Activision: We treat our developers extremely well

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"]

[QUOTE="ghost392"]

Well thats good because they ummmm idk bought them, fundraise them , and advertise them

ghost392

Buying out a studio doesn't mean you run them into the ground. The best companies know that you leave creative freedom with your developers and allow them to work at their own pace, so you avoid burnout, fatigue, and disgruntled employees.

And this is exactly what Activision did. They were on IW's ass to crank out more CoD games, despite their desire to move to a different project and try to create a new IP. As a result, Activision made a contract with West and Zampella stating that they would makde MW2, then be allowed to work on any new IP they wished afterward. (Among other things)

So, as soon as they're done making MW2, they're suddenly fired, and the reason is they were looking at leaving Activision to form their own company? They had over $30 million in royalties coming to them, and a guarantee that they would be allowed to work on a new IP. Why the hell would they try to break off with Activision all of the sudden?

We all know you love Activision, but come on, let's bee realistic. Bobby Kotick is a douchebag of the highest order, and even if West and Zampella weren't completely innocent in this whole situation, everything does point to them getting the short end of the stick.

How do you know the details of the contract or are you going by the guys who have had a history of trouble with publishers?

They were fired for not wanting to work on MW3 when Activision pays the bills and decides what their project will be

I do not love Activision but I respect them and

[QUOTE="ghost392"]

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"]

Buying out a studio doesn't mean you run them into the ground. The best companies know that you leave creative freedom with your developers and allow them to work at their own pace, so you avoid burnout, fatigue, and disgruntled employees.

And this is exactly what Activision did. They were on IW's ass to crank out more CoD games, despite their desire to move to a different project and try to create a new IP. As a result, Activision made a contract with West and Zampella stating that they would makde MW2, then be allowed to work on any new IP they wished afterward. (Among other things)

So, as soon as they're done making MW2, they're suddenly fired, and the reason is they were looking at leaving Activision to form their own company? They had over $30 million in royalties coming to them, and a guarantee that they would be allowed to work on a new IP. Why the hell would they try to break off with Activision all of the sudden?

We all know you love Activision, but come on, let's bee realistic. Bobby Kotick is a douchebag of the highest order, and even if West and Zampella weren't completely innocent in this whole situation, everything does point to them getting the short end of the stick.

Greyfeld

How do you know the details of the contract or are you going by the guys who have had a history of trouble with publishers?

They were fired for not wanting to work on MW3 when Activision pays the bills and decides what their project will be

I do not love Activision but I respect them and

Well we will see after the court case if all this hate towards activision is premature or not

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"][QUOTE="ghost392"]

How do you know the details of the contract or are you going by the guys who have had a history of trouble with publishers?

They were fired for not wanting to work on MW3 when Activision pays the bills and decides what their project will be

I do not love Activision but I respect them and

ghost392

Well we will see after the court case if all this hate towards activision is premature or not

[QUOTE="ghost392"]

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"] I know the details of the contract, because they were spelled out in West/Zampella's grievance against Activision after being fired. So unless you believe that they outright lied on their 16 page grievance document (Which would bite them in the ass in court), we can all assume that the lines they alluded to in their contract were legitimate and factual.Greyfeld

Well we will see after the court case if all this hate towards activision is premature or not

Wow the antichrist... thats a little harsh if I may use the analogy of the 2008 presidential election remember Republicans saying President Obama would be the antichrist and he turned out to be a fine leader well I dont think people should hate activision until the court results are out

[QUOTE="ghost392"]

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"] I know the details of the contract, because they were spelled out in West/Zampella's grievance against Activision after being fired. So unless you believe that they outright lied on their 16 page grievance document (Which would bite them in the ass in court), we can all assume that the lines they alluded to in their contract were legitimate and factual.Greyfeld

Well we will see after the court case if all this hate towards activision is premature or not

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"][QUOTE="ghost392"]

Well we will see after the court case if all this hate towards activision is premature or not

Zerkrender

[QUOTE="Zerkrender"][QUOTE="Greyfeld"] Lol it's not like I actually care. I don't have stock in Activision. I just find it amusing that there are actually people like you in this world who believes that a huge company like this, that has been proven time and time again to be the gaming equivalent of the antichrist, can do no wrong.ghost392

[QUOTE="ghost392"]

[QUOTE="Zerkrender"] Why are you ignoring me? He defends APPLE! :xshadow_hosi

Games in Ipod Touch 8 times less then DS games...

Wow blame the Publisher and not the dev's?

Rare's games being are great and if you feel their bad I dont know why you blame MS because they give them the Dev time they need...

ghost392

I'm not talking about time i'm talking about the impact that different kinds of managements of development studios can have.

