Menu Close

It’s Hip To Hate On Activision, But Is The Hate Justified?

Figured we'd come back with something very discussion-worthy. 😉

As you can see by our poll, we've been thinking about Activision and how they're so often in the news for – seemingly – all the wrong reasons. Over the past few years, they've managed to generate an immense amount of income…along with a very vocal and continually growing group of gamers and journalists who aren't the biggest fans of the publisher's business practices. And as you can see by the poll results so far, nearly half those who responded said they'd at least try to avoid buying Activision games while more than a quarter say they absolutely won't purchase anything with an Activision label. But sometimes, it's our job to step back and look at something objectively, with no biases or personal judgments. In so doing, we have to look at exactly why the publisher is frequently seen in a negative light.

CEO Bobby Kotick has come under fire for many comments that rubbed gamers the wrong way, including the one about how he'd "make games cost $100" if he had his way. Considering the state of the economy at the time – not to mention that the cost of games is always a hot issue in the industry – this was clearly a bad idea. And in regards to his other questionable statements, many can be attributed to classic foot-in-mouth syndrome. But as usual, a set of maybe three or four comments in the past year manages to outstrip anything else the man has said, and he has given his fair share of interviews. If you actually read those interviews, you might be surprised at how much you agree with; you might even respect a few of those comments. It's probably fair to say he's a businessman first and a friend to gamers second but if one wishes to successfully run a multi-billion-dollar business, this is probably essential.

As for the company itself, they've gotten the reputation of being money-grubbing faceless executives who really don't care how much pain they inflict on a wallet. Some have complained at the cost of Call of Duty expansion packs (in direct relation to what you actually get in those packs), and the recent snafu over a possible pay-to-play model – quickly debunked, though – hasn't helped. The Infinity Ward blowup probably reigns supreme on the list of "reasons why we hate Activision" but in that respect, not quite so fast: there will always be a widespread feeling of sympathy when the "little guy" appears to be on the receiving end of abuse and oppression by the "big fish." It was easy to label Activision the aggressor and in the position of, "we have more money than you, so we're going to take what we want." But let's not forget that neither of IW's bosses, Vince Zampella and Jason West, have what you would call squeaky clean pasts…

Lastly, and this is only from my personal standpoint: lawsuits cost company's money and if you think a massive lawsuit like the one that faces Activision doesn't bother them, think again. There's no way on earth they spend a giant chunk of cash on a bazillion lawyers and risk going to court if they believe they have no case; if they were clearly in the wrong, it's very likely they would've quietly paid off the duo and the rest of Infinity Ward and been done with it. But it seems they honestly believe they're in the right, as all their statements to the press have indicated, and they intend to fight it to the bitter end. This is not the behavior of a company whose higher-ups are going, "okay, they got us. Let's just make this go away."

In the end, I do believe Activision is guilty of creating a gulf between them and gamers, but I also believe the headline-hungry press and universal empathy for the "little guy" and common distrust of huge corporations have contributed to Activision's current reputation. And I think this is an accurate assessment.  This being said, I think there are steps Activision can take to mend the rift; the question is whether or not they will do so.  Granted, it's not all their fault but they could make some sort of public concession and give us gamers a significant gift of some kind…just a thought.

95 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
TheIllusiveMan
TheIllusiveMan
14 years ago

The reason I don't like Activision is simple. They try to put out a new product every year thats simply new levels and maybe a single new feature or two and call it a new game.

NoSmokingBandit
NoSmokingBandit
14 years ago

Sadly thats how a lot of developers are. Valve barely put any work into L4D2 and somehow it sold tons of copies. On the other hand, Insomniac makes a game every year, but its always incredible and always tons of fun.

Sony better hope Insomniac doesnt go multi-plat permanently. They are the best studio in the world (imo of course) and losing their exclusivity would really suck.

Godslim
Godslim
14 years ago

alot of games do that tho man they are sequals your not exactly gonna change the game completed take uncharted for example…its gameplay and graphic style are very much the same

NiteKrawler
NiteKrawler
14 years ago

@Godslim: Compare fail.

TheIllusiveMan
TheIllusiveMan
14 years ago

I'm not saying they're the only ones (EA is just as bad), I'm just saying that it seems like the majority of their games aren't really improving. Just look at any Activision game from the last few years that's has had a sequel(s). There's little to no improvement on most of them.

