Activision is Not the Enemy

"They’re not out to get you. They’re out to get your money. But that’s the same thing that every other publisher wants. It’s the same thing every other company in the world wants."

[Blaze929]

I don't really care what they do or whatever the problem is with everyone else. They still publish games I like from developers I like so I continue to buy the games. Developers shouldn't suffer because of Activision. These are peoples jobs at risk with these games they make.

Blur I'm especially surprised at with those sales numbers. Amazing game

[nikkisixx2]

They sure aren't the hero.

[Conloles]

Activision is not the enemy, they are satan.

[Mmmkay]

you forgot to change account before NOT trolling....

[evrfighter]

Sounds like Activision has been paying for good press lately.

And

They are INDEED the enemy. To say otherwise makes you not a gamer. But a shareholder.

p.s Mkay what are you talking about? All I've ever seen Conloles speak is the truth.

[iceman2929]

Im a gamer and a shareholder :P
but seriously, i've been holding on to this pos stock for a few years now ( before the delay of starcraft was announced).

It is the most stagnant stock i've ever seen. After starcraft II + Diablo III , im dumping this thing... ( I've been wanting to get out for awhile, but it would be stupid to ignore the impact those two games might have)

[Darkstorn]

All publishers are evil megaliths to greed and profit, it's just that some of them (Sony, for example) actually make great games.

[Commander_TK]

EA and THQ r the real enemy. Basically every1 that charges for anything that should be free is the enemy

[raztad]

Well, first of all the only ACTIVISION game I own is COD4 bought for real cheap a couple of months ago. I'm not boycotting ACT though, is just I'm not interested in their games, they dont appeal to me.

Now, I can understand why some people are piised on ACT. This article is rubbish. I know ACT just want gamers money, but contrary to what the article says, people hate them because they are abusing some of the most popular franchises in the industry, overpricing and overmilking them, and as happened in he PC side, underdelivering a game w/o mod support or dedicated servers.

[pippoppow]

Problem I've noticed is how most of the big sites will support devs and pubs over gamers. Its like they can do no wrong and gamers are made to look like complainers for no reason. Then you have those gamers who don't know or care about the ramifications of their actions or inactions. See first post.

[Baka-akaB]

there is nothing surprising about blur's sales . For starters it's an ok , good game , but not amazing from most people's and the press' opinions . It got released alongside much better and popular titles . I dont think i've seen anyone proclaim it's better than either split/second or modnation racers .

Very little to do with anti activision sentiment , and very much to do with their scheduling , and the quality of the game .

[Persistantthug]

But I haven't bought a single game from them this gen....

Not 1.

I was going to buy COD 4 or 5 last year when my PS3 was pretty new to me, but, I ran into BATTLEFIELD: BC1 and I happened to get it instead.
Not sure if I made the ultimate right decision with BC1 back then or not, but I certainly did with BC2.....
so it all worked out in the end.

Besides, EA games use dedicated servers....soyeah...I'm good.

[Agent-86]

Me, too. I don't have a single Activision game right now, but have a ton of EA ones.

[Caspel]

I fear for Bizarre Creations. Blur didn't perform that well and they may suffer the same results of Raven Software.

[lDevastator]

Activision can have my money if they make a great game, But when they start overpricing for DLC for that great game that gets on my nervs. Especially when they have made alot of money from that game.

[Zafir]

The problem occurs when they start increasing prices on their games, and their DLC just because they can. I mean Modern Warfare 2 was retailed with an RRP of £54.99 in the United Kingdom. Compared with £49.99 which a normal game has an RRP price. More recently, Starcraft II, currently priced at £35-£40 at most stores, compared to a £25-£30 price tag on your average PC game. I'm not even going to get started on the ridiculous prices they are charging their DLC. It's just insane. Yes, other companys want your money just as much, but at least they do it in a more 'friendly' fashion.

[tlarn]

I don't think we can fault Activision as harshly as some have; a strong example is when animals lash out at people. It's most often not in malice, but merely an animal being an animal.

In this logic, Activision is a company just being a company. All we have to do is keep an eye on 'em and let them know when we don't like something they're doing without getting ugly. If they don't change what people don't like, simply do not purchase their product; nothing gets a company's attention more than negative sales.

[pippoppow]

Money talks ultimately but dissatisfaction needs to be voiced as well. I will not be buying sc2 until its much cheaper. Ill buy it cheap instead of used to help support blizzard but even then it'll be difficult to buy the game knowing acti is getting a cut. Of course devs aren't totally innocent and deserve some scorn as well hence buying the game at a big discount. I'm sure devs including blizzard know who they are getting into bed with.

