Yet the Activision Blizzard CEO ended up paying a little more than $7m…
In 1995 a sprightly young Bobby Kotick discovered that some game studio known as Blizzard was acquired by educational software firm Davidson & Associates for a Tubthumping $7 million.
Fifteen years later, the Activision Blizzard CEO now admits he thought the deal was mad.
“That year Activision probably had $60 million in revenues. They said they paid seven million dollars for Blizzard. I’m like 'Are you out of your minds? They’re like a contract developer!
“They have Warcraft but what else do they have? You paid seven million! That’s insane!”
Kotick, whose publishing empire now has complete control over the World of Warcraft franchise, told Game Informer magazine that the buyout price, in retrospect of course, was a steal.
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"I was talking to [Blizzard founder] Mike Morhaime the other day and I said, 'You know, I could have bought you for seven million and instead it was seven billion.'
“He said, 'Yeah, could you imagine if I had just held out for the seven billion instead of the seven million?'”
Of course, Kotick isn’t in a position to look back in anger. Activision Blizzard yields $100 million per month from World of Warcraft payments.
I bloody hate this guy so much....
i dunno if it's jelousy but i genuinely despise this guy.
Yes it is jealousy and fear, you see gamers like to believe that everyone in the industry has a deep seated passion for games and at the end of the day they want to make great games, its a laughable idea and this guy has no problems telling gamers that they are not important, that they can be replaced by new ones and their childish view of the industry is just that, and at the end of the day all you are is a sale. That's why he awesome, he would scrap this entire industry and move to another if it meant an extra dollar, much to the dismay of delirious gamers who believe the industry is run by benevolent rulers who hand out gum drops and lollipops. They think that someday he will get his just desserts and that you really need passion for games, but Hiroshi Yamauchi has already proven that concept laughably childish an Mr. Kotick will too.
Even if he was a 'benevolent ruler handing out gumdrops and lollipops' he'd still be a poisonus little homunculus.
I certainly don't think it's a childish view to have a love of the industry, in fact the sector relies upon that to recruit and retain staff. Let's be honest, most of the developers working in games could make twice the money working less hours for banks and such. It's this 'love' for the industry that keeps his staffing costs lower and his profit margins higher. The fact he actually seems to enjoy rubbing the collective games community's faces in his disrespect for the consumer and the industry.
That's why he is universally reviled; not because of jealousy or fear.
Let me describe to you two types of business executives, there are the executives who have a passion for their field of work, and there are the executives who have a passion for money. Now here is what happens, see those guys who love the industry, want to make interesting and unique games, they crash and burn simply because they do not focus on the bottom line ..money. Now people like our friend Mr. Kotick purchases these flailing business's putting these executives out of their misery and at the end of the day the executive who has a passion for money is the one left in charge of the industry. Why? because this passion makes you incompetent and short sighted; because you miss the most important thing..money. This money keeps your employees at work remember, so please don't consider it in a childish viewpoint that money is evil and people who have it have done something wrong. Rather than be reviled this man should be praised for the great work he has done for the industry and keeping so many people in their jobs.
Pete, you certainly don't need to explain business practice to me. I deal with a great deal of senior level executives across the games industry every day, and I certainly understand the need for both types within any industry - not just games.
I have no problem with people with money, I worked at a senior level within the finance industry for many years, but as such am also acutely aware of the dangers that having and dealing with large sums of money can pose; both in it's ability to dehumanise and to skew ones view of the world.
As for passion making you incompetent and short sighted, is this something that you'd apply to David Braben, Martyn Brown, Peter Molyneux or Nolan Bushnell? No, because these are the guys who should be representative of their consumer and as such the public face of their studios.
Guys like Kotick should be dealing with the machinations behind the scenes and at the publishing houses. The fact is because of the success of Blizzard's WoW he has developed an enormously inflated sense of his own self worth, and an insatiable hunger for self publicity. Looking at him, it's very likely he was the sort of kid who'd get beaten up in the schoolyard everyday and promised he'd show those bullies when he was famous.
We've already seen evidence that these so called visionary money men have lost sight of the core beliefs that make the games industry what it is; vision, passion, creativity and a deep love for what they do. EA are in difficulty because of their insistence in pumping out yet more of the same tired franchises and sequels. The same goes with Ubisoft and a host of other big names, simply because all they see dollar signs. Today's consumer is more sophisticated, and has grown tired of this approach.