@godslim: Really? Graphics were easily noticeable, and gameplay was slightly. But it added multiplayer, and that's a major improvement.

packersfan66
packersfan66
14 years ago

don't rip godslim, what he said is fair. He didn't say graphics he said graphic style, and the gameplay was very similar, all they did was improve and add in multiplayer. Saying "all they did" though is an understatement that game was amazing.

Godslim
Godslim
14 years ago

thxs tommccrossin thats exactly what i was trying to put across 🙂 everyones just really defensive about uncharted on here
im not insulting the game i love it!


Last edited by Godslim on 8/5/2010 5:28:40 AM

NiteKrawler
NiteKrawler
14 years ago

I think you are the defensive ones. You compared Uncharted 2 to L4D2 and the fact that many games just add a few levels and a feature or 2 and call it a new game. That would lead any normal person to think that you are saying Uncharted 2 only added a few levels and a feature or 2 and called itself a new game. Well, I'm sorry but that is just so obviously wrong. It was indeed a compare fail and if you don't think so, you probably need a CAT scan.

manofchao5
manofchao5
14 years ago

i sometimes wish bobby kotick would but over so i can kick him in the ass "face"
he probably has some good opinions but he doesnt seem to show the good ones too often imo

LittleBigMidget
LittleBigMidget
14 years ago

My problem with Activision is that they are unoriginal. I mean, all I get is a rehash of Call Of Duty after Call of Duty. It gets tiring. Would it kill Activision to be original for once? would it kill them to make some new IPs…? Not to mention the overpriced content they put out…I dunno, this is just me.


Last edited by LittleBigMidget on 8/4/2010 5:05:25 PM

hellish_devil
hellish_devil
14 years ago

they published Transformers: War of Cybetron. I don't know if that would counts as a new IP, since it wasn't based on a movie


Last edited by hellish_devil on 8/4/2010 8:43:01 PM

Killa Tequilla
Killa Tequilla
14 years ago

If Activision comes out with a New Game… Do what Speedy Gonzales does.


Last edited by Killa Tequilla on 8/4/2010 5:13:09 PM

bOnEs
bOnEs
14 years ago

i voted that i'd still buy their games if there were good ones… but, there aren't any… i don't really give a crap about this fiasco though… quite frankly i don't care about what goes on behind closed doors… all major companies have these issues…

it's the games that make a company but, activision doesn't have any good ones at the moment, and charging $15 for a few maps isn't going to help bring in new fans either… but, i am not going to boycott them…

Axe99
Axe99
14 years ago

Activision don't just release CoD/MW and Guitar Hero. They also published Transformers: War for Cybertron, and will be behind the upcoming Apache: Air Assault. And TF:WfC was a good game, and the devs behind Apache are air combat game specialists – I'd expect it to be at least solid.

big6
big6
14 years ago

This is similar to professional sports, in that, a team is only as good as their last game…and sports fans have a very short memory.

It was only a few years ago when EA was the evil software company, and everybody hated on them. Now, it's Activision's turn.

All it'll take is for Activision to make one good and friendly game and/or industry-hugging move, and all is forgiven again.

Hey, it worked for EA. Activision will be no different.

Fane1024
Fane1024
14 years ago

It'll take more than one.

My biggest gripe with Activision/Kotick are his comments regarding the treatment of developers (i.e., wanting to work them harder with less compensation). Without devs, there are no games, as I'm sure he's about to discover when the COD franchise fades into obscurity.

Activision have now driven away the original developers of their two biggest franchises (GH and COD). Why would anyone work for them?


Last edited by Fane1024 on 8/5/2010 6:58:50 PM

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

I'm not sure why the way a CEO runs a game publishing company should even matter to me. I play games. If the game is overpriced, I won't buy it. If it's a game I don't enjoy playing, I don't buy it. What does the greed of a CEO have to do with anything? Am I supposed to be Mr Righteous and pretend that I'm holier than a money making company's CEO?

Naztycuts
Naztycuts
14 years ago

Yes Alien conform damnit! XD

totozero18
totozero18
14 years ago

I'll have to disagree there, hence: Wada, Square it's on it's way to the fiery pits of hell…whose to blame there other than the CEO running the company?

