InsaneBear

Feature: Activision and the new EA

I can hold my tongue no longer. I utterly despise Activision-Blizzard and everything it stands for. I mean, it’s one thing to pump out sequels and licensed games while working to monopolize the market like the old EA, but at least they knew their place in the industry. When Activision CEO Bobby Kotick came out and threatened to pull support for the PlayStation 3 and PSP a few days ago, I knew that all humanity had been drained from the company. Kotick is probably a robot.

“I’m getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform,” he said. “It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation”. He then went on to demand a price drop for the system “because if they don’t, the attach rates are likely to slow.” Correct me if I’m wrong here, but don’t attach rates deal with the number of games each PlayStation 3 owner is buying? So, oh, I don’t know, maybe cheaper games would be a much more effective way to increase attach rates than a cheaper console? Oh, that’s right, Bobby Kotick doesn’t give a damn about attach rates for the PlayStation 3, he’s just posturing in hopes of grabbing a few more consumers to sell $60 games to.

Actually, I take that back. $60 is so two years ago. Activision’s ’09 line up is high-lighted by the $100 Guitar Hero 5 (with guitar), the $120 DJ Hero, and the $120 Tony Hawk: Ride. Next year gets even better with the $200 Band Hero. And who knows what the future holds with statements like, “…when you think about other properties that we own and control, like Call of Duty, and what would be the natural evolution of a property like Call of Duty into a massively multiplayer environment, and how do you monetize that…” Yes, Bobby, how do you monetize that? Are we going to be paying a monthly subscription fee for online multiplayer in future Call of Duty games? Maybe micro-transactions for weapon upgrades? How about a gun peripheral?

But to be fair to Activision, they kind of have to set their prices that high if they plan on meeting their goals. Like the one Mr. Kotick set at Activision’s pre-E3 investors conference call, where he voiced his hope of getting gamers who might have spent $50 on the company’s products in the last console generation to spend $500 on them this time around. But how could people ever afford that if they can’t afford a PS3, Bobby!?! Christ, for that much money you could buy a real guitar.

Now you might remember at the beginning of this feature, I referred to this money hungry company as “Activision-Blizzard.” That’s because the two publishing giants merged around a year ago. And it’s funny how I don’t really remember all this “I’ll kill your system if you don’t drop the price” (not actual quote) talk coming out of either of these companies before that. But now with the might of Blizzard and World of Warcraft raking in enough money to make Activision-Blizzard the largest third party publisher in the entire industry, the Activision CEO has gotten real loud. Sometimes he’s so loud we forget that Blizzard is even there, but they are, and they’re just doing what they do best–making great games.

And that’s the new approach that Electronic Arts has been taking under the guidance of CEO John Riccitiello. Riccitiello has completely changed the image of a company so greedy that it made an exclusive deal with the NFL the year after 2K Sports dropped their superior football game’s price down to $20 and stole a large share of Madden‘s market. Now the company is known for pushing risky new IPs like Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge against stiff competition like Gears of War 2. And even though those games didn’t sell as well as EA would have liked, they are committed to building those franchises. And yes, they are intended to be franchises with sequels. But sequels aren’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s over-saturation of sequels and lack of innovation that’s a bad thing. EA still puts out a Madden every year, but there’s new IPs next to it. Activision on the other hand, is content to push the yearly Guitar Hero output closer and closer to double digits.

And perhaps the biggest difference in these two companies is illustrated by the case of Brutal Legend. The game was originally slated to be published by none other than Activision, but the company dropped the title in favor of games that “have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million dollar franchises.” Ghostbusters, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, and 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand were among the other titles cut in the purge.

So in came EA to the rescue, and now they’re helping publish Brutal Legend through their EA Partners program (they pretty much help developers publish their games without getting in their hair about how to make them). The metal epic is looking quite good these days, and EA has really been marketing it hard. Then came E3 2009 where the game made a great impression, and news comes out that Activision is suing Double Fine in attempt to halt the game’s release. EA promptly called the legal threats as ridiculous as “a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy.” Double Fine’s Tim Schafer followed that up by saying, “Hey, if Activision liked it, then they should have put a ring on it. Oh great, now Beyoncé is going to sue me too.” The case has yet to be settled, but the public image of Activision certainly has.

So is there anything more to my rant than the fact that Bobby Kotick wants to find a way to monetize the air you breathe while punching you in the gut and stealing your lunch money? Ideally, yes. I would hope that this might inspire some people to vote with their dollar and only buy what they believe in. I for one, will not be giving Activision-Blizzard $500 dollars of my hard-earned money this year. I admit, I will be buying Modern Warfare 2 this November, so those corporate hacks will be getting $60 of my money, but I take some solace in knowing that Infinity Ward made life difficult for Activision when they renewed their contract. Those guys definitely seem protective of their games and take them more seriously than the big wigs at Activision who want to port Call of Duty onto every platform known to man. Here’s to hoping once that contract runs out Infinity Ward goes independent so I won’t have to feel dirty about giving my money to those very, very talented developers.

Lastly, I’d just like to say that yes, I realize this is a business. Bobby Kotick is just doing his job and trying to satisfy his investors. John Riccitiello is doing the same thing, albeit much more discretely. They’re all out to make money, and I can understand that. That’s why voting with your dollar counts. These guys will make whatever makes them money. The only difference in Activision and EA right now is that EA is giving us more choice in what we vote for. Bobby Kotick is just plopping his brass balls in our mouths and saying, “You’ll buy every $120 sequel I pump out this quarter and like it because my company is bigger than everybody else’s.” What goes around comes around, Bobby. Just ask EA.

Tags: activision, bobby kotick, brutal legend, call of duty, ea, guitar hero, john riccitiello, ps3