Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
This is a great interview but this part in particular is a bit alarming...
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Bobby Kotick sold Activision Blizzard because of China...
- Thread starter Men_in_Boxes
- Start date
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
You should listen to the interview.Scandal ridden company with stock prices tanking, but yeah........it was China that made him sell
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
Scandal ridden company with stock prices tanking, but yeah........it was China that made him sell
He said it so it MUST be true...
Topher
Identifies as young
I did. I just don't buy it
bender
What time is it?
Sell it because of China then.
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Sounds like a paranoid doomer. Like Activision can’t also make some Chinese start ups? This isn’t a zero sum world
I’ve always contended Kotick was straight up lucky rather than some brilliant strategist. All his success comes down to the original MW team
Maybe the one thing Kotick did that was smart is recognize when his luck had run out. Can’t blame him for that. Sounds like he realized he wasn’t good enough to keep his luck going.
I’ve always contended Kotick was straight up lucky rather than some brilliant strategist. All his success comes down to the original MW team
Maybe the one thing Kotick did that was smart is recognize when his luck had run out. Can’t blame him for that. Sounds like he realized he wasn’t good enough to keep his luck going.
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Trogdor1123
Member
The things that blow my mind the most is how many of these folks have known each other since their school days.
diffusionx
Gold Member
He's said similar things before, this isn't new.
No, they can't. That's not the way it works over there.
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James Sawyer Ford
Member
Um, yea, you can have an equity stake in Chinese companies
diffusionx
Gold Member
Wow if only you were around to tell Bobby this he would have done this instead of what he did.
Dude was CEO of Activision since like 1991. He's forgotten more about the industry than all of us know put together. It wasn't luck.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
holy shit guess what this dude is a total fuck head and he has a brain who would have thought
diffusionx
Gold Member
It's interesting how he mentioned all these media companies transforming their business model to subscription and destroying the value of the business... And then he sold to a company that was transforming the business model to subscription. But he also sold when these companies were paying for IP at an all time high rate.
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Wow let’s just defer to authority to some guy that got lucky with the team that made a winning formula with CoD MW and turned them into a perpetual CoD factory
Without that one hit game his business would have folded
Yeah, there’s a *lot* of luck, he would even admit it.
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
You can, as a foreigner, fully own a business in China.
Some industries are restricted, but if Kotick wanted to, he could get a license to open a video game studio in China. He even says as much in the clip posted above. My guess is ABK looked at it and determined that the profit they stood to make wasn't worth all the hassle and risk. Especially with China really clamping down on gaming - specifically online gaming.
Yeah, this was always about money with Kotick. He was offered a golden parachute and decided to take it while he could still enjoy it. A lot of old CEOs could learn from this. You can say a lot about him - and we have on this forum - but the man knows how to turn a profit.
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
Jinxed
Member
They work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. They don't need a vegan meal at the cafeteria etc..
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
You said it so it MUST be true...
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
He absolutely is, but as a person who didn't grow up dreaming of labour, I'd rather not work 10 hour days, 6 days a week.They work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. They don't need a vegan meal at the cafeteria etc..
Imagine waking up at 5am to get your kids ready for school, then leaving home at 7am for a 1 hour commute to get to work for 8am, leaving work at 6pm for a 1 hour commute to get back home at 7pm and spend 3 hours with your family before you go to bed at 10pm, only to wake up at 5am the next morning and do all that 5 more times before you get a day off to run all your errands, barely get to rest or enjoy a hobby.
All that for about $50k a year.
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Jinxed
Member
100% agree, 5 days is already more than enough for me. There's just no competing with that though, especially with all the stupid b.s going on in these American studios in the last decade
Kings Field
Member
Felessan
Member
He covered it almost immediately when mentioned China and why it's a heavy threat
1. China has much higher productivity as they work more and spend less both money and time on unrelevant things. And China immersively creative (unlike many claims).
2. You can't enter that market as it heavily walled - you need license to enter, mandatory local partner and than license to make a game, a hard hurdle for foreign companies. And also your IP hardly protected, so you can just be copied and while you struggle with bureaucracy, locals will just make your game.
Only investing ones. To get a stake with some controlling power require approvals and restrictions.
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
Imagine those guys stayed with EA...
kazuyamishima
Member
He sold his soul to MS.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Is Bobby Kotick, Eric Cartman?
SplunkyMunkey
Member
I smell bulls@@ it wasn't because of China the high powers could of easily said no to a Chinese buyout or stop China buying up every studio.. Bobby wanted to sell to Microsoft because they have the money and he knew he get a large chunk of cash. Could off sold or offer studios to sony or nintendo
SkylineRKR
Member
He also says hollywood studios are putting their content on streaming and devalue their product. Which is exactly what MS is doing with gaming and ABK right now.
But, he isn't wrong. The work ethic and creativity in China is nothing to dismiss. Its a pool of more like a billion people, and they know how to work overtime. Because its how it is.
And I wouldn't exactly call it luck. Would EA give them free reign with Call of Duty during its maiden years? The IP first had to grow before it became a corporate annual tool. I think IW had a lot of privileges at first. But they probably thought they were bigger than ABK at their height, so they clashed over royalties.
But, he isn't wrong. The work ethic and creativity in China is nothing to dismiss. Its a pool of more like a billion people, and they know how to work overtime. Because its how it is.
And I wouldn't exactly call it luck. Would EA give them free reign with Call of Duty during its maiden years? The IP first had to grow before it became a corporate annual tool. I think IW had a lot of privileges at first. But they probably thought they were bigger than ABK at their height, so they clashed over royalties.