On the whole theme of the big mean company against the poor helpless people…idk, people keeps on buying videogames made by them regardless of the price-content ratio. What's really sad is that there are developers out there who got scammed, and as Ben said there are developers who wouldn't work with Activision by no means.

The company seems to be in the same selfdestructive trail that Square is.

Godslim
Godslim
14 years ago

tbh i dont care about any of pubilishers if they have a good game i'll buy it if not i wont end off

fluffer nutter
fluffer nutter
14 years ago

If you really want to get a bad view of Bobby and friends, check this out.

http://gamepolitics.com/2010/08/03/kotick-amp-friends-lose-15-million-lawsuit

Axe99
Axe99
14 years ago

Hmmm…while Activision may believe they're in the right legally with the IW issue, there's (unfortunately) often a huge gulf between what is legally and morally right, and I think there's still a huge question mark over the moral high ground in the whole IW-Activision thing. When a third of a studio packs up and leaves, it's unlikely that someone's treated them right….

The other thing that gets me about Activision is that they seem to put shareholders before customers, not realising that over the long-term, looking after customers means looking after shareholders. Our gaming clan is deliberately avoiding CoD:Black Ops because of Activisions game and map pricing policies (it's not as if there aren't plenty of alternatives), sure we all got MW2, but we were so burned by that we're not going back. Activision does this with other games as well (the pricing on the recent Transformers pack was high both in the context of what it provided and as an incentive to get more people online in the game).

So, to me, they come across as corporately greedy in a way that'll cost them long-term. At the moment, they rely _heavily_ on three cash-cows, WoW, CoD/MW and their Guitar/Band Hero games. If these get overshadowed (such as by the likes of RB3 – I personally won't be going back to GH), then Activision will find out very sharply the long-term cost of a short-term corporate strategy.

So I don't hate 'em – hell, there are so many AAA games out these days that I don't need to play anything from Activision and I'm hardly missing out – but I do think they're stupid and likely immoral.

Qubex
Qubex
14 years ago

Well said Axe99…

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

You got burned by MW2? How's that?

johnld
johnld
14 years ago

over priced map packs, jacked up spawns, all the bugs that it had starting at launch, online is basically a campfest for a nuke, the feeling that modern warfare 2 is just a cheap ass update of modern warfare 1. i'm sure others can add to that list.

carl0975
carl0975
14 years ago

John – MW2 is not an upgrade by any means, except for the host system, everything that was added to MW 2 completely broke any semblance of balance there was to begin with.

Mavfan321
Mavfan321
14 years ago

COD 4>MW2 easily, that said while I hate Activision's ways I cannot say I hate all the games they published because the DEVELOPERS do a good job from time to time. Would we hate all authors if their publisher charged too much for a book that was maybe worth reading?

BTNwarrior
BTNwarrior
14 years ago

I understand your point, but from the way they have been putting out games it seems like activision is forcing their devs to make nothing but sequels. Which gives little to no creative freedom to the teams. And this leaves to the misconception (maybe) that when a team tries to make something new Activision fires them.

And I personally despise them for coming out with 11 Hero games between 2009 and 2010


Last edited by BTNwarrior on 8/4/2010 5:52:22 PM

Dancemachine55
Dancemachine55
14 years ago

11 Hero games. Wow, really? That doesn't sound right…

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2008)
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith(2008)
Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero Smash Hits
Guitar Hero: Metallica (best of the lot IMO)
Band Hero
DJ Hero
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
DJ Hero 2

Holy mackeral, you're right BTN Warrior!!!!!

I'm just sticking with Rock Band 3 for now. Here's hoping Children of the Grave by Black Sabbeth and Uprising by Muse make its way to Rock Band network.

I've found Rock Band is the only music game you need. Harmonix know what the people want and like, not just songs but service and features as well.

Importing the entire RB 1 disc to RB 2 was a stroke of genius. No more disc swapping. The fact that RB1, RB2, Lego RB and RB Green Day could be exported to RB3, along with all DLC working on RB3 was a done deal for me.

BTNwarrior
BTNwarrior
14 years ago

you forgot the mobile games, those make it 11 in just one year

Fane1024
Fane1024
14 years ago

Oh dear God, yes, please have Uprising in RB3.

p.s. Rock Band has always been the only Music game you need.


