Infinity Ward & Activision

[m4shke]

Amen

[Eraser]

I hope they win and take their staff away with them and start a new ownage project that fucking destroys Activision. They should also make themsevles a publisher of their own material (like id were)

Very sad to see a (previously) awesome publisher get fucked up like this

id Software never were publishers of their own games. At first Apogee did this, then Activision.

[Eraser]

No surprise really, but apparantly West and Zampella were talking to EA.

edit:
more details on the bullshit Activision has pulled: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/west- ... nquisition

[Don Carlos]

cunts

[GONNAFISTYA]

It's no secret that Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick is a money-grubbing cunt. He's actually proud of that. It's also no secret that 95% of the gaming industry would love to see him hit by a train. He's the kind of guy that doesn't care about overworking employees and in every way that matters should never, ever be involved in games. If it were up to him games would be made by small children working 20 hours a day for no pay....just like Steve Jobs.

He's a corporate man who belongs in a bank fucking over old ladies who are 6 minutes late on their credit card payments...not calling the shots over creative content developers and their careers.

DIAF Bobby...you rank piece of shit.

[Don Carlos]

here here

[MKJ]

well yea, but you act like this is exclusive to the game industry.

noone deserves a boss like that, or better yet nobody like that deserves to be boss.
cunts, the lot of them

[Eraser]

During a speech at the 2009 Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference, Kotick received significant criticism from enthusiasts and the media for stating, "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." Kotick later stated he tries to promote an atmosphere of "skepticism, pessimism, and fear" in his company and, "We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."

Says it all, basically

[Tormentius]

During a speech at the 2009 Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference, Kotick received significant criticism from enthusiasts and the media for stating, "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." Kotick later stated he tries to promote an atmosphere of "skepticism, pessimism, and fear" in his company and, "We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."

Says it all, basically

GFY had it right, that asshat should be hit by a train.

[Fender]

Says it all, really

FTFY

[m4shke]

"Kotick doesn't play his games, and it shows."

[Kaz]

The full quote for actual context.

"I don't think it is specific to video games. I think that if you look at how much volatility there is in the economy and, dependent upon your view about macroeconomic picture and I think we have a real culture of thrift. And I think the goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought in to Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."

"I think we definitely have been able to instill the culture, the skepticism and pessimism and fear that you should have in an economy like we are in today. And so, while generally people talk about the recession, we are pretty good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."

[GONNAFISTYA]

"Kotick doesn't play his games, and it shows."

Everything you wanted to know about the insanely narrow-minded Bobby Kotick

and then some.

So let's say you have a great game with huge potential. Unless Kotick can release a Wii and DS port and then create a sequel every year, he just doesn't care.

[Don Carlos]

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/08/law-o ... ctivision/

Nice read

[GONNAFISTYA]

So Activision is counter-suing the guys they fired from Infinity Ward.

West and Zampella, former heads of Call of Duty development studio (and Activision subsidiary) Infinity Ward, were fired early last month, according to Activision, for "breaches of contract and insubordination." Activision subsequently spun the franchise into its own business unit, and created a second studio, Sledgehammer Games, to develop an action-adventure game based on the franchise. West and Zampella quickly followed up by filing suit against Activision for over $36 million in royalties and damages, alleging they were wrongfully terminated and their contacts breached.

In their complaint, filed on March 4, West and Zampella claim that Activision "refused to honor the terms of its agreements," was "intentionally flouting the public policy of [California] that employers must pay their employees what they have rightfully earned," and that Activision hoped to either "[get] away with not having to pay them anything or maximiz[e] its leverage to reduce that pay."

Activision's response in a 23 page countersuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles calls West and Zampella "self-serving schemers" and states it fired the pair because of "an unlawful pattern and practice of conduct," including an attempt to "steal" the Infinity Ward development studio.

Clicky

lol...a 23 page counter suit. Anyone who files that large of a lawsuit is pulling things out of their ass to see what sticks.

[SoM]

FUCK YOU ACTIVISION

[AmIdYfReAk]

i'm not sure what ones worse, Ea's nickle and dimeing for games, or Activisions shit with this.

[Yeahso]

Sucks, really badly... Activision pretty much just shot themselves in the foot and don't even know it because of how big headed they have become. Hope everything works out for IW.

I'm not saying that you have a bad grasp of economics, but when companies generally put out products that generate revenue in the billions, they gain something called "market power".

Market power, in the economic sense, is the ability to dictate market terms in a way that crushes, controls or stifles competition. We call it "mutual exclusivity".

The short version of this is "Activision can do what the fuck they want because they're rich-as-fuck".

