Blizzard founder Mike Morhaime has said that Activision boss Bobby Kotick doesn't deserve the hard time he gets from gamers and press.
"I have an advantage there because I know Bobby personally and we have very long, in-depth conversations, so my view of him is not limited to small sound bites taken out of context," the Blizzard man told MCV.
He also said Activision hasn't attempted to interfere in Blizzard's affairs.
"We wouldn't have supported the merger had we not believed Bobby and Activision understood how special Blizzard is and weren't supportive of our values.
"We were convinced that they did, that the two businesses were complementary and that we wouldn't be giving up our creative autonomy in any way. And that's exactly how it has panned out."
Kotick spoke on the subject of 'coming across like a dick' at the 2010 DICE Summit, suggesting he's actually more Luke Skywalker than Darth Vader.
"I don't know how this happened, but all my life I was the rebel flying the Millennium Falcon or the X-Wing fighter and suddenly I wake up and I'm on board the Death Star," he said.
Comments
33 comments so far...
Frogster8 on 28 Mar '11 said:
Well he's going to be very supportive or you wouldn't have merged and he wouldn't have his clutches on WoW.
StonecoldMC on 28 Mar '11 said:
"I don't know how this happened, but all my life I was the rebel flying the Millennium Falcon or the X-Wing fighter and suddenly I wake up and I'm on board the Death Star,"
Thats actually a very funny line
, is it just not down to the fact that its cool to hate him?
l1nc on 28 Mar '11 said:
He's a smug looking prick! and he's about as popular as Hitler.
pRM8 on 28 Mar '11 said:
Hahahahahaha, ahem. Well of course your going to say he's a good guy but the actions of Kotick tells a different story altogether from a gamers perspective.
I think its a bit dismissive to conclude that all the 'hate' towards Kotick is because its "cool". You just have to look at the actions of this man and his company towards games, gamers and their very own development teams to see why some people dislike him and what he stands for in the industry. I'm not saying it aint successful though.
Megatrons_Fury on 28 Mar '11 said:
He likes you because you make him lots and lots of cash...........
I bet at some point he loved everyone at Bizarre creations as well until they were forced to make things they didnt want to make then died.
The man is a souless monster who commands as much respect as a dump i took this morning, of all the CEO's of the larger publishers / game companies he is by far the worst example of over indulgement of capitilism. Thank god we have awesome people like Reggie at nintendo to balance out karma, yes Nintendo make millions but at least Reggie seems like a cool guy who would be able to actually have a conversation on a personal basis about videogames.
With luck both Bobby Kotick and that whittling moron Peter 'the next fable will be awesome' Moleneux will soon decide to call it a day maybe then this industry can gain self respect back again.
nathar on 28 Mar '11 said:
Satan not so bad once you get to know him - God
Hitler a pretty decent chap after a couple of sherries - Churchill
ensabahnur on 28 Mar '11 said:
Its between Bobby, Reggie from Nintendo and Peter Moore as to who's the smuggest looking prick (though Mr Moore has been in hiding for a while). Hitler's probably more popular than all three though.
The_KFD_Case on 28 Mar '11 said:
I concur; that is a hilarious contemporary cultural phenomenon comparison in my opinion. Perhaps I'd actually find ol' Bobby likeable in person having a beer or some such. Yet as a CEO for Activision, and the way he's spoken about gamers and what he'd like to do, I have little love for him, but much vitriol and spite. I detest anyone trying to push me around unless I consider them a legitimate authority. Neither Activision nor Bobby Kotick qualify in my book.
Nitramuse on 28 Mar '11 said:
I didn't read the article, just the title...and said title made me like this:
http://www.pixagen.com/storage/b3s/faces/lol-face.jpg
StonecoldMC on 28 Mar '11 said:
Jebus guys, I dont think Kotick cares what me or you feel about Gaming, he just wants to bleed us dry.
In all honesty though, any CEO worth his salt is going to try and do the same. I think its just because Activision are biggest publishers and he has had some pretty high profile fallouts that the Hate for Kotick is there.
You can bet your money that any article with Call of Duty, Michael Pachter or Bobby Kotick is going to have people saying its/he's/they are crap/over rated/worthless or the like.
Funny thing is, I quite like all 3 of them, they arent doing me any harm
.
MANYOO4EVA on 28 Mar '11 said:
Kotick's only profit is coming from the WoW and COD franchises. However, COD is now starting to become tiresome and the gaming community is showing it. With Battlefield 3 coming, I don't think COD will be as dominate as last few years have shown. I think this year things are going to start changing.
Also, theGuitar Hero franchise waned to the point of extinction, and with the ex-Infinity Ward employees at Respawn working on a new Blockbuster FPS and a new MOH, which hopefully will be vastly improved, I think EA will have a large chunk of the FPS genre in thje coming months along with a bigger share of overall sales, with Mass Effect 3, Fifa 12, Madden 12 and Tiger Woods 12 also on the way.
