The recent comments by Double Fine's Tim Schafer that Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick is a "total prick" dominated the headlines yesterday. Activision was quick to respond to Schafer's allegation that Kotick doesn't even like games, noting that he's "always been passionate" about games.
Today, Schafer was asked once again about his comments during his talk at the Develop Conference in the U.K. Schafer seemingly retracted his Kotick insult at first. “That was an accident. I need to keep my mouth shut," he stated. Schafer then quipped, “I was going to change the title of my talk to 'How to give interviews and remember to check the microphone is switched off'."
However, he then proceeded to make a comparison to Darth Vader - a comparison which at one time had been reserved for EA CEO John Riccitiello actually.
"After the Eurogamer thing I realized I'm a little nervous about what I want to say. It’s shocking how you really can't burn bridges in the industry. You start your own company and you don't have to work for that jerky boss any more. Not naming names," he continued. "Then it's like Empire Strikes Back – you walk in the room and holy shit! Darth Vader's at the table! It's such a small industry, you see the same people over and over again. No-one ever goes away.”
[Thanks MCV]
4 Comments
July 15, 2010
Being passionate about games and passionate about making money from games are two different things. Just like the difference between being passionate about feeding the hungry (ie Oxfam) and making money from feeding the hungry (ie McDonald's).
July 15, 2010
Oh come on, Schafer! You were my hero for speaking up. You obviously spoke the words, so just own up to it.
July 15, 2010
InfamousT, you nailed it. Backpeddaling now just makes him look like a fool. He said it so just own up to it and stick by it. You get more respect for that than looking like a timid fool.
July 15, 2010
The way I read it, he isn't backpedaling on his opinion of Kotick being a prick at all, but instead adding that saying as much in a public forums was probably a mistake, as it could come back to bite him (and his entire studio) in the ass professionally. That seems like a realistic view of things.