Tim Schafer says Kotick serves shareholders but doesn’t have to be ”a dick about it,” but the Acti boss ‘enjoys it’. Kotick isn’t ”great” for the industry.
”His obligation is to his shareholders,” Schafer says in an interview with Eurogamer. ”Well, he doesn’t have to be as much of a dick about it, does he? I think there is a way he can do it without being a total prick.”
“It seems like it would be possible. It’s not something he’s interested in.” Acti filed suit against Double Fine to try and block Brutal Legend from ever seeing a release. They claimed the studio failed to deliver the heavy metal action game on time.
In August ‘09 Activision settled out of court with Double Fine which paved the way for rival EA to publish the game in October. Kotick ”makes a big deal about not liking games, and I just don’t think that attitude is good for games in general. I just don’t think we’re an industry of widgets,” said Double Fine founder Tim Schafer.
”We can approach it like we approach bars of soap, where you’re just trying to make the cheapest bar of soap. He definitely has that that kind of widget-maker attitude. I don’t think he’s great for the industry, overall.”
”You can’t just latch onto something when it’s popular and then squeeze the life out of it and then move on to the next one. You have to at some point create something, build something,” he continued. Kotick gets replaced as Acti CEO this September.
”Hopefully he’ll go back to another industry scene. He could go to an industry that makes more money. Ball bearings… something that suits his passions more. Weapons manufacturing?” Activision has plummeted in the eyes of gamers ever since the firing and forced removal of Infinity Ward bosses Vince Zampella and Jason West.
