CEO Bobby Kotick will leave Activision Blizzard on January 1, 2024 | Schreier: Kotick will depart after 33 years, employees are “very excited.”::Schreier: Kotick will depart after 33 years, employees are “very excited.”
This 1 fucking guy ruined a whole generation of gaming with his greedy dumb fuck business ideas.
This 1 fucking guy ruined
a wholefuture generations of gaming with his greedy dumb fuck business ideas.Ftfy
To be fair he probably didn’t come up with any ideas. Just approved the worst ones that were presented to him.
That’s not the problem. The problem is him not doing anything about all the toxic culture and sexual assault in his company, causing the best employees to leave.
Who would win?
- A massive entertainment industry filled to the brim with passionate creatives
- One greedy boy
Dude has ruined multiple generations
It would be ruined if people didn’t buy the stuff, but they do, so it’s a success.
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How? Did he force people to buy and subscribe and endorse something?
No. Idiots bought in, sucking balls purchase after purchase.
Edit: gamers who spent tendie money are mad
They trick people into buying in. The majority of people buyi g these games are extremely susceptible to the tactics they use to get you to buy their games and when you buy thwm they have more tricks to keep you locked in. The people falling for it arent idiots. They just fall for this stuff a bit easier. Or they havent been shown how it works so they dont know what to look out for.
Things like fomo and gambling mechanics as well as clever pricing tricks are just aome examples. Tbere are conferences and lectures held by industry people for lther industry people where that talk about consumers like they are cattle or other livestock and how we can be manipulated if certain tactics are followed. Games are more like “storefronts” to them. In fact thats literally how the fortnite developers referto fortnite, a storefront. With a game attached.
So, no, bobby didnt force anyone to buy his games, he didnt point a gun at anyones head (well actually we dont know that and i think there was a rumour aomewhere of something like this, couls be wrong tho) but he did remove all choice and boil everything down to a basic game with an inflated shop which fans of activision and later blizzard games fell for, for far too long. CoD was one of the most popular games in the world and fans of the game took some time to realise that the same game was being re released with a new skin for years.
Bobby took away that choice by not releasing other games, he just preyed on the susceptable and knew exactly what he was doing.
So please dont pretend that, for all those people, simply not buying the games or in game purchases was “simple” for the majority of people and that in a round about way, people weren’t forced into buying into it. It just shows a lack of understanding and research into the subject.
There are limits to this argument … at some point buying a shitty game is on gamers and they need to shop around for something else.
There aren’t that many tricks prepurchase of a whole new game publishers can use. The big one is non-refundable preorders and at this point I’d hope people have learned their lesson on that (I still do it for, e.g. Bungie, but I don’t trust many studios to that degree).
If you’ve got a refundable pre-order or you bought it post release and the game gets overwhelming negative reviews and you’re personally dissatisfied with your purchase, keeping the game is on you and presumably your friends that also did so. There’s plenty of other stuff out there to play, especially in the shooter space.
Doesn’t this argument assume that all gamers are equal?
Remember that gamers range across all ages, genders, and preferences of genre. There are vast quantities of gamers that will buy whatever is going to be popular at any given point, there a purists who require nothing but quality. There are nostalgists who crave what gaming once was.
Buying habits are mostly dictated by the sorts of factors
Saying rhat gamers need to vote with their wallet, or something to that effect as you have, doesn’t consider the fact that not every gamer is in it for the same reasons and capitalism will always cater for what is popular first and foremost. So if you aren’t someone who is happy to play fortnite or cod for the rest of your life without longing for change then you are likely part of a minorty. A subset of gamers who want things to get better even though that is very unlikely to happen.
This argument acknowledges that we got it wrong when we started putting up “warning jumping off this cliff will hurt” signs.
If someone buys a bad game and they’re happy with it, then it’s fine, it’s not a bad game to them. If someone buys a bad game, they don’t like it, and they keep it, that’s on them.
There are so many ways to spend money here and so much competition. If someone doesn’t like the game then they just shouldn’t buy it, one shouldn’t blame Activision for making a game one doesn’t like and saying “they tricking me.”
Activision is not going to hit their numbers solely on people who are clinically lacking impulse control. Activision is going to hit their numbers on apathetic people that blame Activision for the poor purchase they decided to buy anyways.
