Activision's Bobby Kotick wants a culture of pessimism & fear

[Sylin]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6226758...dlines;title;1

Wow... just... wow. Further showing his complete ineptitude at understanding gaming culture, check out this article on GameStop.com.

Some of his more Douchebag Award-worthy comments are in bold. I especially like where he says he has given Activision a "culture of thrift," and that they are only concerned "with the bottom line." This, remember, is the guy who told shareholders this summer he'd raise game prices even more if he could get away with it. (Activision made $2.9 BILLION dollars last year and posted over $345 million in PROFIT.)

During a 45-minute presentation today at the Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference in San Francisco, Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick covered a substantial amount of ground. For one, the executive explained how he expects Activision games--specifically Guitar Hero--to bypass consoles altogether. The executive also showed off animation technology he hailed as the future of storytelling in games, pegged the next generation of consoles as being two years out or more, and explained openly why he wants a company culture infused with skepticism, pessimism, and fear.

On the Guitar Hero topic, Kotick told analysts and investors about some potentially big changes in store for the rhythm franchise. When asked about a Guitar Hero game that didn't need a console to operate, Kotick bluntly appraised its benefits.

"I think what the untethered Guitar Hero does is equal the playing field a little more and give you some leverage with first parties when it comes to downloadable content and the business model," Kotick said.

The executive also told attendees to "expect many of our products to be playable independent of a console," specifically saying he'd been impressed with media hub functionalities shown by 1080p TVs that let users stream content from their PCs. He also suggested a day in not-too-distant future where players' Facebook profiles will be integrated into Guitar Hero, letting them make songs to share with friends, post high scores or favorite songs on their profile page, and so on.

While games like Guitar Hero have proven popular for the tactile experience of their peripherals, Kotick said Activision is also working to push the envelop in emotional game experiences. He showed the audience a clip of Call of Duty: World at War, saying his friends in the movie industry all react by pointing out how unreal the mouth movement looks. The executive said game makers just haven't reached a point yet where the mouth movement and facial animation of game characters is good enough to establish a compelling emotional attachment from the player.

To remedy that, Kotick noted a realtime rendering and mouth movement technology Activision has been working on. He showed a clip of the technology, saying it could could represent nothing less than a transformation of the medium. While Kotick said the technology wouldn't surface until the next generation of games, he did say it would be ready before the next generation of hardware.

Kotick added that publishers don't take advantage of the full capabilities of today's hardware, and said it might be some time before the next generation arrives. Typically, console makers give publishing partners about two years' notice when it plans to introduce new hardware, Kotick said. But so far, the console makers haven't given him specs or white papers on new hardware, nor have they consulted him on design decisions, leading him to believe their current priority is instead to reduce the cost of each system.

When he wasn't promoting the company's games or technology, Kotick was celebrating its laser-like focus on the bottom line. He pointed to changes he implemented in the past as being particularly beneficial, such as designing the employee incentive program so it, "really rewards profit and nothing else."

"You have studio heads who five years ago didn't know the difference between a balance sheet and a bed sheet who are now arguing allocations in our CFO's office pretty regularly," Kotick said.

He later added, "We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."

If that sounds like it would create a corporate culture that isn't all sunshine and hugs, then it's "mission accomplished" for Kotick. The executive said that he has tried to instill into the company culture "skepticism, pessimism, and fear" of the global economic downturn, adding, "We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."

[Rike255]

What a schmuck.

[Lord_Stewie]

The guy is Nuts. Clear and Simple.

[Blu Titan]

How would you like to work for a guy like that "Kotick" character?

[saprano]

WTF is that shit?

[bandit29]

Wow...tool of the week and its only Monday...

[cajmoyper]

Those remarks are so unbelievable that I literally don't believe that he said any of that. Nobody is that stupid.

[Seeking_Alpha]

I will probably get crucified for saying this on this forum, but to someone who works on Wall St. this guy sounds good, and he says the things we want to hear.

Not everything sounds right though, "the culture of fear, pessimism etc" might be going to far. But I think his point is he doesn't want complacent employees who fail to innovate (which I know flies in the face of making sequel after sequel). Then the comment about taking the fun out of making video games is just plain wrong. People who hate their job won't do a good job IMO. But I don't cover this industry to be honest, so who knows. Maybe game makers are like classical painters, the more depressed the better lol.

Ultimately though creating great games is just a means to the end. The end being making money for shareholders, and I personally don't want companies to default on securities we underwrite.

[saprano]

Originally Posted by Seeking_Alpha

I will probably get crucified for saying this on this forum, but to someone who works on Wall St. this guy sounds good, and he says the things we want to hear.

Ultimately creating great games is just a means to the end. The end being making money for shareholders, and we want companies not to default on securities we underwrite.

But what happens when game quality goes to crap and knowbody buys your games anymore? are you still gonna have that "wall street thinking?"

take all the fun out of making video games

Dumbest thing i ever heard. thats what going to happen to their games with this type of thinking. (does activision even make games, or only publish?)

