Jeetil Patel, Deutsche Bank Securities - Analyst “What do you think the retailers’ willingness these days is to hold inventory on the video game side? Are they building positions today or are they still very reluctant and very careful of how they are buying?”
Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard, Inc. - President and CEO “I don’t think it is specific to video games. I think that if you look at how much volatility there is in the economy and, dependent upon your view about macroeconomic picture and I think we have a real culture of thrift. And I think the goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought in to Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games.”
“I think we definitely have been able to instill the culture, the skepticism and pessimism and fear that you should have in an economy like we are in today. And so, while generally people talk about the recession, we are pretty good at keeping people focused on the deep depression.”
I remember at the time that people defended that statement as “it’s a business,” and some also said he didn’t mean it literally, just as a figure of speech.
Now we know that he meant it literally and worked hard to finally achieve that goal over the past decade.
Like Maya Angelou said: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
Guessing you were correcting my error in the initial post there (which I’ve already gotten to)… but still, the full quotes do NOT paint a better picture.
Instill a culture with skepticism, pessimism, and fear? Intentionally?
That’s HORRIFYING.
Seriously, knowing that… NO ONE should willingly work for Activision Blizzard if that’s the attitude and thought process of the guy in charge. Literally everyone is expendable, depending on how useful you are to him at the moment.
Nearly 800 people found that out the hard way earlier this week.
All too true.
To be honest, the people that need to read this article the most are Blizz’ own employees. It’s time to seek out greener pastures, before you’re the next one on the chopping block.
Despite all the good Blizz and their people have done over the years… this is a real red flag, and it’s probably in their best interests to start looking for the exits before they’re thrown out the window.
It’s not just him that’s the problem, it’s the way big businesses are run. Doubtful replacing him with anyone else will create a better environment for creativity and concern for their hard working employees.
I challenge you to build or hold any company and double down on all personnel. See how profitable you end up being.
If you keep workers you don’t need, you lose money. Let’s not fool ourselves, it’s a game company yes, but still a company. Its main goal in this capitalist world is to make bucks.
Shouldn’t be permitted to hold any position of power, if you want my opinion.
I can appreciate that there are some times that tough choices need to be made, sometimes people should be let go (for the benefit of both their employer and themselves), and downsizing is at times necessary.
… but that doesn’t mean that decision should EVER be taken lightly.
People who don’t appreciate the weight of those decisions shouldn’t be making them.
How does flipping off your consumer base the past 7 months (the people who made you rich), having plans to gut games you made and focus on mobile a profitable solution?
Did Blizzard look at the Homer Simpsons guide to success?
-Flipping off a vocal minority on forums.
-We make their money, not the workers.
-Mobile is more profitable nowadays. Cheaper production, you can put all the micro transaction you want etc. By the way, not having Diablo Immortal doesn’t mean we’d get a Diablo 4 sooner or anything for that matter.
Tell that to the lost subs and fans from games like this one, HOTS or the Diablo controversy.
So Blizzard should be paying us? I like where this is going.
Its a cheap, quick profit and blatant disregard for a fanbase who games on PC or consoles. Yeah, Candy Crush makes more money than WoW that doesn’t mean the people who play WoW or Diablo want a game similar to it and shoved down our throats.
The layoffs, the recent game controversy, the devs are all adding into a large pot thats just waiting to explode and I’m not sure Blizz is ready for that.
We’re just not looking at the short-term profits.
Long term viability must be considered as well.
The current model for the video game industry (heavy on DLC and microtransactions) WILL collapse once most of the consumers clue in they’re being exploited.
When that happens finally, the payback will swift and fierce.
The survivors will be those who respected their customers… and their employees.
Perhaps there’s a little irony in this next quote, but it holds true:
Even if they haven’t phrased it together yet, people want that attitude to come back right now.
![:cow:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/cow.png?v=6" ":cow:")