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Schafer: Comedy games need a big hit before publishers will approve
We had always assumed that we don't see more comedy in games because nothing could ever be funnier than the end of Limbo of the Lost. But speaking with Eurogamer before his upcoming Develop Conference keynote, Grim Fandango designer Tim Schafer said the comedy boom will come when publishers start connecting chuckles with dollar signs. "The industry is imitative," he said. "A lot of people are chasing the last thing that was a big hit. What we need is a big hit comedy game. As soon as we have one, everybody will follow, of course." Schafer also has some choice words for Activision's Bobby Kotick, but our therapist says we need to spend more time focusing on positivity.
Bobby Kotick muses about a Call of Duty MMO
Activision Blizzard owns one of the most profitable gaming franchises in the world with Call of Duty, and Bobby Kotick knows it. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kotick was open about his ambitions with the series, saying that he wishes that they would create an online subscriber version. It's not a new sentiment from Kotick, as he's been saying as such for years, although it certainly is pretty straight-forward. Kotick threw a few logs onto the fire of speculation: "I would have Call of Duty be an online subscription service tomorrow. I think our audiences are clamouring for it. If you look at what they're playing on Xbox Live today, we've had 1.7 billion hours of multiplayer play on Live. I think we could do a lot more to really satisfy the interests of the customers. I think we could create so many things, and make the game even more fun to play." No stranger to controversial statements, it's hard to tell if Activision Blizzard's CEO was just shooting the breeze or hinting at an upcoming title from the publisher. In any case, a Call of Duty MMO would be major news indeed if it happened, so we'll be sure to keep our eyes on Activision -- and our ears on Kotick for any possible confirmation. [Via Eurogamer]
Kotick: 'there was no gray area' in Infinity Ward firings; studio being strengthened
Bobby Kotick / image credit: dfarber During a quarterly earnings call this afternoon, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick took the opportunity to address (what else?) the ongoing Infinity Ward situation his company is currently embroiled in. "The decision [...] to terminate the two Infinity Ward executives, was not done lightly," Kotick admitted. "And it was not done to deprive them of their bonuses, nor was it done without a great deal of deliberation about the consequences." Those consequences have varied from lawsuits, countersuits, studio departures ("approximately 35 others have resigned and it is likely that a few more people will leave as well," Kotick said), the formation of Respawn Entertainment, to another ongoing lawsuit from the Infinity Ward Employee Group. After calling Infinity Ward founders West and Zampella "friends," Kotick said, "Once we began to understand what had occurred, there was no gray area. There was nothing that would have allowed us to retain their services, as talented as they might have been." But even with the loss of West and Zampella, and the 35 others that have resigned, Kotick maintains, "We have a great team in place at Infinity Ward, which continues to work on downloadable content and the studio's next unannounced project." And he wants you to know that any rumors you've heard about a closure of the studio are not only inaccurate, they're the opposite of what's really going on. "We continue to support the culture of excellence that has defined Infinity Ward and we're already strengthening the studio with additional talent and financial resources." Well, we already assumed "additional talent," what with the considerable dent in the staff and all. Read Kotick's full statement after the break.
Guitar Hero 6, another DJ Hero coming this fall
Activision has confirmed on an earnings call today that Guitar Hero 6 will be on store shelves sometime this fall, with a new DJ Hero game coming soon after. The music game market is a changing place, admitted CEO Bobby Kotick -- it will "continue to compress," with fewer titles and brands finding success. Activision has "moved from the sell-through of higher-priced peripherals," and its new plan is for "improved economics on a higher percentage of software sales." Kotick said that Guitar Hero "remains the leader in the category with more than 44 million games sold to date," and that both releases this year would be followed with "a full lineup of exciting downloadable content."
