Activision: "We Might Have to Stop Supporting Sony"

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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/t...le6531367.ece?print=yes&randnum=1245400825888

Bobby Kotick and a partner bought the once-struggling Activision for $440,000 in 1991, at a time when it was losing $30 million on $10 million in revenues. Now the world's biggest independent computer games company, it has a market value of $16 billion (£10 billion) and operating profits of $179 million in the first quarter on sales of $981 million.

Activision overtook Electronic Arts last July when it was in effect taken over by Vivendi of France in a deal where Vivendi injected World of Warcraft into the company for a 56 per cent stake. With such success, Mr Kotick, who runs the business from Beverly Hills, can probably get away with saying anything, which, soon enough, he does.

The target is Sony, the once-dominant hardware maker. “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. 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 says.

It is not a very subtle hint, although Mr Kotick says his company paid $500 million to Sony in royalties and other goods last year, which “probably still worked out at 400 per cent of the profit they made”. Actually, Sony's games division lost $597 million last year, and Mr Kotick seems to think it may have to risk more losses if the £299.99 PlayStation 3 is to develop.

“They have to cut the price, because if they don't, the attach rates [the number of games each console owner buys] are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony.” Ask when and he says: “When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP [portable] too.” Sounds like Sir Howard Stringer, Sony's chief executive, is going to have to call Mr Kotick pretty fast.

Activision is pretty fortunate in that it has ridden the trend away from traditional “shoot 'em up” titles to family-oriented, interactive games such as Guitar Hero, which grossed more than $1 billion last year. “It was as big as Titanic [the film] with better margins”.

DJ Hero, with its own turntable, will follow this year, although Activision will have to endure its main competitor, Viacom's Rockband, launching a Beatles-themed game.

But it is a trend that, unlike Nintendo, which practically reinvented gaming with the Wii, Sony has been slow to react to. To illustrate the point, Mr Kotick stands on a plastic skateboard that turns out to be the controller for Tony Hawk: Ride — the company's attempt to reignite the well-worn franchise. Using motion and infra-red sensors, the board detects movements in both the player's body and feet, and speed is generated by swiping a foot on the floor next to the board. It is hoped the title will be a blockbuster later this year.

“Such a physical interface could be ideal for Sony,” he says, building up the sales pitch, before he warns that he will “generate better returns on invested capital” on the Wii and the Microsoft console. If he can persuade Sony to bend to his will, then it will be a sign of how far the power in the computer games industry has changed.
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I don't really care if they stop supporting any game company. I only play good games anyway.

The less copies of their shit on the shelves, the better.
 
God Activision is fucking stupid. They'll risk guaranteed sales on the PS3 since there's no piracy on that while release on the 360 which is INSANELY easy to pirate?

EA is probably convulsing in pure joy and the CEO is probably dancing in his office right now. Free run of Skate, Rock Band and Battlefield on the system. Not to mention EA makes more money on the PS3 then they do on the 360 despite the fact that there's "supposedly" more 360s on the market.
 
[quote name='Paco']God Activision is fucking stupid. They'll risk guaranteed sales on the PS3 since there's no piracy on that while release on the 360 which is INSANELY easy to pirate?

EA is probably convulsing in pure joy and the CEO is probably dancing in his office right now. Free run of Skate, Rock Band and Battlefield on the system. Not to mention EA makes more money on the PS3 then they do on the 360 despite the fact that there's "supposedly" more 360s on the market.[/QUOTE]

Just because something is easy to pirate doesn't mean your average gamer is doing it. I have yet to meet someone in real life that has modded their 360, but I have met people who have modded their wii's. The fact that you are on a forum filled with techies and some of them pirate games doesn't mean that is an accurate representation of how "rampant" piracy on the 360 is. Not to mention, a lot of people buy 360's to play on xbox live, and you can't paly pirated games on xbox live, as far as I know.

As for EA making more money off of the PS3 than they do off of the 360, I would need to see soem type of proof of that. That is the first time I ever heard something of that sort, but it might be true. I'd just like to see where you got that information from.
 