[Mustikka]

Blur is GREAT game!Shame on you people, you have not supported the masterpiece!!!

[Mmmkay]

meh. i've got grid and wipeout...

[Baka-akaB]

were we supposed to not support the much better split second instead ? i think not

[ian72]

I got Blur and Split/Second. They were only £25 each though. I wouldn't have paid full price for them (£40 each). Good games and worth the price I paid.

[shadow20072007]

The games are good, which is what matters. Turnover and criticism is present everywhere when companies become big. Just take a look at the reaction to the new Miami Heat of the NBA. I just hope the games are worth it.

[kujen]

I agree they're just doing what any company would do. All the franchise sequels are a bit rushed though. I don't think we need a new Call of Duty every year, and there are so many Guitar Hero games I've actually lost interest.

btw, I didn't know Wal-mart was behind those new Xbox cases!

[jack_burt0n]

"I would never try to convince you that you should like Activision if you don’t. Most of the complaints gamers have about the company are completely legitimate."

Then change the title or your article, fact is I dont buy their games its not personal its just consumer power.

[wolfkin]

hard article to comment on b/c while I agree with the sentiment and I don't personally hate Activision (I don't play CoD and I don't think GH has been over PIMPd more than Rock Band). I'm not sure I agree with the specifics you detail.

[Nihilism]

LIAR!!!!!!!!!

[BeaArthur]

I don't think anyone actually thought Activision was out to get them personally but that doesn't mean they are not the enemy. They try to gouge us at every turn and for me that makes them the enemy. With that being said I will still by their games, that is until the adopt the pay to play model, and then I will be done with them.

[Colonel-Killzone]

Only game I'm buying from them is Transformers. Lol They must have thought I forgot about their 2 shit map packs from Call of duty MW2. May I also add very over priced. Add that money together and you can buy a great game like Demon Souls.

[Caspel]

heard great things about Transformers thus far. Glad to hear that the license was managed properly.

[Colonel-Killzone]

Same I will be purchasing it later today.

[mastiffchild]

TRhe reason people dislke Activision has nothing to do with them wanting to make a profit per se. Every other company does that . No, Acti are hated because of HOW they go about it and how MUCH profit they think is fair while not improving their product , sometimes making it worse and having a CEO who hates games but thinks he knows more than us gamers about what makes a good one.

They get devs to cut corners(fewer betas, less QA testing which impacts game quality)to up profits, they give way more cash to marketing than they do to development and, unforgivably in my eyes, they made their market leading (which most buy for it's online battling)shooter moves backwards on PC and stagnate on copnsoles by removing and failing to introduce dedicated servers. MW2 is basically the same game for the third year straight and when games with way smaller profits offer us dedicated servers why doesn't the same happen with the world's biggest when it's bought supposedly on the quality of it's online component? P2P from the biggest online shooter there is in 2009/10? THAT'S why they ARE the enemy of gaming alongside wilfully killing any successful franchise by simply not giving the chance for improvement and wanting more and more out of the developers in shorter and shorter time frames. I won't even start on their pricing policy for DLC and games! Or go into the way Kotick says the most arrogant things which no other group of consumers would put up with in a billon years.

Other companies are capable of some of these traits but Activision are worse because they use all these tactics all the time and have a mouthpiece like clueless Kotick making it sound EVEN worse! They are the enemy until they start putting the quality of their games above squeezing more profit out at the expense of gamers experiences. the only reason I can see for thinking they behave in an OK manner is that you enjoy being told to bend over by that tool.

[Nihilism]

Last acivision game I bought was X-Men Wolverine....how unlike them to make a rushed movie cash in...I mean tie in...

I will buy starcraft 2 and then i'm all activisioned out for another few years. It's not like I have to try, they just don't make any good games. I look at my game shelf....I see a hell of a lot of new and great I.P's from EA....

[Dazel]

If it wasn't for the mp side of CoD games they wouldnt sell so many copies anyway. They are just trying to make up for loses on other titles.

[kingme71]

I don't think anyone would dispute the fact that every company is out to get your money, that's just capitalism at work, but how you treat your consumers is critical. EA is as money hungry as Activision, yet they aren't telling the world how much they would like to gouge their customers or treating them like an open wallet. The key to Activision's bad image is Kotick. He needs to start some serious PR damage control. You may say why should he. Should a CEO have a negative impact on the company? Will his comments gain sales for Activision? I don't see how they will. Even if they lose a small number of customers who won't buy Activision products because of his words, he is still having a negative impact on the bottom line by his published comments.

