Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick’s recent outburst against EA has the gaming giant responding to perhaps the most vilified man in gaming. After Kotick mentioned, “great people don’t want to work at EA,” Electronic Arts has responded with some not-so-kind comments of their own.
"Kotick’s relationship with studio talent is well-documented in litigation," EA corporate communications VP Jeff Brown tells IndustryGamers in a statement. "His company is based on three game franchises – one is a fantastic persistent world he had nothing to do with; one is in steep decline; and the third is in the process of being destroyed by Kotick’s own hubris."
Brown refers to the various instances where Activision has had problems with retained studios, most famously for the utter gutting of Infinity Ward after studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West were led out of their studio by security guards. Remaining employees eventually sued Activision for unpaid bonuses.
Activision also went to court over publishing rights with Double Fine’s Brutal Legend. Activision dropped the game from its publishing slate after acquiring Vivendi, forcing Double Fine to contact other publishers. EA eventually picked up and published the game. Activision responded by suing Double Fine and EA over publishing rights.
EA and Activision have long been in a war of the words, a well-documented rivalry that has led the studios to boast about any advantage gained in talent acquisition.
The companies will come head to head yet again this holiday season in the first person shooter category. With EA’s Medal of Honor and Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, EA has made it clear that they are here to “take back the shooter category.”
2 Comments
September 27, 2010
It's called competition.
September 28, 2010
2nd paragraph: Nice shot EA - very nice.
I like the competition, but I know I will only buy the better game. But I want to support the better company. Kotick is a douchebag that stands behind his devs and spouts bullshit. Its his devs that make him his money and keep him in his job. He certainly isn't helping.