This isn’t “the grocery store gives plastic bags and it’s on the consumer to recycle them, so therefore it’s consumers fault that plastic bags are littered.” This isn’t “the only option in town is unhealthy food so that’s why I eat poorly.” This is an expensive game, the primary product, something that exists purely to entertain that nobody needs to buy. Truly if ever there was a case, this is the case where consumers needing to stop paying for junk they don’t want (or heck what do I know, maybe they do want it).
Like i said. It’s a varied market, but the companies will always follow the money.
You can deny the landscape of games we have that are made solely for the purposes of making ridiculous amounts of money from minimal effort all you want, but this is the marlet we have these days.
The fact that “gatcha games” are even a thing should be all the proof you need. You know about Diablo immortal and Diablo 4 dont you? And overwatch 2? And destiny 2? Apex? Fortnite? Fifa? Cs:go? And all those mobile games? The ones that make billions from microtransactions?
I feel like tour argument comes from a lack of research. You are standing in a storm and telling me it’s not raining.
Theres plenty of resources out there that prove the game indistry is outright manipilating its customers and its all in the name of profit.
Theres a reason so many companies were scared of Baldurs gate 3. Somehow a game with a 6 uear dwvelopment cycle with around 400 employees was able to release one of the best games of the last decade. One that is smashing records and making crazy profit but it has no microtransactions, you buy the game and you plau the qhole game. Where activision wigh a studio of more than 1000 employees spent the same amount of time developing the addition of the number 2 to the previously popular overwatch. It took 6 years to draw a number 2. Because thats all thry did. They took away features of a widely popular game, slapped a 2 on it and told us all we should give them more money for the privilege.
But people pay for it. They buy into it. And its ot because its good. Its because most people dont hold the industry to the same standard as others. And they arent the ones who complain about it being a mess.
The ones who complain are the ones who see through the bullshit.
The ones who buy into it are the ones steering the ship.
You’re telling me I haven’t done enough research while not pushing anything more than your own opinion. Where’s your research and sources if your opinion is more than that? If you have sources, great, otherwise you’re just misleading people and being self indulgent about how your opinion is backed by research and mine is backed by a lack of information and understanding.
Who says there’s anything wrong with cosmetic micro transactions. I pay for them, I know others that pay for them. It’s fine, it gives me some cool looking stuff, and gives the game developer some extra cash. You’re moving the goal post going from badly reviewing games to games with microtransactions.
There are plenty of resources out there that cite manipulation in terms of loot boxes and gambling. Destiny 2 doesn’t do that, but it was in your list. Bungie is largely actually releasing content people appreciate and the game is overall very well received, as is CSGO in spite of its lootboxes.
Actually purchasing the base game of CoD, which has numerous issues, and is what we were originally talking about (at least I thought) also doesn’t involve any of those shenanigans… But people keep doing it, and that’s the biggest part I’m saying needs to change.
If people are addicted, they need help.
Most of these games are made for adults. So if children agree addicted to them, then the parents are responsible for the habits/ purchases.
If adults are addicted, they should seek help.
I don’t blame beer companies for making beer, and people being addicted to that. I blame mental illness, and to a secondary degree, poor responsibility.
Life is tough but responsibility isn’t dead. That doesn’t mean there isn’t space for mental illness, but it must be acknowledged. Game companies aren’t evil.
Point being: if you act like cattle, don’t complain.
The biggest problem this ‘buyer beware’ stance is that issues with alcoholism and driving after drinking are well known and well communicated. But the predatory practices in the gaming world are not well known or communicated. People know pretty well nowadays that when they walk into a casino they’re probably going to lose their money.
But do they know that when they sit down to relax and boot up their favorite game that it has been literally engineered to get them hooked and take their money? Probably not, it’s really only talked about at all in niche gamer communities like this one.
Should they be allowed to have storefronts in games? We still have alcohol and casinos so why not? But shouldn’t there be some work put in to make sure people understand what’s at play here so they can make that responsible choice?
I don’t act like cattle, so I’m gonna continue complaining 😃
I’ve never seen any other industry be bewildered by the idea of caveat emptor as much as gamers.