[Baka-akaB]

Yes they are the enemy , there is making a profit and there is bleeding people dry .

Hell there are other company as greedy as Activision , but at least , even in their attitude and speech they dont rub you that wrongly .

[Shuklar]

Activision IS the enemy. So long as Kotick has any decision making power, directly or indirectly, for the company, I will continue to not support them. I'd rather steal their games than supply Kotick with more money, or toilet paper as he calls it.

They don't create anything, they're simply a leech that sucks the developers dry. They need to be destroyed. The developers that work with them need to realize there are other options out there. If they know that and still continue to associate with Activision because they'll get a larger paycheck, they're just as guilty.

[Mmmkay]

i used to love activision. in like 1985....

[DJMarty]

Try telling that to IW, Activision never paid them for the games they made.

[Darth_Bane79]

If people feel the way they do about activision is because of the decisions that company has made. They are putting bad standards on the whole gaming business and if we gamers just accept it and not make our voices heard by not giving them our money then it's just gonna get worse all over the place.

[alee]

It's certainly true that game developers and publishers are businesses, and their main goal is to maximize their profits. If different companies behave differently, it's because they have different ideas about what will maximize their profits. GZ

[djfullshred]

Buyer beware when choosing to buy entertainment products from companies that are profit driven, and not craft driven.

[athmaus]

interesting read

[trig456]

gaming is a business but it does seem like activision has made some bad moves

[Trroy]

Activision wants to take the fun out of making games, according to Bobby K. Surely that will translate into games that are made fun -- because making them won't be. And they sure will come out fast... like a factory. Yep. I can see the logic.

[Alos88]

Bobby Kotick is the enemy of creativity, a suit who makes unfunny and tasteless jokes at the expense of the people who are keeping him in power. It's like if there was a water cooler company CEO who made a joke about people living in third world countries "If they don't like our prices they can always go to our rivals", the punchline being that their rivals aren't supplying water to that country.

[-EvoAnubis-]

Anyone that thinks that companies only want to make money has clearly never been high enough up in a good company or owned one before.

Yes, the idea is to make money. But a good company does it by offering good product at good prices, not just making many versions of something half decent because they know consumers are idiots. A good company takes care of their workers, not exploits them, lies to them, cheats them, and still expects them to be at their best.

Activision is NOT a good company. Tha's why I do not support them.

[Skynetone]

my first game, and i said this is absolutely s++t

3 hours later i was still playing, lol

even after 3 hours i still didnt know what i was picking up, so for me thats a fail, yes i new what the boost was and i even new the shield, but everything else was a mystery

[koehler83]

I'll decide who my enemy is.

[Nihilism]

"compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission, all of which are American dreams" - Know Your enemy, RATM

[XactGamer]

If Activision was truly the evil people let out to be they would be bankrupt. Gaming isn't like energy/oil we have a choice.

[Caspel]

I often find myself leaning towards the partner games from EA nowadays.

[s8man888]

They have made bad moves, but in my opinion they are not all that bad.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

A solid statement, your facts are straight and it is buissness none of the less.

[MyWordIsGospel]

I used to repsect Activision when they were producing games for the speccy, always had a name you would have good memories of...Howver after the COD saga, they are the spawn of statn to me and with EA will single handedly destroy the second hand game market.

[jstefanovic]

They make money - that's what companies do. you just hope they don't use means to increase their profit margin that would diminish the value of their product.

[crzyjackbauer]

you all hate activision and you all say crap about mw2 but at the end of the day you all bought the map packs and you all got mw on lunch day
and you still play mw2 online
so quit whining

[A LIVING LEGEND]

'none of which are American dreams only' . 'Maybe I'm wrong but I think this whip is too long'
Redburn COC( corrosion of Conformity)
RATM....rather RATM's-the machines.There are many.

[ATi_Elite]

With the exception of Blizzard because they basically do the magical things that they do and Activision leaves them alone.

I have personally waged a War on Terrorism on the Jihadist, Nazi, Sadistic, Communist, Fascist, Satanic, Oil spilling, non recycling, anti semantic, ruthless terrorist organization known as Activision. Not only are they the enemy, they are the definition of evil.

P.S. I don't shop at Wal-Mart or buy Apple products either.