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Bobby Kotick Declares Former EA Boss John Riccitiello 'Worst CEO in Video Games'

adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
www.ign.com

Bobby Kotick Declares Former EA Boss John Riccitiello 'Worst CEO in Video Games' - IGN

Former Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick has hit out at ex-EA CEO John Riccitiello, calling him "the worst CEO in video games."
www.ign.com www.ign.com

Former Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick has hit out at ex-EA CEO John Riccitiello, calling him "the worst CEO in video games."

Talking on podcast Grit along with former EA chief creative officer Bing Gordon, who intimated Riccitiello's leadership "hastened his departure," Kotick acknowledged EA's "business [was] in a lot of ways better than [Activision's]," but "would have paid for Riccitiello to stay a CEO forever."

"I'm not saying this because [Gordon] is sitting here," Kotick said. "Our fear was always that Bing was going to run [EA].

"And we would have paid for Riccitiello to stay a CEO forever. We thought he was the worst CEO in video games."
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n3HKy.gif
 
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Ellery

Ellery

Member
It is almost funny that they all think in this business game (which it absolutely is) but not a single thought about ever creating a good game or a long lasting respectful video game legacy.

Nope short term shareholder value and get out of the game on the ruins you paved the way for.
 
O

Ozriel

M$FT
Ellery said:
It is almost funny that they all think in this business game (which it absolutely is) but not a single thought about ever creating a good game or a long lasting respectful video game legacy.

Nope short term shareholder value and get out of the game on the ruins you paved the way for.
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Eh. You may not like it, but COD is Kotick’s legacy.

Hypereides said:
Lol, talk about the pot calling the kettle. Let's not kid ourselves here. You ain't much better yourself, Bobby.
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You may not like it, but he left Activision way better than the state it was when he started out.
 
H

Hypereides

Member
GHG said:
Are you joking? The guy is probably the most successful gaming publisher CEO of all time.
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Ozriel said:
(...)

You may not like it, but he left Activision way better than the state it was when he started out.
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From a fortune and shareholder pov, I can see he's well regarded. He definitely fulfilled his duty raking in cash and paying out handsome dividends. From a creative and gamer perspective though?

No Way Kg GIF by SHOWTIME Sports
 
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E

Edder1

Gold Member
Kotick pulled off one of the most impressive sales in all of business by selling Activision that was on a downward trajection for $67 billion. If Microsoft just waited a couple of years they could have probably picked it up for less than $40 billion or thereabouts, but Kotck was smart in forcing the deal. Remember, this was in time when Activision was creatively bankrupt and COD seemed to be running out of steam with worst installments launching before and around the time of acquisition.
 
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Spukc

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
Charging 30 dollars for a character skin 2 gun skins some fucking stickers and animation pack.

And kids these days slop this shit up.

I don’t even feel sorry for the state of some games. You asked for it and you get it🫡

And i will keep never ever spending a single fucking penny in mtx as long as i game
 
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Maestr0

Maestr0

Member
Wait, was it under Riccitiello that EA got to be awarded 2 or 3 years in a row as the worst company ? Which was like 10 years ago ?
 
GHG

GHG

Member
Hypereides said:
From a fortune and shareholder pov, I can see he's well regarded. He definitely fulfilled his duty raking in cash and paying out handsome dividends. From a creative and gamer perspective though?

No Way Kg GIF by SHOWTIME Sports
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The fuck?

We just going to ignore Call of duty, Guitar hero, Tony hawk etc?

Ozriel said:
Kotick greenlit the funding and subsequent acquisition of Infinity Ward and hence Call
Of Duty.
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It's like people don't realise how long he was in charge of Activision for.
 
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S

SHA

Member
All jokes aside, regardless of what these 2 has achieved, the way they talk doesn't sound good for the whole industry.
 
winjer

winjer

Member
Riccitiello never managed to be as conniving and evil as Kotick. So, in that sense, he was a really bad CEO.
 
MarV0

MarV0

Member
Bobby is our Dark Knight, the hero we don't need but the hero we deserve.

Think of the clown shows Activision, Blizzard and Bungie ended up as since their departure from under Bobby's meticulous care.
 
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H

Hypereides

Member
GHG said:
The fuck?

We just going to ignore Call of duty, Guitar hero, Tony hawk etc?

(...)
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FYI, he didn't have much faith in Guitar Hero/NeverSoft until it blew up. He didn't think it would take off and kind of made fun of the original pitch. When it did, he became more than happy to take credit for its success, posing in photoshoots like he was the grand mind behind its vision.

bobby-kotick-guitar-hero.jpg
 
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poppabk

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Ozriel said:
Kotick greenlit the funding and subsequent acquisition of Infinity Ward and hence Call
Of Duty.
Click to expand...
And then fired the creators for bullshit reasons right before they would get a big pay out if still employed.
 