My favourite are the ones that act as if Steam allowing bad quality games on their store is a bad thing because it means they could spend their money on a bad game. The idea of “just don’t buy it” is a mystery to them.
Agree. Like, it’s not water or transport. Just don’t engage.
I don’t like some movie franchises, and that’s fine, I just don’t consume them
Agreed, don’t buy the battle pass, or better yet, don’t buy the game if all you’re going to do is complain.
Hope he burn in hell. He’s the best example of how not to run a company. It’s insane that he’s not been let go for years now.
That entirely depends on your expectations of a company CEO
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/ATVI/activision-blizzard/stock-price-history
I can’t think of a company that wouldn’t hire someone with this kind of stock performance over 30 years.
The issue is really that consumers just keep spending money on things that they hate.
If they didnt do that, Bobby would have been gone a long long time ago
I think you’re right. I’m pointing moee to his leadership and how he has allowed sexism and other bad behavior to go on without any consequences. He even told an assistant that he would have her killed… https://www.pcgamer.com/more-shocking-activision-blizzard-revelations-bobby-kotick-once-told-an-assistant-he-was-going-to-have-her-killed/
He might earn himself and the stockholders a lot of money… But in my eyes he’s a great example of why I don’t like capitalism, but that is another discussion tho!
He’s obviously a terrible human being, I think you have to be to be a wildly successful CEO.
But those are the people who are best at running companies. I wouldn’t be good at it, because I’m not a piece of shit
That’s what sucks about capitalism. We’re allowing thhattype of trash to run it.
Wow I’m very anti capitalist today!
The thing that sucks even more about it is no one even has to ‘allow’ that type of trash to run it, it’s just what tends to happen if the profit motive is the main driver of people’s behavior.
History isn’t over. We humans can do better.
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ATVI’s stock performance only looks impressive if you don’t compare it to anything. Here’s a graph comparing ATVI to ONEQ, which is an ETF that tracks the NASDAQ composite index. If anything, ATVI has been slightly underperforming the market average for most of Kotick’s tenure as CEO.
To see what “outperforming the market” looks like, compare ATVI to NVDA. NVDA’s stock has increased 16,000% in the 15 years that Kotick has been CEO of ATVI.
Or to see some video game company stocks that have outperformed the market, compare ATVI to TTWO (Take Two) or CCOEY (Capcom).
From a purely financial perspective, Kotick was middling at best. He deserves no plaudits. There were plenty of other NASDAQ companies that outperformed the market during the time he was CEO of ActiBlizz, including other video game companies.
Take two is three times smaller via market cap and Capcom is 8 times smaller, just saying looking at stock price alone doesn’t tell the full picture.
Activision has also done multiple stock splits over the last 30 years.
Stock price charts account for all splits/reverse splits, so it wouldn’t be a factor when comparing price over time.
I agree with the first point though. Even just performing slightly below the market with such a massive company would make Kotick very desireable as a new CEO, unfortunately. Maybe some corps would not be fine with his reputation, but I doubt he will struggle to find a position in a new board room.
The stock price itself does account for it in the charts, but it doesn’t speak to the market cap aspect.
The charts are in percent, not dollars. It doesn’t matter that Capcom is 8 times smaller if investing $1 in it still yields a higher return on investment.
Also, Take Two may be smaller, but… Grand Theft Auto.
Not true, because of stock splits
Also all I’m looking at is market cap, it doesn’t matter what games you like from them lol
When is ONEQ a baseline to track against? Compare it to S&P500 and ATVI looks ahead.
I tried to get my parents to buy NVDA during its IPO.
Most consumers just don’t care or don’t know at all who Bobby Kotick is. Call of Duty is so popular, but the people that follow the market or the game industry well enough to know the people behind games aren’t that many.
This fucking goblin enabled systemic rape in his organization. He deserves prison.
Which ring of hell is he planning on spending his retirement within?
Edit: Also, give me an example of another human being that looks more like a testicle with eyeballs.
Harvey Weinstein, but using him is practically cheating.
I hear his actual testicles (testicle?) look like they have eyeballs as well. There were a lot of similar accounts from the women he abused who used terms like “genital deformity” and “botched surgeries” when recounting the sex he forced upon them.