[1blufan]

"Kotick added that publishers don't take advantage of the full capabilities of today's hardware". Naughty Dog (Uncharted 2) claims to have used the full power of the PS3.

Typically, console makers give publishing partners about two years' notice when it plans to introduce new hardware, Kotick said. But so far, the console makers haven't given him specs or white papers on new hardware, nor have they consulted him on design decisions, leading him to believe their current priority is instead to reduce the cost of each system.

Wasn't this the same guy who a few months ago said Sony needed to lower the price of the PS3 or there might be consequences.

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by 1blufan

"Kotick added that publishers don't take advantage of the full capabilities of today's hardware". Naughty Dog (Uncharted 2) claims to have used the full power of the PS3.

I worked in entertainment journalism and even wrote for video game magazines in the past, so I have a LOT of friends and colleagues in the industry. All of them say that working in the gaming biz is just like most other jobs: if morale is low, or managers are jerks, or there's no passion/creativity in what people do, NO ONE wants to work there, and it will show in everything they do.

@Seeking_Alpha, I get what you're saying. And to a point, I agree that it's nice to have someone in your organization whose responsibility it is to protect shareholder interests, maximize profits and look for ways to maintain financial momentum.

However, there is a line that Kotick just seems blithely comfortable in crossing... not by an inch, but by a mile. If the man is willing to say crap like this to the public, just imagine what he's like behind closed doors, to his subordinates!

Financial innovation like what Kotick seems to want tends to always turn out terribly. Just let your developers be positively passionate and let them innovate creatively. The financial rewards will follow if you have the right people. It sounds like Kotick wants to scare his employees into making profitable products. That strategy CANNOT work long-term. It is unsustainable in any industry.

Naughty Dog is a great example, because you don't see their execs talking about how they need to charge customers more for their badass games. The realize that if they keep positive, and keep passionate, they'll keep producing badass games and the money will follow.

[Sponge-worthy]

Kotick added that publishers don't take advantage of the full capabilities of today's hardware, and said it might be some time before the next generation arrives. Typically, console makers give publishing partners about two years' notice when it plans to introduce new hardware, Kotick said. But so far, the console makers haven't given him specs or white papers on new hardware, nor have they consulted him on design decisions, leading him to believe their current priority is instead to reduce the cost of each system.

If publishers are not taking advantage of the full capabilities of current-gen hardware, then why are they in such a hurry to get to the next-gen? So that they can underperform on those platforms as well?

The more that comes out of this Activision guy's mouth, the more I am convinced that the company is holding on to their Guitar Hero and COD franchises for dear life. He talks a big game and tries to puff his chest with FUD in the direction of the console manufacturers, but he should worry about what Activision actually does as a company, rather than what people might see in his imaginary, Activision-branded dream-scape world.

[GLaDOS]

Guitar Hero this, Call Of Duty that....

What the hell is with this guy!? Is that dude paranoid or something!?

[MacDaddyOJack]

The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."

Once you take away all the fun, it becomes a grind of a job and there are no new or original ideas for your future games. I guess that's why were seeing Guitaro hero 4,000 right now and like the tenth Call of Duty.... I hope the guy does bypass consoles so I don't ever have to hand activision another cent.

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by saprano

(does activision even make games, or only publish?)

Activision owns several development studios, among them Red Octane/Neversoft, (Guitar Hero/Tony Hawk), Infinity Ward/Treyarch(Call of Duty games), and Bizarre Creations (Geometry Wars and Project Gotham Racing, although PGR is owned by Microsoft so they can't make them anymore), and of course with the merger Blizzard products.

Originally Posted by 1blufan

Naughty Dog (Uncharted 2) claims to have used the full power of the PS3.

I hate this phrase, as many many developers have said this. I could write a simple loop that would "use the full power of the PS3" too, but it doesn't mean I do anything meaningful with it. Although I admit I'm more inclined to give Naughty Dog the benefit of the doubt than most devs.

[BluOgre]

wow, so he thinks he doesn't need the console anymore to sale his software

I like how he is basically stating he rewards his employees by being thirfty ......the cheaper the product the better (as long as it sales). All I can say is I hope no one buys thier crap anymore.

[AikonEnt]

I don't know how the licensing goes with publishing games on a console, but if I was Sony I'd stop them releasing anything else on any Playstation format, see how long this complete d!ck keeps his job. Now I have zero interest in any games they release so the impact on my gaming would be non-existant, though the COD and GH peeps may not agree with my idea

Also the bit where he says that console manufacturers as yet hadn't consulted him on their future hardware left me open mouthed. Why would Sony consult this piece of sh!t about something they make.

I'm having a very strong urge to introduce his face to a baseball bat

[talak]

He later added, "We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games.

Wow that statement just made me really want to work for Activision...jeeez this guy sound like a boss you really want. Always wondered why they where just pumping out sequel after sequel with nothing really changing. Guess I have just found my answer.

[Shin-Ra]

I'm glad I don't work for Activision, I'd be looking elsewhere!

[phranctoast]

Activision is making EA look good.