Along with AAA games like Batman: Arkham City, Gears of War 3, Rage, Duke Nukem Forever (hopefully), F1 2011, etc all coming out at the latter stages of the year, I think Activision are worried, as why would they have 4 development teams working on Modern Warfare 3? Maybe due to the massive lawsuits they have stacked against them, which could cost them millions.
Intereesting times ahead me thinks. Only time will tell.
Rise_ofthe_Mike on 28 Mar '11 said:
Yeah, well Blizzard...You havn't crossed him yet either. IW had a massive game in CoD on their hands and instead of doing another CoD like Kotick wanted...IW wanted to do a new IP, a new IP that they were promised. So he got rid of the guy's in his way. So my advice to you, Blizzard, is to stay on his good side and do exactly what he wants...otherwise that "great" relationship of yours might end up in the dumps.
BenThomasFoster on 28 Mar '11 said:
wasn't going to exactly say "My new boss is heartless towards he well being of the game industry." was he...
laminated0 on 28 Mar '11 said:
Im sure Josef kotick and nazi vision get on really well. Just like stalin and hitler, however mussolini was always the 3rd wheel of this group and no-one likes 3 wheeler cars, they just dont make sense, kind of like pancakes, you can eat them for breakfast , lunch or tea, so what are they? what do they count as? Thats why there's a pancake day.... to confuse the french. But thats not hard just shout 'WAR' and watch them start to fight each other and hide beneath their flag and call for the english to help them and as they try to escape to england in a boat watch as the english see them and shout the germans are coming while the french have their flag flying high and shout no its us and the english fire anyway because 'ITS THE GERMANS!!!'.
gmcb007 on 28 Mar '11 said:
Bahahahahahah! This is like Hermann Goering saying Hitler is alright. What a load of biased nonsense of course you compliment your boss its called ASS KISSING!
Kotick is trying to exploit the gaming market. He dosen't care about gaming, he just treats it like a bloody pryamid scam!
ChongShin on 28 Mar '11 said:
Those lips are seriously planted.
Balladeer on 28 Mar '11 said:
Of course Kotick's not as black as he's been painted, if only for the reason that he hasn't killed anyone. Regardless of his true personality, though, he has been known to say some phenomenally stupid things.
BeauBeau on 28 Mar '11 said:
Paid employees in 'Boss is not an a$$hole' shocker.
Will wonders never cease?
Mogs on 28 Mar '11 said:
Saif Gaddafi - 'My father is a good guy'
solamon77 on 28 Mar '11 said:
I wonder if the fact that Blizzard is a huge cash cow has any impact on how he treats them?
aawells07 on 28 Mar '11 said:
unfotunatly most gamers are immature little whiney brats people will hate just to hate, people hate Pachter for no reason just because he says some stuff that u dont agree with or something about a game or system u like people will show up in hordes to name call its really hilarious to see people get so mad over the most idiotic things
metallicorphan on 28 Mar '11 said:
CVG,do you have to keep putting that picture up everytime you talk about him??
as for Kotick,if he is a good guy i would hate to see a bad guy
lets see now..
f**king up Infinity Wards
milking the ever loving teet off Call of Duty
raising prices for Call of Duty games to RRP £54.99 here in the UK
buying studios and then closing them(ie Bizarre Creations)
cancelling the almost complete True Crime game
yeah,he's a prick
ghuk on 28 Mar '11 said:
He actually looks like a slightly chubbier version of Tony Blair......meh from one obnoxious c*nt to another
Jack21 on 28 Mar '11 said:
I just come on here to see what the this blatant ass kissing fool has to say about him and then BAM
a face only a mother could love
STE MO on 29 Mar '11 said:
So is Col Gaddafi
jtake9 on 29 Mar '11 said:
Anyone who smiles like Beelzebub and poses in hellfire i do not trust.
NickBella99 on 29 May '11 said:
Look, if the games are good, who cares? You're wasting your gaming time flaming this guy all over the net. Go back to your xbox and make more money for Activision
agrand on 29 May '11 said:
Wow! Just came across this! What's with all the hating? Business is business, can't hate a guy for doing it well!
DanW on 29 May '11 said:
Does his company make great games? Yes. Does he make money for his shareholders? Yes. Is he honest and speak his mind? Yes. Does he not only give to lots of charities and take leaderships roles in many of them? Yes. Do you like playing Activision/Blizzard games? Yes. Are you guys over-sensitive, over-protective gamers who take it waaaay too seriously? Yes. When someone has a realistic argument as to why Bobby Kotick is a jerk, let me know.
OscarG49 on 30 May '11 said:
Seriously, guys. I don't get all the hate for him just doing what he thinks is best for the business.
Balladeer on 30 May '11 said:
THIS IS AN OLD TOPIC. It had been dead for months before some cretin resurrected it yesterday. Look at the post dates. If you do have anything really vital to add, make sure it is vital. If the last three people have said the same thing, it ain't.
asparky59 on 30 May '11 said:
Good, bad, great scott people. The man makes video games. He makes lots of money doing it. The games his company makes are revolutionary. Haters...cool it.
Balladeer on 31 May '11 said:
Aaaand that was the last straw.