Put the creative and public side of the industry back in the hands of these passionate people, and we might just be a little better off. The Kotick's and Ricitello's of the world don't represent the games industry, so I think you'll find yourself in the minority.
BTW. Not an Acti employee by any chance are we Pete? ;)
“David Braben, Martyn Brown, Peter Molyneux or Nolan Bushnell?” only one of these people have an executive role in the industry now, which is precisely my point that these people are not made to be executives. Peter Molyneux works for Microsoft now and has more of creative role which I have no doubt he prefers. Nolan Bushnell managed to almost single handedly destroy console gaming so I’m not sure he is a good example.
No sorry to disappoint you but I'm not even in the industry, I'm actually studying for my GCSEs and my name is actually Patricia "but that’s neither here nor there" have been thinking about getting into the industry but I haven’t been sure as it seems to be some form of self felating boys club where people will pat the back of anyone who agrees to the same mentality they stand by, but should heaven forbid you look for money you are demonized all the while you keep people employed. I want to enter the industry to make money, not because I like games, but somehow that seems to be wrong. I'm sorry but I don’t understand that all.
Well Patricia. I certainly don't think that my use of the aforementioned guys is odd. Both Pete and Martyn are CEO's, Dave is still chairman at his studio, and as for Nolan; as a very old friend of mine i'm certain he'd be very upset at your accusation of his single handed destruction of console gaming.
I tell you what, let's remove people of this ilk from the industry completely; leave it to the 'executives', what will happen then? No new IP, no pushing of boundaries in terms of technology and creativity, and no 'figureheads' for new generations of games creatives to aspire to.
Now what? Well I guess the 'executives' left could keep pushing out sequels and franchises of existing titles, and sure that might work for a while, but even you can see that the consumer would soon be tired of that.
This industry is built on the backs of creatives, and without them the money men would be nothing. I've no problem in conceding that a symbiotic relationship must exist in order for the industry to thrive and grow, but without the passion for the industry that 99% of it's members have, it wouldn't even exist for these executives to make money from.
I think Patricia, you're confusing the development and publishing sides of the games industry. The fact that Kotick constantly pushes himself into the public eye makes people believe he is representative of the games industry. He's not. He's a publisher, nothing more. Once all games are digitally distributed there'll be far less need for people of his type.
As for it being a 'self felating boys club' - nice turn of phrase by the way. If being made up of people with a passion for what they do, built on innovation and creativity and inspired by a love of the product they create, then I'm happy to say I'm part of that.
I'd avoid games if I were you Patricia. For my mind you seem to have all the attributes of a banker or insurance broker. If money is your sole aim in this life then you need to do a little growing up.
I like the heading if I was to be as successful as Mr. Kotick, I would be very proud. I would care not for the derogatory statements that I should grow up, it’s not really surprising anyway I shouldn’t have mentioned my age. You asked why my sole reason was money, and then I will explain. Let me tell you a story about how my life got turned upside down, please just take a minute and sit right there and I’ll tell how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air
Likewise, and I'm glad to oblige, although I'd like to think my input would give you a little more than cheap laughs.
I certainly didn't mean to deride you for your age, to be honest you're clearly intelligent and have a far better understanding of the world than most 'kids of today', but there's more to life than money honey. If there wasn't then no-one would be working in the games industry at all. All those C++ developers could be creaming it working on legacy banking platforms and such.
By all means, do your best to get into the industry, but don't be surprised when 99% of us don't share your views of it.
What I'd suggest is that you pick up a joypad, mouse or even a Wiimote, and join us. Find a genre, series or even single game you like, and be someone who not only sees the intrinsic value of that product, but also has a love and respect for it too. The two aren't mutually exclusive you know.
I just had to say something because as a person getting my BS degree in Game Design, I have had to learn the history of the industry as well. And by no means did Nolan Bushnell almost end console gaming. I think you need to pick up a book and read. Maybe your school has you reading the wrong material because you have the facts wrong. If you want some background about the industry you should read a book called Ultimate Gaming History. In it, it has direct quotes from people like Bushnell and many others that got the industry to where it is today. I'm sorry I just don't like when people are misinformed and try to misinform others when they don't know the details.
