Activision CEO threatens to Stop Supporting Sony

[yobrenoops]

http://www.edge-online.com/news/acti...-sony%E2%80%9D

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has warned that the publisher “might have to stop supporting Sony” platforms.

“I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform. It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation,” he told The Times.

“They have to cut the price, because if they don't, the attach rates are likely to slow,” he added. “If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony. When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP too.”

Kotick, who said recently that he was disappointed the platform holders opted not to announce console price cuts at E3, also noted that Activision had paid Sony $500 million in royalties and other goods last year, which “probably still worked out at 400 percent of the profit they made.”

Oh dear oh dear. I understand theres a degree of brinkmanship her but it doesn't bode well. Fingers crossed for a price drop at Cologne/TGS.

[AikonEnt]

So a bajillion PS2s, 20+ million (and rising) PS3's and 50+ million (and rising) PSPs don't make them enough money?

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

I remember EA doing something similar to this back in the Dreamcast days. But overall, I don't like the idea. I mean, isn't the new ActiBlizz all about making money? Not supporting it at all will only lose them so much money. Compare that to EA as of recient which is actually starting to put some effort into its games with new IP's and such. Now ActiBlizz is starting to turn into what EA was las generation.

Sorry for the ramble. I get a bit off topic at times.

[mightypen]

Originally Posted by AikonEnt

So a bajillion PS2s, 20+ million (and rising) PS3's and 50+ million (and rising) PSPs don't make them enough money?

Can a publicly traded company ever make "enough money"?

[Protectron]

Didn't W@W sell like half a million copies in its first month on the ps3 or something? I would guess that would be enough to cover ps3 dev. costs plus a little extra.

Besides, with Modern Warfare 2 on the way, I'm sure that will sell quite a bit on the ps3.

[aygie]

and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better.

Dear Mr Activision the Wii sells millions of consoles not millions of your games. Dumbass.

[Morphine]

It is all business, nice move for Activision, Sony needs to step up and give ppl what they want

[bajor27]

Originally Posted by Aygie

Dear Mr Activision the Wii sells millions of consoles not millions of your games. Dumbass.

You do know that Guitar Hero sells better on Wii than any other console right? Wii development should also cost a lot less than PS3 development so you wouldn't have to sell as many copies to see profit.

As for the article - very surprised that they'd actually say that.

1. There are more PS3s as of today than xbox360s sold at this same time last year I think, and somehow it was still profitable to make 360 games last year.

2. Since they lead platform the 360 version and just port it, I can't imagine too many of their PS3 games not being profitable, and there's no way the team porting the game to PS3 woudl be able to make a whole other game for 360 with the same amount of time/effort/money - well, at least not a good game.

3. Even if the team responsible for making the PS3 port did just make more 360 games, the 360 market would just be too saturated with Activision games and less total games would likely be sold.

[Simplayer]

Originally Posted by Aygie

Dear Mr Activision the Wii sells millions of consoles not millions of your games. Dumbass.

The Wii SKU of GH is their top selling GH. I think COD sells about the same on the Wii and the PS3.

Anyhow, sounds like posturing to me. He's been complaining about their price for awhile.

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by Nerdkiller likes BD

I remember EA doing something similar to this back in the Dreamcast days. But overall, I don't like the idea. I mean, isn't the new ActiBlizz all about making money? Not supporting it at all will only lose them so much money. Compare that to EA as of recient which is actually starting to put some effort into its games with new IP's and such. Now ActiBlizz is starting to turn into what EA was las generation.

Sorry for the ramble. I get a bit off topic at times.

EA said they wouldn't support the Dreamcast unless they could be the only sports game producer. Sega said no, since they wanted to launch their 2K series, so EA chose not to make games for Dreamcast.

[DonRSD]

why dont they make the games for ps3 & port 'what they can' to 360!?

then he will see the true power of the ps3.

i could care less about this guy as i never play activision games

[Another_Dude]

Has the president of Sony said what Activision should price their products at?


I didn't think so.

[Lucy Diamond]

Originally Posted by Aygie

Dear Mr Activision the Wii sells millions of consoles not millions of your games. Dumbass.

Seriously bro!!!

I've had my Wii for almost 3 years now. I have FOUR games!!!

I have TONS of Ps3 games and I never feel bad buying a game and shelving it until the others are done, because my (entertainment) return on investment is enormous!!!