[GONNAFISTYA]

Market power, in the economic sense, is the ability to dictate market terms in a way that crushes, controls or stifles competition. We call it "mutual exclusivity".

Or Communism.

[Eraser]

The short version of this is "Activision can do what the fuck they want because they're rich-as-fuck".

bollocks.

2.5 million stimulus packages claim otherwise.

[Yeahso]

The short version of this is "Activision can do what the fuck they want because they're rich-as-fuck".

bollocks. mw2 already has somewhat of a backlash after BC2 released and pissed all over it. the IW fiasco was very public, so much so any dedicated player will be well aware that any sequels now will be 3rd party guff from the likes of treyarch.
acti have fast gained the rep of a bunch of money grubbing cunts, not least from publicly admitting it. then we have folks like id and valve gushing about EA-partner deals where the publisher does that alone and stays the hell out of the production, exactly the way it should be.
these are people, not barchart stats and the really talented devs will always want to make good games, their way, without some backroom goon sticking his finger in the mix if it can be avoided. EA changed their game for a reason.

Your key word is "dedicated". You act as if that represents more than 0.1% of a market that just wants to throw a disc in a plastic box and shoot stuff. 99% of people who play COD probably couldn't even remember which company made it unless they had the packaging to look at.

And yes, they are barchart stats. You think a publisher gives a shit about an individual? That's why two people have just been sacked; that should tell you everything you need to know about where a corporation stands in relation to your values.

[o'dium]

For any average product sure, gamers wont have a clue who made it.

But this is Call of Duty, a series that makes a serious point of letting you know that there are two developers behind it; IW and Treyarch. In fact, IW makes a habbit of forcing it down your throat. EVERY menu screen has a huge IW logo on it. Its common fact that the IW versions are ALWAYS better, and the reviews show this. Ask any of the few million online why they are playing MW/MW2 over WOW, and they will say "I like it better" "it plays better" its just a much better game", and if you ask them why...? "Because IW made it".

I don't like what IW has become. I don't like how they got so big headed they thought they could get away with murder. I don't like MW2 being just a gimped mission pack for MW sold in a retail priced box. But to say MW2 isn't a much better product than ANY of the Treyarch games is to be honest, daft. Sure MW2 has its issues, and if you play it on PC, its nearly unplayable these days due to lack of dedicated servers and hacks and what not. But MW2 brings in the big bucks... Because of IW.

So, you can honestly sit there and say that Acti losing IW isn't a big deal all you like (And lets face it, they HAVE. "SIX" key important members so far have moved on to join Respawn). But they have pretty much just took one of their biggest cash cows and let the entire world know that at the end of the day, they dont give a fuck about anything other than money. Yay, woo, zomg etc, its a company, a company is out to make money, zomg... Whoopyshit. Thats how business works etc... And? Yes its how business works, you make a product in the hope that it will make money, business 101, welcome, take a seat. But if you run a business selling pies, and you fire all your cheifs, then the name may still be "Cunto' Pies" above the door but sooner or later people everywhere will know that they taste different. The same applies here. Acti have changed the game plan, they are milking the product, and they are removing the dev team. So maybe COD19 or whatever the next number is will sell HUGE. Of course it will on brand name alone... But COD20 won't.... Because the consumer already knows by this point that the series has took a U turn, a nose dive.

So, I stand by my original statement. Acti have seriously shot themselves in the foot. They have taken an already, to be blunt, WANK appearance, and raped it even more. They got rid of key members of a MASSIVE cash cow and replaced them with people the entire gaming world knows are sub par. Oh and lets not forget, they announced that the next COD wont be MW3 like people want. And that the next one after that is an "action adventure game". So yeah...

You pretty much shot yourself in the foot Acti.

Heres the thing... EA used to be horrible, this evil group of idiots that would run an IP into the ground and not care. Then, they got a clue. I don't know why but they just "got it". Now, they are a company that takes risks on new IPs. They treat the teams under them with respect. And whats it done...? Its improved both the company image AND profits. I can name off the top of my head a load of EA games that have not only reviewed well but also sold well and are loved by my friends. I can't do that with Acti. Theres MW2... And WOW... And erm... Yeah...

Getting rid of Kotick would be a fantastic start, but it wont solve the problem that in the end, Activision have become a greedy, cheap, nasty company that shits on whoever, whenever, just to make a quick buck. And you can swing that around your fancy words all you like Mr. Alt, because it isn't gonna change anything.

[MKJ]

wth

[Eraser]

tl;dr

[o'dium]

Maybe if I started it with "Nintendo" and "Anime tentacle rape" you would have, you slack jawed faggot.