[quote name='help1']Just because something is easy to pirate doesn't mean your average gamer is doing it. I have yet to meet someone in real life that has modded their 360, but I have met people who have modded their wii's. The fact that you are on a forum filled with techies and some of them pirate games doesn't mean that is an accurate representation of how "rampant" piracy on the 360 is. Not to mention, a lot of people buy 360's to play on xbox live, and you can't paly pirated games on xbox live, as far as I know.

As for EA making more money off of the PS3 than they do off of the 360, I would need to see soem type of proof of that. That is the first time I ever heard something of that sort, but it might be true. I'd just like to see where you got that information from.[/QUOTE]

Yes it does. Look at the PSP. Because it's so easy to mod very few people actually purchase anything on it. I've met plenty of people with modded 360s and have nothing but copied games. Hell if you go to craigslist and type in modded 360 you will see tons of ads offering this simple service.

And yes, you can play pirated games on live. You're out of the loop when it comes to piracy on the 360. Sure you can get caught, but that's mainly if you don't do the proper procedures.

The EA thing making more money on PS3 was on Kotaku a while back. It was from a 2008 fiscal report.
 
An empty threat for two reasons:

1) Activision, not release a title for a major system? fuck you for even thinking I'd believe that for a moment.

2) Talking about 2010 and 2011? If the PS3 is still $400 baseline at that point, I'll eat my hat.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']An empty threat for two reasons:

1) Activision, not release a title for a major system? fuck you for even thinking I'd believe that for a moment.

2) Talking about 2010 and 2011? If the PS3 is still $400 baseline at that point, I'll eat my hat.[/QUOTE]

I've always been curious to see what's under that hat. But, I guess it'll have to wait. There's going to be a PS3 price cut this year (In Japan at least for FFXIII) and it'll probably equivalent to $300.
 
[quote name='QiG']Hmm.. what exactly am I going to miss from them anyway?[/QUOTE]

Monthly retreads of Guitar Hero
 
[quote name='javeryh']LOL!!! Activision thinks the new Tony Hawk game will be successful!!![/QUOTE]

The impression I got from reading the article was him saying something attention grabbing so he can promote their new Tony Hawk game. And I have to agree with you. I think it will be an utter failure.
 
I'm almost starting to like Activision's PR in a Jack Thompson kind of way. These people just do not give a fuck about what other people think, even if they are horribly misguided and say some of the dumbest shit in the history of the industry.


It is funny to see people saying stuff like "good riddance" though. Yeah, right.
 
To me this seems more like a publicity stunt just to get the press stirring and in the process hype up their games. I think DJ Hero and (for sure) Tony Hawk will be failures for Activision and at that point nobody would care if they "stopped supporting" their system
 
Sounds like an empty threat designed to speed Sony up with the price cut announcement.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy people putting the boot into Sony. We've come a long way from "people will want to work harder to afford PS3". Uh-huh
 
Is Kotick like the biggest douche on the face of the earth or what? I mean really give it a rest guy. You are not PR, You are not a Dev, and I'm pretty sure you don't even play games. Just go away.
 
If Activision stops developing for the PS3, the only series I will miss is Modern Warfare (since Treyarch is just going to keep rehashing the same basic formula with a new setting).
 
[quote name='SuxoR']I think DJ Hero and (for sure) Tony Hawk will be failures for Activision[/QUOTE]

Agreed.

Geometry Wars must not make them much money. We haven't seen any DLC or news in a while. Its pretty much the only activision product I purchase and they don't whore it out.
 
More rants from a guy who just doesn't get it. Gamers with 360 and PS3 are willing to buy good games, even sequels that Activision has declared they plan to milk until the cow runs dry. However they will turn on anyone who threatens them. Many PS3 owners are 360 owners and won't have a problem forgetting activision exists on both consoles. Hell I won't miss anything they make. In fact, lets just call that one less copy of Prototype, I'll just play inFamous and Crackdown until Crackdown 2 hits and have my fill of Sandbox games that are better than the ones Activision makes.

Activision hasn't been a leader since the days of the Atari 2600, dropping support of any console isn't a good way to move back into the top spots.
 
^ Bullshit.

I hate Activision as much as you do, but they're bonkers profitable and probably won't notice the missing sales from you or I.

I accidentally bought Wolfenstein 3D for $5 the other week, not thinking it was an Activision title. Other than that, however, I have not purchased an Activision title in close to a year or more. Can't recall what they did that made me say "fuck 'em, I'll just buy used from now on," but something did happen.
 