Activision CEO teases Call of Duty plans for China, Korea
While discussing his company's plans for the grotesquely lucrative Call of Duty series, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick teased another evolution in the war game franchise: globalism. No, we don't mean the globe-trotting "narrative" of the games, but rather Activision's plans to cash in on the rest of the planet. "The popular global fantasy of being a soldier is allowing us to enter new geographies, leveraging expertise only companies like Blizzard have in markets like China and Korea," Kotick said. "We have dedicated teams in these new markets creating content for the audiences that, to date, have only been satisfied by Blizzard games. Soon we'll announce our plans for both China and Korea." And that's all he said before returning to a general discussion of the Call of Duty business. Is he talking about the oft-rumored Call of Duty MMO or just a global release of the existing games, using Blizzard's proven methods? Kotick says we'll find out "soon."
Activision to fund costs of Bungie project, which will occupy nearly 200 staff
Reporting today on first quarter 2010 earnings, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick devoted some airtime to the publisher's ten-year "alliance" with Bungie. Speaking to investors during a conference call, Kotick described Bungie's new IP for Activision, which is in pre-production, as "unlike anything audiences have ever seen before." He added, "Bungie will have almost 200 people working on the project, and they're excited to have their products available on multiple platforms in many countries around the world." Later in the call, COO Thomas Tippl declined to give specific financial details about the parternship, but said, "there was no upfront payment provided." Tippl confirmed that "Activision will be funding the development expenses," and later concluded: "We expect that, as of the first release, the deal will be accretive to Activision's operating margin every year of the alliance." To put that in Kotick terms: "So, reaching these new larger audiences will be both creatively satisfying and financially rewarding for Bungie and Acivision Blizzard shareholders."
Call of Duty has delivered 17M map packs, but continued success 'only' through retail, Kotick says
Speaking during an investor call today, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick reflected on the publisher's multi-pronged strategy behind the immense success of the Call of Duty franchise. A key -- but still growing -- element has been digital content distribution in the form of downloadable map packs. "Life-to-date on the Call of Duty franchise, we have digitally delivered almost 17 million map packs, which doesn't include the PS3 Modern Warfare 2 downloadable content that just launched," Kotick said. "To date, our audiences have played a staggering 1.75 billion hours of online multiplayer Call of Duty games." Despite this notable impact, Kotick made it clear that Activision would still lean more heavily on event-driven retail releases. "While our direct-to-consumer digital business is growing, our continued success will come only through the tremendous support of our fantastic retail partners." Having created the "the largest video game retail launch in history" with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Activision isn't hasty to alter the winning plan. "We have every intention of doing this again this year with Call of Duty: Black Ops," Kotick declared.
UK game retailer claims 7,500 souls with a legal agreement prank
Don't think about it, just answer: Do you really read all of those agreements and legal texts that you need to scroll through when installing a game, signing up for a service or buying something online? Really? 7,500 people either don't, or they don't care about their eternal salvation, because UK video game retailer Gamestation could now legally own 7,500 souls if it wanted to. On April 1, it added a clause to its legal purchase agreement that granted the company "a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul," and 7,500 game buyers happily clicked to agree. The company was just April Fooling -- the claims have been legally renounced, and worried patrons can click through to the website to get their soul back (and a special discount code for their trouble). But next time, you should probably read the fine print a little more closely.
EA: Activision shot its prize horse
We're fully ready to stop caring about the whole EA/Activision/Infinity Ward split nonsense, but until Larry King's divorce gets even mildly scintillating, there really aren't many choices out there. So here's this: Upon the news that Activision was raising its Q1 fiscal outlook based on strong sales of Modern Warfare 2 DLC, EA spokesperson Jeff Brown told IndustryGamers, "This is kind of like announcing: The race horse I shot last month has won the Triple Crown!" [emphasis his]. You know, we're all for internet civility, but you've got to admit, that's pretty funny, right? We think even BK would be like "Ahh, you got me, JB. You got me."
Activision raises Q1 fiscal outlook thanks to WoW, MW2 map pack
Activision Blizzard raised its March quarter sales outlook today, expecting approximately $1.1 billion in revenues. CEO Bobby Kotick noted that the company is doing well due to continued demand for World of Warcraft (naturally) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He also stated that the company benefitted from the "record breaking launch" of the Modern Warfare 2 "Stimulus" map pack, which he claimed was originally expected to debut in the June quarter. Kotick remains cautiously optimistic about the next couple of quarters due to the economy and because "the majority" of Activision Blizzard titles aren't expected to launch until autumn. The company plans to announce the financial details of its better-than-expected March quarter on May 6.
