes out when someone says the name "Bobby cockdick"

Jeez man, game's are SUPPOSED TO BE FUN and made for that purpose.

I hate this dude. He needs to be put in the next "SAW" movie!

 

[Octorok]

This is incredible. He's not evil or anything, he's just the only person I've heard of who can walk down the street with his head held high, with half a dozen feet in his mouth.

I'm tempted to use words like "bastard" and "pie faced little horn swaddler" and "silly old bootface", but I'm genuinely confusd. He's gone beyond just normal sense of tact and is just delving into masochism.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

You mean he has a lot of blisters?

Heh, you know what I meant.

You mean you've never heard the word calloused used to describe one's attitude towards others?

*shrugs* You could use it as an adjective describing someone battered and worn down, like Yahtzee Croshaw after any given interview. I just like being nitpicky.

 

[Dash-X]

You mean he has a lot of blisters?

Heh, you know what I meant.

You mean you've never heard the word calloused used to describe one's attitude towards others?

Calloused? He sure as hell doesn't look and sound battered and worn through years of experience in the business. He just looks, well, evil. Really, he does. I can't look at that face (not joking here) without feeling, literally, slightly nauseous. How can someone be like that guy? I just learned that he was the CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, why does that nót come as a surprise? That company was just as vile!

I think he's that way because he's allowed to be that way. Sadly, assassination on the grounds that someone is a douche is illegal. It's the state of our society today. People like that only come about when the fear of getting an ass kicking is minimized. I guarantee you that if he had to worry about his head going up on a pike, he'd be more mindful of his words.

 

[Dash-X]

what a douche, the funny part is no one will end up doing the right thing and voting with their pockets and stop buying activision games

Well, why don't we? We stop buying Activision until that guy is removed from his office. Besides, most movements only start with a handful of nutcases who wanna make a change.