Oh, Activision. You so silly.

Stop supporting Sony? Sure, why not. You've already almost completely stopped supporting quality games. Thanks dropping Ghostbusters, by the way. At the very least, my few pathetic dollars did not end up in your pockets.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']This system is too expensive to make our $120 and $200 games sustainable![/QUOTE]

LOL. Exactly.

What fuckery. There is no way Activision would ever do something like this.
 
I'm pretty sure I bought Guitar Hero for my microwave last week, and in the meantime they've already announced three sequels, so this sounds like a hollow threat.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']1) Activision, not release a title for a major system? fuck you for even thinking I'd believe that for a moment.
[/QUOTE]

Really, this is all you need to know to understand why he's saying this. Companies are always trying to expand their markets, not shrink them. And the market that video game companies sell to are already quite small (people who own this or that console). To ignore a (actually fairly large) population just wouldn't make sense. If he actually meant it, he wouldn't say anything; just start making half-assed ports of Xbox360 titles and hope no-one notices they don't work right. That way they'd still sell to PS3 owners with only minimal investment.

As is, this is just an empty threat that Activision hopes will make Sony lower the price of the PS3.
 
This is an empty threat, because while they probably sell a lot more software on 360, they are still getting million+ sales on their major franchises with the PS3. What I don't understand is why so many people here are dogging Activision when you have both Call of Duty AND Guitar Hero games in your recently played lists. CEO's say stupid shit somtimes. Deal with it.
 
Does this mean Guitar Hero:Crazytown isn't going to be on PS3?

Fuuuuuuuuuuuu.gif

[quote name='usickenme']Who the fuck cares who the name of the publishers is on a game?[/QUOTE]

Lots of folks. Capitalism schmapitalism something something voting with your dollar something something.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']^ Bullshit.

I hate Activision as much as you do, but they're bonkers profitable and probably won't notice the missing sales from you or I.

I accidentally bought Wolfenstein 3D for $5 the other week, not thinking it was an Activision title. Other than that, however, I have not purchased an Activision title in close to a year or more. Can't recall what they did that made me say "fuck 'em, I'll just buy used from now on," but something did happen.[/QUOTE]

That's actually my point, you or I won't make a difference. But we represent a gaming population that has power. Boycotts don't work, I understand that also, but for a company to keep making decisions that piss off the customers, and clearly something they previously did pissed you off, is going to cost them. If they keep pissing on their customers it will hurt them, and they will notice when Tony Hawk bombs and Band Hero bombs. Who do they think is buying the games? The people they are threatening. They aren't threatening Sony they are threatening gamers who can't afford to buy all systems. Those are the gamers who also have to be more cautious about which games they buy. And they aren't buying $160 or $200 games.
 
[quote name='cochesecochese']

Lots of folks. Capitalism schmapitalism something something voting with your dollar something something.[/QUOTE]

I understand but it seems kind of silly. Especially when you consider that Activision does partner with some pretty good devs.

When it comes to games, the pub is simply another logo I have to skip.
 
[quote name='jaystaeb8']That's actually my point, you or I won't make a difference. But we represent a gaming population that has power. Boycotts don't work, I understand that also, but for a company to keep making decisions that piss off the customers, and clearly something they previously did pissed you off, is going to cost them. If they keep pissing on their customers it will hurt them, and they will notice when Tony Hawk bombs and Band Hero bombs. Who do they think is buying the games? The people they are threatening. They aren't threatening Sony they are threatening gamers who can't afford to buy all systems. Those are the gamers who also have to be more cautious about which games they buy. And they aren't buying $160 or $200 games.[/QUOTE]

I don't know much about Band Hero at all (diff. title from GH5, I take it?), but Tony Hawk hasn't been a very successful franchise since "THUG" (guffaw, I get that acronym!). In terms of sales, I mean. I think.

But, for Activision, a "bomb" is something that simply doesn't make a dickload of money. That's why they didn't go with Brutal Legend; it could have been (will be?) profitable, but not holy-fuck-that's-a-billion-dollar-franchise-like-guitar-hero profitable.

Wish I could be that choosy.
 
The biggest Third Party publisher in the world may stop supporting Sony? That's a few nails into the Playstation brands coffin.
 