Acti-Blizz restructuring, assigns new executive to Blizzard
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Acti_Blizz_restructuring_assigns_new_executive_to_Blizzard'; The Los Angeles Times reports that Activision-Blizzard has undergone a significant internal reorganization and elected not to notify investors or the public. The changes were circulated in an inter-company memo obtained by the newspaper and later confirmed by a company spokesperson. The new company map features one business unit focused squarely on the Call of Duty franchise, another overseeing Activision-owned brands such as Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, and a third unit to handle licensed properties. Blizzard Entertainment rounds out the fourth unit but interestingly, Blizzard's Mike Morhaime now reports directly to newly appointed chief operating officer Thomas Tippl, who in turn reports to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. "This is an important change as it will allow me, with Thomas, to become more deeply involved in areas of the business where I believe we can capture great potential and opportunity," Kotick said in the employee memo. Check out the original article from the L.A. Times. [Correction: Activision-Blizzard has two primary divisions, Activision Publishing and Blizzard Entertainment. The Activision Publishing arm has reorganized into three separate business units.]
Report: Activision reshuffles execs in US, UK; layoffs result
According to "internal memos" acquired by the LA Times, Activision has switched up more of its executive positions, in addition to the change in position for Thomas Tippl, who is currently co-serving CFO/CCO/COO (enough acronyms?). A representative for the company told the LA Times, "We realigned our structure to better reflect our slate and marketing opportunities and direct our resources against the largest, most profitable business segments," without directly confirming a claimed 15 layoffs in the US. The report claims that, in an email from company head Bobby Kotick, Activision revealed that business head Mike Griffith will now serve as vice chairman and adviser to Kotick, while Thomas Tippl's new job is detailed as "the only executive reporting directly to Kotick" (and overseer of Blizzard head Mike Morhaime). Heading up licensed game properties will now supposedly be Dave Oxford, in addition to Maria Stripp taking over "all internally owned titles besides Call of Duty and Blizzard games" (CTO Steve Pearce and product head Steve Ackrich are temporarily overseeing the CoD franchise). Further, MCV confirmed with Activision that the corporate reshuffling will result in changes in the publisher's UK division as well, though no specifics are available at this time. The site claims to have independently confirmed UK layoffs have already occurred, and we've reached out to Activision for clarification on both reports. Source - Activision Blizzard quietly hits reset button [latimes.com] Source - Activision UK to restructure [MCV] If you're with Activision or a former employee and would like to speak with Joystiq regarding the company's situation, please feel free to contact us. (Your tips will remain confidential. Please leave a valid email address in case we have further questions. Thank you!)
Activision quietly restructures senior management
An article from the LA Times reports that Activision Blizzard Inc. has quietly made some internal changes to senior management and internal organization within Activision: one focused on the military game Call of Duty, another handling internally owned properties like Guitar Hero and the Tony Hawk series, and a third handling licensed properties. Why these changes weren't relayed to investors or the press is still unknown, but it's likely due to the fact that they could be interpreted as a sign of weakness. Activision has seen flagging sales for two of its former cash-cow franchises, Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, and a recent very public scuffle with Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampanella following their ejection from their positions as heads of Activision's Infinity Ward studio painted the studio in a negative light with gamers. This kind of restructuring could point to turmoil within the company, an image that an industry juggernaut like Activision would want to avoid. So, what do these changes mean for Blizzard, and for World of Warcraft? Activision got a hold of us to say "nothing at all" -- the restructuring was for Activision's side of the business only. It's important to remember that Activision-Blizzard is an umbrella company that contains two separate divisions: Activision Publishing and Blizzard Entertainment. Activision restructured into three different units, but Blizzard remains independent.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick's full DICE speech, Jack Thompson says 'Gotcha!'
