EA: Activision Story 'Hasn't Been Very Positive'

Activision Blizzard has been under fire from gamers for a couple years now, but especially in recent months in light of the Infinity Ward situation. New Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg says Activision should be loved, and he is hoping to change the public's opinion of the publishing giant, but much work needs to be done. IndustryGamers recently met with EA COO John Schappert and asked him how he felt EA compared with its closest rival Activision.

"... stories of late [regarding Activision] haven’t been very positive. And we couldn’t be happier to have Jason [West] and Vince [Zampella] as part of our EA Partners program, or Ted Price of Insomniac," noted Schappert. 

He stressed to us that EA greatly values and respects its developers. In further comparison with Activision, he said, "I would say we’re two very, very different companies. What we try to be is a company that embodies creative development, that fosters the development of games, that treats talent as well as you possibly can, because at the end of the day, that’s what our industry is and that’s what our company is. Without great people we can’t have great games, and without great games we don’t have much of a company and so it’s all about taking care of the people that make the products and treating them as the most precious resource because they truly are. So that’s really our philosophy."