John Riccitiello , former EA CEO, and now former unity CEO
I am so glad he is gone. I stopped playing any blizzaed games partially because of this shmuck… and partially because the games became trash. Here’s hoping things will turn around now that he is gone.
Yeah, i’m sure microsoft won’t do anything to increase monetization on their 69 billion dollar purchase. The objective is to make blizzard’s games better by minimizing highly profitable systems like microtransactions, battle passes, DLC season passes, xp boosters, in game real money stores.
They wouldn’t be buying these properties to try and milk as much profit as possible at all. No sir.
Hey, this is the last hope I have. There’s not a lot of it, but there is a tiny chance that maybe maybe maybe things will get better. Very likely not, but, you know, one could hope.
I paid full price for both Factorio and Skyrim because they are full games that I get to own. No micro transactions, and modding is almost encouraged through Steam. I will never buy another microtransaction game. I will never buy another “subscription based” platform like Xbox. I’m so fucking over not owning the thing I bought
What the big developers see when they read this is that you’re a low-value customer and marketing to you will be less profitable than milking 14yo kids who use their birthday money to buy fortune gift cards.
Most underaged individuals are being taken advantage of and the government does jack shit. Gambling is banned but this you never gain money at least in gambling you have a chance to gain which makes all of this so much worse.
Yes, and if you teach this to your friends and children, the big companies will eventually adapt to what the market is offering vs trying to dictate the market
I hate to break it to you but you don’t really “own” the games on steam either. You have a license agreement with valve which they can revoke at any time, and you lose access to the games you paid for.
I mean, if it’s playable offline there isn’t much they can do about it, right?
Yeah but most people don’t have their library installed at all times. I don’t have the space for that.
I have them all downloaded. 25 years of old hard drives and nerdy piracy have me well stocked for the apocalypse
I expect some changes to integrate better with gamepass, but overall if monetisation is the problem, MS won’t fix anything.
Microsoft-Activision-Blizzard to design pachinko machines and mobile games, exclusively.
Konami docet
Now when I think about it, the chronologically last Blizzard games I’ve enjoyed were WarCraft III TFT and old WoW on pirate servers. (My favorite is Tides of Darkness, obviously)
So - I don’t know in which direction would things be turning around, what is there left even since those times?
Limp dick Kotick should have been fired long ago.
I’m out if the loop. Can someone explain?
He looks like Bilbo Baggins in the scene where he’s overcome with desire for the ring and tries to take it from Frodo.
HRAAAAGH!
He looks like the the love child of Bilbo Baggins and Elon Musk.
Awesome. Also ewwwww.
And yet I would still rather hang out with fiend bilbo
Is there a scarybilbo lemmy sub yet?
While CEO of Activision, Kotick’s termination without cause, or “Termination by employee for good reason following a change of control,” guaranteed him nearly $300 million. Bloomberg reports that Kotick’s windfall will likely be $375 million now that Microsoft’s acquisition has gone through.
That’ll teach 'em
Such a punchable face. Damn
the shareholders will identify a suitable replacement my dudes, no need to cheer up over this
Blizzard will stay the rotten corpse of something great it is right now
They drag the corpses of their games along for money real good. Sometimes I think about the amount of people still paying a wow subscription and just sigh.
What a piece of shit
Nice to see Microsoft is cleaning house one day after the aquisition went through, starting with the root of the problem. This is very likely part of the deal and is gonna bring about some long needed changes.
This is standard. You always get rid of the upper management. You give them a lot of money and a round of applause and then you put your own people in. Everyone at the top will be Microsoft.
Kotick gave himself a few hundred million as a bonus a few years ago.
This was likely the plan before the acquisition. I doubt this came as a surprise to Kotick.
We’ve replaced Kotick with Microsoft lol
A big upgrade.
We don’t know that yet. I dislike Kotick as well, but doubtful that much changes from the monetization standpoint of the company.
From a purely morale standpoint, it’s mostly a W. But it’s not like Kotick isn’t getting his golden parachute and wiping his tears away with $100 bills.
And there was much rejoicing
Remember when kotick threatened to kill an assistant, and then they were fired and paid to not talk about it?