[Elisabeth Caren] Activision CEO Bobby Kotick's speech at DICE was certainly a highlight of this year's convention. The polarizing figure took the stage and spoke his mind -- whether it was for better or worse was a topic of debate for the rest of the show. Some saw it as humanizing the demonized executive, who makes no apologies for running an efficient and profitable company (especially in this economy), while others couldn't believe that PR ever let him take the stage with what seemed like a fairly off-the-cuff speech. Disbarred attorney Jack Thompson took the opportunity to send California State Senator Leland Yee (and the entire press) a letter declaring "Gotcha!" to a section of Kotick's speech. Using a piece he read on GamePolitics as a springboard, Thompson writes that Kotick's admission that the executive would still be really into video games if it didn't run the risk of interfering with his life and running a major publisher is an "admission [that] flies in the face of video game industry spokespersons' false, sometimes perjured assertions, that video games do not affect the behavior of minors. Here is a full-grown adult (at least in chronological terms) admitting just the opposite." In context, though, Kotick's admission is more in line with many adults, who have responsibilities to balance along with enjoying video games. Kotick recognizes he has an addictive personality -- noting as much about enjoying food -- so he keeps his gaming in check. Watch the full Kotick speech, and read Jack Thompson's letter, after the break. Kotick mentioning why he doesn't play games at the level he did in his youth begins at the 11:30 mark.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick gets introspective at DICE, shares business regrets
Wearing a zippered pullover, jeans and not looking at all like the CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick delivered a deliberately human speech at DICE today. Part autobiographical story about his start in the games business, part contrition, the Kotick who spoke at DICE conveyed the sense of a misunderstood über executive with a business to run, admitting that he's made mistakes during his time. Surprisingly, Kotick admitted that although he doesn't play very many games today (because it would affect his responsibilities), he still has callouses from playing Defender back in the day and he still wakes up in the middle of the night and sees the words like "Open door with gate key." For his anecdotes of business regret, Kotick reiterated the story of missing out on buying Blizzard for $7 million, and it turns out he had another opportunity pre-World of Warcraft to buy it for $700 million -- the final price tag was considerably more. He also mentioned missing out on buying Maxis while Will Wright was working on "Jefferson," which eventually turned out to be mega-franchise The Sims. Another acquisition that could have gone quite differently was that when Activision was looking at purchasing Guitar Hero from RedOctane, he stated that he didn't look in Harmonix's direction, which he felt was "somewhat a failed developer of music games." Kotick alluded that had he taken the trip to Boston to meet Harmonix, the "world of Guitar Hero would have been rewritten." The softer side of Kotick also took the opportunity today to clarify his oft-quoted "take all the fun out of making video games" statement. He explained that at the time he was trying to be humorous talking to investors and was just trying to express that the company was fiscally responsible and has a "commitment to excellence." However, even as Kotick brought the love, he stayed clear of mentioning the recent layoffs, capping his presentation with the announcement of the indie games competition. [Image credit: Elisabeth Caren]
Kotick announces Activision's half-million dollar indie games competition [update]
[Elisabeth Caren] Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, dressed in a zipper pullover and jeans, announced at DICE that his company will sponsor an independent video game competition. Details were practically nonexistent, and he seemed to make it sound like the idea was a whim he had on the drive from the airport, but there's apparently "up to $500,000" up for grabs. We're currently following up with Activision and will get out the details out as soon as we know more. Update: Activision has posted a short announcement document (copied after the break) on its consumer site.
