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Activision: "We Only Want Games We Can Exploit"
Bobby Kotick Confirms What Everyone Already Knew
by Sarah
It’s been a big year for ginormous third-party publisher Activision in many ways. They merged with Blizzard, put out a few thousand more Guitar Hero games, and dropped anything that was too “creatively risky” (i.e., potentially amazing but without built-in franchise sales). Meanwhile, I’m sure that CEO Bobby Kotick is just getting richer and richer while some of their once-beloved series, like Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk, continue to drop in quality. Some people have been referring to Activision as “the new EA”, meaning that they keep churning out half-assed sequels and milking every property they have to death. Now Bobby Kotick has essentially confirmed that sentiment in an interview with MTV Multiplayer. While explaining the decision to drop several marquee titles, including Brutal Legend and Ghostbusters, Mr. Kotick gave up this quip:
“[They] don’t have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million dollar franchises. … I think, generally, our strategy has been to focus… on the products that have those attributes and characteristics, the products that we know [that] if we release them today, we’ll be working on them 10 years from now.”
Well, there you have it. Creativity and originality? Not necessary when you’re pumping out 10 games per franchise a year. Okay, you know what, I understand that this is a business and Activision is in it to make money, and I also know that their franchises sell really well, but come on. Why would gamers want to buy products from a company that has essentially just said "Fuck you guys, just give us your cash"? Also, they’re making so much money from the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty series; they really can’t take a chance on a lower-profile game with the potential to be a great new property? Just how many more years are gamers going to want to re-explore World War II, or buy overpriced Guitar Hero expansions?
Activision’s plans for next year include “15 properties [across] more than 70 SKUs,” including “three, maybe four, exciting new intellectual properties.” I think by “exciting”, Bobby Kotick meant “safe, non-creatively risky, and made for sequels”. Oh boy, I can’t wait.
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Comments
Welcome to capitalism 101. It's risk vs. reward.
Talk about short term thinking.
Whatever will they do when their franchise games have run their course.
These guys are definitely the new EA. I give EA credit for at least releasing some new IPs lately.
@FemJesse:
Can't say I totally agree. DDR still sells like hotcakes. While it may not be the major product it was a few years back, they can still release unlimited remixes and people will eat them up. To be honest, what really destroyed DDR were the numerous rip-offs that flooded the market and made the entire genre stale.
GH will continue to sell. Sure, people who actually like REAL video games will hate it and call it out for the mindless drek it becomes.. Much like the hate for Madden or Halo. There's a large populous that will eat up mainstream games without a care. It's happened in movies, it happened in books, it happens in everything. Capitalism appeals to the masses and the masses have proven for decades they don't care for quality, but for familiarity.
Their loss. Way to pick up the ball Atari! Alley-OOP!
All they need now is a yearly sports franchise.