Last edited by Fane1024 on 8/5/2010 7:04:36 PM

Victor321
Victor321
14 years ago

I completely understand what you're saying Ben, the media did play a role on the outlook of Activision's reputation. The media is powerful, everywhere in life if you think about it.

Qubex
Qubex
14 years ago

Well Victor321, I guess we have brains. Up to us not to get influenced by the media so that we become moronically blinded… I for one try to reject most of the stuff I see as hype, stupidities and unnecessary news items that really do nothing for myself nor the quality of my life… it is a big time waster… and mind waster…

Whilst the media, to some extent, may have "demonised" Activision to varying degrees… there are people who genuinely feel Activision is an evil corporate company, out to stitch people up…

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"


Last edited by Qubex on 8/4/2010 7:13:56 PM

FatherSun
FatherSun
14 years ago

Morality and business. Now that is a thin line. Activation is NOT a not-for-profit organization. Their primary function is to make money. They will not change their business strategy because of a few disgruntled customers. Ok.. Maybe more than a few, but my point is that the sales of these games are astronomical. So until the sales drop dramatically you can expect most of the practices to continue. As far as Kotick.. He can use a few lessons in business communications. Just by rearranging a few words he couldve gotten away with most of the asinine statements he made.

For the amount of production it takes to create a game a price of $100 is not beyond the realm of reason. And as a CEO of a company I am expected generate money and if I could I would charge that amount. But realistically we must remain competitive and that amount its just not logical.

Basically the same statement minus the arrogant tone. Or maybe he is just an a-hole. I dont know him personally so Who knows. But of course the internet is a haven for negativity so the bull is spead so far and so wide that any positive statements he may have made are swallowed whole.

P.S. Happy belated Birthday Ben. And Happy Birthday World.

Fane1024
Fane1024
14 years ago

No, their primary function is to make GAMES.

Their secondary function is to make money so that they can keep making games.

spiderboi
spiderboi
14 years ago

Second Fane. If they keep doing what they do now, its a bad short term approach. They will make money but when people snap out of their sequel-trance they'll run like heck.

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
14 years ago

Anti-vision could be a good company, but It all boils down to that a-hole, kotex, who's running it into the ground with re-hashed dribble.

I have no respect for a man who makes money hand over fist from the gamer nation, but who continually bashes them with comments, such as "I'd make game $100 if I could"!

And until anti-vision unloads his a$$ as boss, they they deserve all the criticism they get!

Plus as fluffernutter said above, kotex was successfully sued as a co-defendant in a sexual harassment case. And the case was settled to the tune of $ 1.5 million dollars.

Here's a second article on it too…..

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/activisions-kotick-loses-sexual-harassment-wrongful-termination-lawsuit/

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
14 years ago

And another black mark against kotex…..

If anti-vision was so right in ousting the 2 founders of I.W., then why did 23 other IW employees just up & promptly quit within weeks of kotex's newly reformed, but puppet-filled I.W.????

And another thing to bear in mind is why did 50 of those former IW employees all band together to file another lawsuit against anti-vision & kotex, this one being for non-payment of money they ALSO say that were long overdue to them too?

And we should like kotex's anti-vision why????

Shams
Shams
14 years ago

It's interesting how Kotex justified his wrongful termination of the female flight attendant who was sexually harassed by the his private jet pilot, because of a supposedly ensuing "hostile" enviroment, yet he apparently had no problem sending in bouncer-types unannounced to physically remove West and Zampella from the the IW premises.

Of course, he's thinking, "Bobby does not want to die in a freak flight accident because some lowly flight attendant won't give in to the sexual advances of my pilot. What should Bobby do? Fire the pilot, or fire the flight attendant? Bobby should settle the problem like he always does. Get rid of the people that don't matter, and settle it in court. Bobby has nothing better to do with his time. Bobby thinks this is less of a business risk. Bobby is smart."

I hope Bobby gets fired…and removed by bouncer-types.

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
14 years ago

H.B. to both Ben & World!

gangan19
gangan19
14 years ago

I hate anybody who's greedy for money. *cough*activision.

556pineapple
556pineapple
14 years ago

I don't mind the Infinity Ward feud and it's perfectly understandable for any businessman to want to raise the price of something as much as possible to make max profit, but this next quote from Mr. Kotick is the main reason why I dislike Activision.

