Kotick Speaks Out

Like him or not, the world would be dull without Bob Kotick. Speaking at the DICE summit earlier this week the Activision boss took the time to clarify a previous statement, that he wanted to “take the fun out of game development.”

“I sometimes come across sounding like a dick,” he confessed. “All my life I was the rebel flying the Millennium Falcon and then suddenly I wake up and find myself on board the Death Star.”

Bob also confessed that in the 1990s he was he was ‘mind-boggled’ by the “ludicrous amount of money Blizzard had been sold for,” a whopping $7 million. Eight years later Blizzard was worth $700 million, and in the end Activision merged with Blizzard in a deal worth $7 billion.

In a terrifying alternate reality, Kotick bought Commodore in the late 1980s and produced an Amiga ‘without a keyboard’ “It would have blown away the 8-bt NES of the time,” he said. Thankfully Bob passed on the offer.

Of course the self depreciation and humble pie could not last the entire speech and Bob couldn’t resists taking a pot shot at his old employers, Electronic Arts. Talking about developers Pandemic and Jamdat, both of which were acquired by EA, Bob said, “It’s very satisfying to see passionate people go off and enjoy tremendous success. We try to retain the culture and independence of our studios. We’re a good mothership. But if you want to sell out and move on, there are definitely other companies to talk to.”

Source: MCV