Bobby Kotick's Trash Talking Spree Continues

[NeedAUserName]

I love the Escapists go to picture of Kotick, it just makes him look like a simple buffoon.

 

[Moriarty70]

So if he had done what they did, he'd be in jail. Then why aren't they in jail? Wouldn't saying that encourage an investigation, and wouldn't that also imply that Kotick was guilty of obstruction?

 

[Sebenko]

"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, 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.'

"And do you know what? That seemed like a sensible thing to do. And it turns out, he was late, he missed every milestone, the game was not a particularly good game..."

Yeah, but he's also capable of not appearing as a complete cock-end 100% of the time. Unlike Kotick, who seems to live on pure hatred (In direct contrast to Valve, who live on love. And the irritation of everyone waiting for Ep3.)

 

[Denamic]

This guy is such an asshole that 'asshole' doesn't quite cut it.
Frankly, it's an insult to assholes.
We need a new word to describe this man.

Hmm...
I've got it!
Kotick!
That man is such a Kotick.

 

[Diligent]

I'm beginning to think that this guy is perfectly aware of the public perception of him, and is purposely perpetuating it. He's such a character, and every time he opens his mouth all it does is drum up awareness of the Activision brand. There is no way in hell the few people who actually stop buying Activision products (like I have) will effect the bottom line, with the money train of WoW, the Guitar hero/rhythm game loyals and the big chunk of Call of Duty gamers that are most likely oblivious to video game politics. (Not to generalize there, but every CoD player I know of in real life really doesn't give a shit about too much else gaming wise.)

If only there was a way for everybody to tune out this increasingly obvious PR stunt.

 

[Something Amyss]

Too late, Darth Kotick. None of us will be happy until you piss off and let gaming be at peace.

Hmmm...Beat to the Vader ref. Ah well.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Dude, Kotick really must like the taste of his own feet... I mean, to get such a bad reputation then come out and continue to bash others? If you really are this great and wonderful guy you say you are, why not just do the whole Pope John Paul - Dude who Shot him "I forgive you." and let it be?

 

[8bitmaster]

This guy is such an asshole that 'asshole' doesn't quite cut it.
Frankly, it's an insult to assholes.
We need a new word to describe this man.

Hmm...
I've got it!
Kotick!
That man is such a Kotick.

That is a great idea. That should be in the next dictionary.

Kotick
noun
worse than an asshole

 

[squidbuddy99]

What gives this douchebag the right to diss Tim Schafer? The guy has made some of the best adventure games known to gaming. He has Grim Fandango and Psychonauts under his belt. Even if Brutal Legend wasn't the masterpiece hoped for (I also doubt the game's poor reviews are because of one guy), I'm pretty sure Activition doesn't have a perfect track record, either.

 

[sylekage]

You know who probably dislikes Kotick the most? The Activision PR department.

Escapist Magazine?

This guy is everywhere, he just needs to learn how to shut his mouth, and stop acting like a five year old.

 

[JEBWrench]

"And do you know what? That seemed like a sensible thing to do. And it turns out, he was late, he missed every milestone, the game was not a particularly good game..."

This is a dark day. Bobby Kotick spoke the truth.

Cry now, everyone. Cry now.

 

[Delusibeta]

the game was not a particularly good game...

Exhibit A [http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/brutal-legend] and Exhibit B [http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/guitar-hero-warriors-of-rock]. I rest my case.

 

[Loonerinoes]

"We didn't have any choice!"

This is utterly hilarious, considering how I remember him saying earlier to his investors that Bungie signed up with Activision because "They didn't have any choice!" And triply hilarious because I pointed out how Infinity Ward's lead people 'had no choice' but to start Respawn with EA.

I think this could become his catchphrase really. "Things happen because no one has any choice! We rule because no one else has any choice! And if one day our sales decline, it was because we were not given any choice! It just happens d00dz!"

But yeah...damage control done by bashing others? I'd quite frankly call him delusional at this point, but then again having read the marketing controvesy article from Sherman on this very day, I guess all the haters of Bobby Kotick would probably do the best thing by either: a) Ignoring his statements, since his credibilty has really hit rock bottom by now or b) At least add some humor to any statement he makes.

 

[Jared]

If he going for a recond number of people to P*** off in a week period? As hes getting there, rapudly

 

[John Funk]

You know who probably dislikes Kotick the most? The Activision PR department.

I imagine they start drinking at 10 AM and just don't stop.

But seriously, though? Kotick is a businessman. He's a good businessman, too. He's just really bad at self-censoring.

so you approve of all this?

at the risk of sounding pretentious ,bros, i personally think kotick isn't the problem in the gaming ''industry'', more like a distraction or a focus of petty hate and raeg of a cynical consumer.

ultimately, he serves the share holders/investors, if he doesn't please them by returning a profit they can easily pull out and encorage other investors not to invest.

It'd really be easier to discuss things with you if you dropped the "bros" gimmick, you know.

On topic, however: Do I approve? Not exactly, but I'm not out to make Kotick out to be the antichrist evil mastermind people seem to view him as. At this point, the sheer animosity directed at Kotick is absolutely laughable; it's like people have forgotten how to think for themselves instead of just getting caught up in groupthink and BOBBY KOTICK RUINED GAMING RAEG. It feels so incredibly petty.

The man is a businessman, whose job it is to manage a multibillion dollar international corporation. I doubt he has much contact - if any at all - with any studio heads besides maybe West/Zampella or Mike Morhaime; top-level execs like him are too busy looking at the big picture to ever sit down and micromanage the studios to the levels people accuse him of doing.

Like you said, Kotick's job is to serve the investors and shareholders. He is a businessman, just the same as John Riccitiello at EA, Strauss Zelnick at Take-Two, etc. And you know what? They all are doing similar things; none of them put out games just out of the goodness of their hearts. Kotick's sin is that he's A.) very glib and prone to (what he sees as) wisecracking, remarks like the "taking fun out of videogames" that he sees as jokes but the gaming community latches onto like a lamprey, and B.) he's actually pretty open about what he does.

He has little self-censorship, which makes him an easy target. Do I think that what he's doing is a good thing? No, not really, but I also recognize that he's a businessman doing his job, and he's pretty good at it.

I do think that the anti-Kotick brigade is a small but very vocal part of the gaming community, and that most gamers couldn't possibly care less. The whole thing just strikes me as silly by this point.

 

[Vredesbyrd67]

He's a fat, ugly, manipulative philistine who's in a position of pretty much inscrutible power, and knows it. He thinks that by flashing the puppy eyes and saying in a sad voice, "everyone's mean to me", he can make people think the other things he's said in the past were just all taken out of context and twisted to work against him. Really, guys, don't fall for this. It's insulting to our intelligence that he even thought he could get away with anything he's done this way.

 

[Enigmers]

Is there any reason he decided to paint himself as a prick for years before throwing out this little detail about how he's not really the bad guy? And what did they do that would have put them in jail, and why aren't they in jail?