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
This was really interesting to listen to.
Basically gaming is doomed because of subscription models, following Hollywood but no one has a choice because these companies did not care about making profit. It was just market share plays. Absolute bollocks.
But, then the issue is the west. We have been so wrapped up in social commentary etc that we can not compete with Chinese companies who are more traditional.
Just want to turn up to work. Work hard.
Yeah, lots of concern from big Bobby.
Basically gaming is doomed because of subscription models, following Hollywood but no one has a choice because these companies did not care about making profit. It was just market share plays. Absolute bollocks.
But, then the issue is the west. We have been so wrapped up in social commentary etc that we can not compete with Chinese companies who are more traditional.
Just want to turn up to work. Work hard.
Yeah, lots of concern from big Bobby.
FalconPunch
Member
While he’s right but, it’s most certainly not something to be proud about for sure.They work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. They don't need a vegan meal at the cafeteria etc..
Dedicating a portion of life to work so that you can get ahead and create something for yourself is one thing.
Wasting most of your life working at a place that gives you no real stake and doesn’t provide the means to get ahead is another thing all together.
Japan used to be like this as well and so did the west. People would sleep under their cubicles, not go home for days, etc. However it’s not permanently sustainable. Eventually burnout hits, the vets leave and the new generation rejects the standards of old.
Now in the west, devs push back against those standards. We’re also seeing it in China’s youth and gen z here in the west. They turn their nose up at jobs which demand a lot and pay very little. Back in the day, the result of this work ethic led to career advancement, excellent job stability, and equity(stocks/ownership) in the company.
Today you get hired, tomorrow you get fired with the absolute minimum severance. There’s absolutely no company loyalty. The pay, is decent but you’re certainly not going to get ahead of anything in life with that pay. Very little to no equity provided as a form of compensation. Just a bad deal all around.
SkylineRKR
Member
Yeah you can question many things he says and he isn't really a blank slate but you can't compete with China if you are being blocked by watch dogs and media speaking loud about certain social views. The media here goes mental over studios working overtime, while that same media crashes and burns games that feel unfinished or look bad, or get delayed. They essentially want top of the line products within a reasonable time frame, but they cry about the way to get there.
The problem for the west is that China doesn't a fuck. They don't care about DEI, they don't care about crunch. And they do it with much less demands. Good luck competing with that if you're working from woke CA or something.
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DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
Crazy to think that we are over here worrying about offering Vegan meals in the cafeteria over delivering great products and working hard.
SkylineRKR
Member
Its how we are currently. I don't think pushing work force to the limit is the way to go, but this culture goes too far in the other direction. Its all about feeling secure, eating healthy, meetings and more meetings about your feelings and mental state. Its not about actual work anymore. In my work we have 3 managers, each managing a group of people. 2 of those are posting good results, because they focus mainly on results but they aren't blind to internal problems. I am under one of those. There is a third though, and she is all about mental state, soft skills, inclusion and 3 meetings per week lasting 2 hours each. They are lagging way behind with their files. To the point the others secretly wish she got the boot. It just doesn't work. You train your people to be lazy, to be oversensitive and to not cutting wood. In a nutshell, just do your work.
Wildebeest
Member
I don't disagree with him. But do American kids want to play Call of Duty or a Chinese "Wolf Warrior" game where the white devils are demonised and the People's Liberation Army are heroes?
Felessan
Member
Another delusional bubble of hate
Kotick has exceptional talent in management and strong vision.
He bought Activision when it was in shambles in 91 and spend 30 years building a jaggernaut, he brought in Zampella when they fall off with EA and unlike EA with Medal of Honor his franchise survived and grow when he in turn fall off with Zampella. He brought Bungie in when they split from MS. He orchestrated deal with Vivendi to get his hands on Blizzard. He even went to gaas earlier than most and made it right, growing CoD franchise with Warzone and mobile. King, even though it was a blunder, still was not a failure and it continue to be a cash cow for ATVI.
He has tons of experience in gaming market and his vision and ability to make right decisions those brings his company a lot of money are outstanding.
RetroGamingUK
Member
China is about to do to the American games industry what Japan did to America’s car industry in the 80s
Santa Monica will soon resemble Detroit.
Santa Monica will soon resemble Detroit.
Bernoulli
M2 slut
Call of Duty is just US military propaganda for kids
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
The interesting bit for me is where he basically alleges that all the scandals were trumped up charges as part of a shakedown by the unions to get more members. Which I have to say strikes me as being quite plausible with them all coming along at the same time, getting pushed hard in the media (much less so in litigation), and most notably being oddly singular cases among organizations with thousands of employees yet presented as symptomatic of systemic imbalances/issues.
bighugeguns
Member
Makes complete sense from a purely military perspective, excellent defensive, agile decision. Bobby continues to be a very impressive dude.
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Wildebeest
Member
So? People love crude military propaganda as long as it is their military.
As opposed to a ton of games trying to push culture war propaganda into their games today?
I'd rather a game be a blatant US military propaganda game and be up front about it as opposed to being culture propaganda and far left ideology aimed at kids and hiding it as much as possible until release.
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If you've actually played any cod games you'd realize this is the fattest load of bullshit ever.
Like half of the cod games you don't even play as an active duty US soldier, and the ones you do they're either being brainwashed by the CIA or the villain IS an American military captain (MW2/MWII).