GHG

GHG

Member
Hypereides said:
FYI, he didn't have much faith in Guitar Hero/NeverSoft until it blew up. He didn't think it would take off and kind of made fun of the original pitch. When it did, he became more than happy to take credit for its success, posing in photoshoots like he was the grand mind behind its vision.

bobby-kotick-guitar-hero.jpg
Click to expand...

Again, what are you talking about? He paid 100m for the company behind the game in 2006 and then gave them what they needed for it to blow up in to what it did.
 
H

Hypereides

Member
GHG said:
Again, what are you talking about? He paid 100m for the company behind the game in 2006 and then gave them what they needed for it to blow up in to what it did.
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My point is, there is more ways than one to measure a good CEO than money in this particular biz. He might've had the funds, but he didn't particularly have a good eye for creative ideas/pitches. Guitar Hero might have never happened, like, at all. It was a stroke of sheer luck it even managed to get funded given his scepticism. Same with Tony Hawk.

Speaking of CoD, Infinity Ward's creative workforce got thoroughly gutted when Zampella and West tried to resist his/Activision's leadership future vision for CoD, which subsequently resulted in their termination and lead to the perverted version of CoD we see today. Granted, its churning buckets of money by the second, but it came at the cost of its identity, cohesion and creative integrity.

Of course, shareholders, and the like, will look at this differently since money is a primary measurement of success and performance in their eyes. Can I blame them for that? No. If that's what makes him a great CEO in your view, then you do you.
 
GHG

GHG

Member
Hypereides said:
My point is, there is more ways than one to measure a good CEO than money in this particular biz. He might've had the funds, but he didn't particularly have a good eye for creative ideas/pitches. Guitar Hero might have never happened, like, at all. It was a stroke of sheer luck it even managed to get funded given his scepticism. Same with Tony Hawk.

Speaking of CoD, Infinity Ward's creative workforce got thoroughly gutted when Zampella and West tried to resist his/Activision's leadership future vision for CoD, which subsequently resulted in their termination and lead to the perverted version of CoD we see today. Granted, its churning buckets of money by the second, but it came at the cost of its identity, cohesion and creative integrity.

Of course, shareholders, and the like, will look at this differently since money is a primary measurement of success and performance in their eyes. Can I blame them for that? No. If that's what makes him a great CEO in your view, then you do you.
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You're talking out of your arse.

He approached Tony hawk with the idea:

www.gamespot.com

Tony Hawk Was Living In His Car When He Was Offered $300k For THPS, Former Activision CEO Claims

Tony Hawk was at a low financial point in his life at the time.
www.gamespot.com www.gamespot.com

www.espn.com

How It's Made - Bringing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater back to life

How do you bring back a classic series two decades after it debuted? Here's how the makers of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 did it.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

And then for guitar hero he purchased redoctane for 100m and then put together a team mostly comprised of developers from NeverSoft to make the games:

In 2006 Kotick agreed to pay $100 million for the company that owned Guitar Hero, which soon proved an even bigger smash.

Kotick pumped money into a beefed-up sequel backed by a national advertising campaign. The Guitar Hero franchise launched a new category of videogame: the kind that adults want to play at a party. Guitar Hero requires players to use a plastic guitar instead of a standard videogame controller, making it far more accessible to novices. The Guitar Hero franchise has now taken in $2 billion.
Click to expand...

www.forbes.com

Guitar Hero

How did Bobby Kotick, a man with no interest in playing videogames, build the world's most successful videogame publisher?
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com


Everything you've said is based on your personal feelings towards Kotick (along with shareholders it seems), unfortunately none of it is fact.
 
H

Hypereides

Member
GHG said:
You're talking out of your arse.

He approached Tony hawk with the idea:

(...)

Everything you've said is based on your personal feelings towards Kotick (along with shareholders it seems), unfortunately none of it is fact.
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I'm basing it on candid testimonies from former developers. You can choose to think whatever you want.
 
N

noob smokes

Member
John was the guy who said u had to pay to get revived in bf games 😭



Also kotick is a asshoe but the type of cuththroat guy who knows how to run a business ms shouldve made him head of xbox
 
Astray

Astray

Member
We can talk for days about his faults as a human, but I find it absolutely crazy that Kotick's record as a CEO is doubted in any way.

The man is a legendary CEO, gaming or not.
 
M

MrA

Member
GHG said:
The fuck?

We just going to ignore Call of duty, Guitar hero, Tony hawk etc?



It's like people don't realise how long he was in charge of Activision for.
Click to expand...
Yeah, like he wasn't hired he bought the dead mediagenic or whatever the remnants of activision was called and built an empire
 
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