I have had THE MOST fun I've had in a long time with PS3 games.
I have met some of THE COOLEST people on PSN
And I love that they provide really good quality little blow off games like PAIN.

This guy is just playing hardball because he wants something.

[bajor27]

I feel like adding more, and since it's kind of a different thought, I don't think I'll use the edit feature.

Would it really make a huge difference if the PS3 lost Activision support?

When I think about it, I don't think it would.

We'd lose

Call of Duty - enough other shooters (Resistance, Battlefield, Killzone, etc) that I don't see it as a huge deal

Guitar Hero - we'd still have Rock Band

Tony Hawk - we'd still have Skate

Dreamworks movie games (Transformers and dreamworks animation stuff - Are these even any good? Would still get Pixar movie games

Marvel games - Spider-man games haven't been that good since 2, Ultimate Alliance isn't too bad, and Wolverine seems decent

The marvel stuff is probably the biggest loss in terms of there not being anything to really make up for it, but I think this would hurt Activision more than Sony. Would anyone here buy a 360 just for Activision games? I sure wouldn't. There are 360 exclusive games I'm interested in, but they are made by better developers.

I also think you might see other developers trying to fill in the gaps with whatever they can since they'd have decreased competition which could be awesome.

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

EA said they wouldn't support the Dreamcast unless they could be the only sports game producer. Sega said no, since they wanted to launch their 2K series, so EA chose not to make games for Dreamcast.

Well I thought that it had something to do with the Saturn not doing well in the west. I thought that was the reason why EA didn't support the Dreamcast that generation. Maybe I missed out on something.

[mikejet]

Time to send complaint letters about the CEO to the Board of Directors!

Seriously though, letters to the Board indicating your love of both Sony and Activision but your dissatisfaction with the announcement that the CEO made could have an impact.

Let me find an email and address!

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by Nerdkiller likes BD

Well I thought that it had something to do with the Saturn not doing well in the west. I thought that was the reason why EA didn't support the Dreamcast that generation. Maybe I missed out on something.

IGN had a fantastic (and very long) article about Sega and it's eventual death of them as a console maker. In this article there's this paragraph from then Sega head Bernie Stolar:

"[Former Electronic Arts CEO] Larry Probst is a dear friend of mine. Larry came to me and said, 'Bernie, we'll do Dreamcast games, but we want sports exclusivity.' I said, 'You want to be on the system with no other third-party sports games?'

"I looked at him and said, 'You know what? I'll do it, but there's one caveat here: I just bought a company called Visual Concepts for $10 million, so you'll have to compete with them.' Larry says, 'No, you can't even put them on the system.' I said 'Then Larry, you and I are not going to be partners on this system.

http://retro.ign.com/articles/974/974695p1.html

Originally Posted by Lucy Diamond

Seriously bro!!!

I've had my Wii for almost 3 years now. I have FOUR games!!!

I've had my Wii for 2 years and have never bought a game. All I play is Wii Sports or downloaded games like Punch-Out and Mario 3.

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

IGN had a fantastic (and very long) article about Sega and it's eventual death of them as a console maker. In this article there's this paragraph from then Sega head Bernie Stolar:

"[Former Electronic Arts CEO] Larry Probst is a dear friend of mine. Larry came to me and said, 'Bernie, we'll do Dreamcast games, but we want sports exclusivity.' I said, 'You want to be on the system with no other third-party sports games?'

"I looked at him and said, 'You know what? I'll do it, but there's one caveat here: I just bought a company called Visual Concepts for $10 million, so you'll have to compete with them.' Larry says, 'No, you can't even put them on the system.' I said 'Then Larry, you and I are not going to be partners on this system.

http://retro.ign.com/articles/974/974695p1.html

Ahhh. I remember reading that story. I guess I just forgot about that bit.

[Poetic]

I can honestly say I wouldn't care if they decided not to support the PS3. They don't make anything I play, but I'd be worried another company may follow or it would hurt Sony overall as I'm sure there is a lot of people out there who do like their games.

Screw them though, pretty lame threat imo.

[ras752000]

Originally Posted by bajor27

Call of Duty - enough other shooters (Resistance, Battlefield, Killzone, etc) that I don't see it as a huge deal

Agree with all you point except this one . . . COD fans are like their own subculture (I know cause I am one) and none of the alternatives you listed (while they are great games) do anything for us long term online . . . I can still pop in COD4 or 5 every night, not so with the others.