"[Activison won't make games that] don't have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million franchises."

Activision has Call of Duty, Guitar Hero/DJ Hero, and Tony Hawk as their main franchises (though I think that RIDE probably killed of the TH franchise.) There has been at least one entry in EACH of those franchises every year since they started (with the exception of 2004 for CoD.) Other than that, they pretty much just have cheap licensed games. Now I'm sure they'll just exploit whatever Bungie gives to them.

NonProphet
NonProphet
14 years ago

The hate is absolutely justified. I just read an article on 1up about Kotick which reinforces everything you ever thought about this prick. (http://www.1up.com/news/activision-ceo-kotick-loses-legal)

Even if you didn't know anything else about the guy, if you read this article, you'd think he was a scumbag.

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
14 years ago

Oh, there's little doubt about that. But you know, if you take a random sampling of CEOs of the world's biggest companies, I'm willing to bet at least half would qualify for that scumbag label.

Mornelithe
Mornelithe
14 years ago

And that makes it ok Ben? I really don't mean to start anything here, but exactly how does the mantra 'well the majority of other CEO's do it, let's give him a free pass' make any sense?

Activision, and Kotick, have done pretty much everything they can to milk as much money out of their core audience as possible. During a time when they're making TONS of money from all manner of games, he's talking about jacking up prices, subscription fee's for worthless FPS', and I'm sure he's trying to figure out a way to tear down orphanages and turn them into sweat shops.

Everyone else does it, didn't fly when we were kids, and it certainly should not fly as adults. Too bad most of the world doesn't have enough restraint to really stick it to this….person, by simply not buying ANY of their games.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

Nobody's giving Kotick a free pass Mornelithe. But why all the surprise? Why all the hate as if somehow he's unique in his greed? The man is CEO of a company that puts out games that are absolutely LOVED by millions and millions of people. Look at the recent Starcraft II. Look at Diablo III that's coming.

Activision publishes games that millions of people like. Of COURSE Kotick is going to get rich. Of COURSE he's going to be a prick of a CEO. What makes you, or anyone else, think he's going to be a saint?


Last edited by Alienange on 8/4/2010 9:28:11 PM

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
14 years ago

Mornelithe: I never said it was all right. I'm the first person to stand up and rail against the "others are doing it so it's okay" mantra.

The point is that it's hardly rare to find scummy CEOs. And many times, that scumminess doesn't always have a negative effect on the company. It may in the END, of course, but for the time being, everything is all peachy at places like Activision.

So besides an interest in what's right and business morality – which doesn't grow on trees – what incentive does Kotick have to be a model citizen? You and I know the incentive comes from within, but that can change quick with billions of dollars. Sadly, it's the Achilles Heel of humans.

Mornelithe
Mornelithe
14 years ago

I am far too pissed off right now to respond coherently. I've had an extraordinaly bad week. I'll try back tomorrow when I'm a bit more calm. (Has nothing to do with any of ya'll).

Mornelithe
Mornelithe
14 years ago

So you're asking why I hate Activision so much? I'm pretty sure I've gone into this before with at least Ben, but here goes:

What they did to the CoD Franchise after 2. (I don't care if you all trip over yourselves over Modern Warfare-esque games, CoD made it's name with historical pin-point accuracy). You know, actually learning about something while playing.

It's kinda offensive to see developers making up stories about current events, rather than going with real life data, when people are actually dying as we speak in such locations, pretty fu**ed up and simply a glorification of what's occuring right now.

A company at the forefront of screwing over the fanbase that made it so powerful, needs a reality check. A serious one. Unfortunately, most people are simply too greedy to care.

So whatever, drink the next batch of Koolaid Activision throws your way, fine, but remember, you reap what you sow.


Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 8/5/2010 10:35:13 AM

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
14 years ago

I've made similar comments about Square-Enix and my beloved Final Fantasy franchise.

But in the end, we should probably be realistic. We can scream and cry and rant all we want…if the company is making money with their new angle or direction or whatever, and they have millions of fans buying their stuff and in turn, telling them how much they love them, we have to admit we're in the minority.

And in the long run, in terms of money, companies really don't care about the minority. They want the MAJORITY to buy their product and sadly, a very large number of gamers love the recent Call of Dutys. We can't change that, and we can't say it isn't true.