Activision "selectively expanding" brands onto iPhone
Activision is probably the biggest gaming company going these days, and in their conference call earlier this week, CEO Bobby Kotick briefly mentioned its foray into the world of the iPhone. We've talked a lot in the past about indie developers and how they find their way on to the App Store, but it's the larger companies that sometimes have a tougher time of it, making larger games that don't always make back their accordingly large development costs, much less make any money. Kotick says that Activision is still a bit leery, but that they will continue "selectively expanding our brands" onto platforms like the iPhone (he basically says that Guitar Hero is coming to Apple's handheld soon), and that the company is looking into Apple's platform more as a brand extension rather than a potential source of financial revenue. Case in point: Blizzard's release of the Mobile Authenticator for their World of Warcraft. They're not planning to release games necessarily, but just other ways for users to connect with the company and its brands. Not that they can't release successful games -- Activision is also dropping the first downloadable map pack for its very popular World at War: Zombies game (based on the Call of Duty brand). The pack is $5 (on top of the $10 app price, though there is a free version available without the DLC to try), and adds a second map to the game, more than doubling the size of the in-game world, as well as adding more perks, content, and other goodies. Interesting to see the approach that a larger developer is taking with Apple's platform.
Activision expresses interest in subscription-based Call of Duty
Infinity Ward may have tried to distance itself from the rumors about the Call of Duty franchise going down Subscription Lane™, but Activision head honcho Bobby Kotick said otherwise during the publishing giant's recent earnings call. "If you think about the success that we've had in other product categories on subscription, you can get a sense of the direction that we want to take that franchise," he said. It's by no means a confirmation that you'll be Oscar Mike to the Inn before heading into the Den of Eternal Bunnyhoppers or whatever. But if there's anything Activision is good at, it's learning how to make more money from the massive amounts of money it's already made -- and subscription-based games generate the cash money on a monthly basis.
Activision reports $113m in profits for 2009; 2010 game plan is predictable
Today Activision Blizzard reported the financial results of its December quarter and the entire 2009 calendar year. For the year, Activision recorded a net income of $113 million, a modest turnaround from the $107 million in net losses for the company in 2008. Led by sales of Modern Warfare 2, all signs -- at least, this one -- pointed to an outstanding Q4 for the publisher. However, figures released today indicate that Activision actually posted a $286 million net loss during the period. "Despite these challenging times, in 2010 we remain focused on expanding operating margins by growing our high-margin digital/online revenues, directing our resources to the largest and most profitable opportunities and realizing operational efficiencies globally," CEO Bobby Kotick said. "In calendar year 2010, we expect our net earnings and operating margin growth will be driven by our product slate that includes Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft II and the World of Warcraft expansion pack, Cataclysm, as well as a diversified lineup based on Activision Publishing's best-selling franchises including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk, together with other well-known titles such as True Crime, Spider-Man and Bakugan." While few details were give about Activision's pending slate of sequels, spinoffs and possible reboots, Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing, did share a few words about the next True Crime game. "We'll be releasing a game in the $4 billion action genre, based on our True Crime franchise," Griffith said. "The game blends intense Hollywood-style driving with martial arts combat and shootouts to deliver an Asian cinema-inspired action thriller. This is a big open-world action game that looks especially strong." Griffith also confirmed that a new 007 game is still in the works for 2010. Additionally, Activision noted that two new IPs are in development for its 2010 lineup and assured that additional DLC will continue to be released for Guitar Hero 5 (and presumably Band Hero), as well as for DJ Hero. The next installments in both music game franchises, Guitar Hero and DJ Hero, are due in "the back half of the year," according Griffith. Activision also announced that it has ceased developing new Guitar Hero games for the PlayStation 2 platform. Aw, shucks.
Interview: Dan Amrich of Activision community site One of Swords
We don't envy Dan Amrich. From the moment we heard the former OXM editor was taking on the unenviable task of putting a human face on corporate monolith Activision -- through community site One of Swords -- we've been pressed to imagine how anyone could tackle such a Herculean task. It's a great compliment to Amrich, then, that after his first interview with us, he's almost convinced us that he'll be able to pull it off. What specifically is One of Swords? Are you One of Swords? One of Swords is my gamer identity. I had been thinking of changing my gamertag for a little while, and when I went looking around for something else that had personal meaning, I hit on this, and the new project came up around the same time. But then I realized, okay, this can also be the name of an editorial website; this can be my home on the web. So OneOfSwords is really its own bloggy entity, a platform/portal to all the podcasts and interviews and videos and journalistic style things I want to do here.