Could care less since I don't have a PS3, but that's just another dick move by activision. Seems they've been on a roll with these.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']^ Bullshit.

I hate Activision as much as you do, but they're bonkers profitable and probably won't notice the missing sales from you or I.

I accidentally bought Wolfenstein 3D for $5 the other week, not thinking it was an Activision title. Other than that, however, I have not purchased an Activision title in close to a year or more. Can't recall what they did that made me say "fuck 'em, I'll just buy used from now on," but something did happen.[/QUOTE]
I haven't bought an Activision game since Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s, though I guess getting Geometry Wars Galaxies on clearance and Geometry Wars 2 with free points kind of count anyway. Nothing they make is interesting enough to me to consider a purchase, so this doesn't change that opinion anyway.

Has Activision ever made a legit PSP game that's not a "while we're putting it on fifteen other platforms" port? I can't recall anything meaningful from them in the past four years.
 
Dunno. Wish I could remember what it was that pissed me off enough to declare I'd only buy their stuff used. Because I haven't a clue, and their list of "eat a dick, consumer" maneuvers is long and storied enough that I literally have dozens of potential things to choose from.
 
Imagine if the threats were real? Man tons of people would end up buying 360's/Wii's just for Guitar Hero and Call of Duty :p We are also forgetting Acitvision merged with Blizzard, so WoW has enough money to keep them in the profit line WITHOUT the PS3 and PSP, especially if people buy the other systems since theres won't play Call of Duty.

It would be amusing for sure.
 
this is some kind of bargaining move. they must want something from sony so they figure they will rile up the ps3 owners and get some kind of uproar going. aside from 3 series ( 2 of which i havent touched in a while and dont plan on in the future) them not making ps3 games isnt a loss to me. dont care for those music games and the only series of theres to me thats intersting is call of duty. i hope this move by them backfires.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']This system is too expensive to make our $120 and $200 games sustainable![/QUOTE]

Exactly. :applause: They want console price cuts to subsidize purchases of all the ridiculous SKUs of GH and Tony Hawk.

Honestly, I think gamers should be directing their resentment at Blizzard for getting into bed with Activision. Let's face it, even if all their franchises burn out and flop, (which could and may already be happening) there will always be WoW or whatever smash hit they have next. Why couldn't they do what Valve did? If Blizzard could leave them, Activision would crash like Majesco did a few years ago.
 
[quote name='Paco']Yes it does. Look at the PSP. Because it's so easy to mod very few people actually purchase anything on it. I've met plenty of people with modded 360s and have nothing but copied games. Hell if you go to craigslist and type in modded 360 you will see tons of ads offering this simple service.

And yes, you can play pirated games on live. You're out of the loop when it comes to piracy on the 360. Sure you can get caught, but that's mainly if you don't do the proper procedures.

The EA thing making more money on PS3 was on Kotaku a while back. It was from a 2008 fiscal report.[/QUOTE]


The piracy on the PSP doesn't compare to that of the xbox 360.
 
Ps3 owners before this announcement : WHOA CALL OF DUTY AND GUITAR HERO LOOKS AWESOME FDSFGS

After announcement : ACTIVISION MAKES CRAPPY GAME ANYWAYS
 
[quote name='Persona7']Ps3 owners before this announcement : WHOA CALL OF DUTY AND GUITAR HERO LOOKS AWESOME FDSFGS

After announcement : ACTIVISION MAKES CRAPPY GAME ANYWAYS[/QUOTE]

I haven't bought Activision games in a long time because their games haven't been worth buying. Call of Duty? A wimps game compared to Unreal. Bony Cock's Pro Skater? Skate is a better skating game. Guitar Hero? Rock Band says SUPERIOR.

But you can continue playing those guitar hero games they pump out every four months. Are all 360 fans this eager to jack off over Activision?
 
[quote name='Paco']Are all 360 fans this eager to jack off over Activision?[/QUOTE]

Activision? Just COD really. However, Blizzard and Activizion merged and theres no I'd pass over Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, but those are PC titles anyways...

I honestly don't see the big deal. If they end up going just 360 the Arcade will probably be $150 by then and most people will just buy Modern Warfare 3 on the 360. It will be too cheap to ignore.
 
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