Q: A few days ago, Infinity Ward lost two other top developers, Todd Alderman and Francesco Gigliotti. Should fans be worried about the future of the Call of Duty franchise now that four of its top developers have either quit or were fired?

Tippl: It's not a secret that Call of Duty has been one of the most successful franchises in the industry. The franchise plays an extremely important role within the overall plans for Activision. A couple of weeks ago, we announced we will get more focused with a dedicated Call of Duty business to rally the best talent of the company against the opportunity that Call of Duty presents for the company. We've had multiple studios working with the franchise so we can come up with innovative, new content every year. Nobody should be surprised that we will continue to focus disproportionately against the franchise.

lagos4u2c

Straight answers ftw

Well, they don't kidnap employees like Nintendo does....Willy105

HUh?

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"] [QUOTE="Willy105"]Well, they don't kidnap employees like Nintendo does....Willy105

That borders on cartoonish supervillianry.

[QUOTE="InsaneBasura"]

[QUOTE="ghost392"]Oh come on this is getting ridiculous of course they treat employees well... Why are Infinity Ward the only developer who was Victimized??? Because they violated their contract? (poor them) seriously and what else are they going to make another shooter? ghost392

Well, I doubt they beat them with whips or anything, but it's pretty obvious that Activision largely likes to be in control of the direction of their annually exploitable franchises. Especially when it comes to an IP as important as Call of Duty. Ask all the former Guitar Hero developers. Or Double Fine. Or the people of this entire damn ongoing situation. People who have been with a studio for eight years don't just up and leave if everything's peachy.

Well thats good because they ummmm idk bought them, fundraise them , and advertise them

Not sure what your point is.

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"][QUOTE="ghost392"]

Well we will see after the court case if all this hate towards activision is premature or not

ghost392

Wow the antichrist... thats a little harsh if I may use the analogy of the 2008 presidential election remember Republicans saying President Obama would be the antichrist and he turned out to be a fine leader well I dont think people should hate activision until the court results are out

You know, I was getting worried about this whole Activision:evil: scandal, but now that Activision has said they treat their employees well, I feel a lot better.

*sits in chair and stares at TV eating Cheetos*

SolidTy

[QUOTE="Willy105"][QUOTE="Fightingfan"] Link, i have to read that.Storm_Marine

That borders on cartoonish supervillianry.

[QUOTE="ghost392"]

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"] Lol it's not like I actually care. I don't have stock in Activision. I just find it amusing that there are actually people like you in this world who believes that a huge company like this, that has been proven time and time again to be the gaming equivalent of the antichrist, can do no wrong.Greyfeld

Wow the antichrist... thats a little harsh if I may use the analogy of the 2008 presidential election remember Republicans saying President Obama would be the antichrist and he turned out to be a fine leader well I dont think people should hate activision until the court results are out

Yes it does because people call Activision the antichrist and should just wait for the results of the court case and my analogy was perfect because Obama is just like other politicians just a better politician but being better at your job doesnt make you the antichrist just like being a better publisher doesnt make you one and thinking Activsion will fail is like thinking Obama wont win reelection because Activision is a big company like their policies of setting deadlines or not and Obama is a very good orator and charismatic like his policies or not. calling Activision the Antichrist makes no sense as your limiting your audience to Christian gamers.

If you really despise Activision you would compare them to Germany WWI as nobody liked them. Of course thats what protestors did to Bush and he won twice and that what protestors did to Obama and he will likely when twice.

This analogy shows how infact name calling and exagerating your hatred does nothing people simply ignore you and unless activision fired employees big deal its their company and if you really disdain them dont buy their products geez and stop the hate. I would say the same thing to people who wine under every president ( yes people whine under everypresident) to vote if you disapprove as name calling is just plain wrong

this was coming from the same guy that previously said he liked to take the fun out of developing games?

dragonfly110

That was Bobby Kotick - the guy in my sig. Bobby likes speaking random gibberish. Silly Bobby.

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"][QUOTE="ghost392"]

Wow the antichrist... thats a little harsh if I may use the analogy of the 2008 presidential election remember Republicans saying President Obama would be the antichrist and he turned out to be a fine leader well I dont think people should hate activision until the court results are out

ghost392

Yes it does because people call Activision the antichrist and should just wait for the results of the court case and my analogy was perfect because Obama is just like other politicians just a better politician but being better at your job doesnt make you the antichrist just like being a better publisher doesnt make you one and thinking Activsion will fail is like thinking Obama wont win reelection because Activision is a big company like their policies of setting deadlines or not and Obama is a very good orator and charismatic like his policies or not. calling Activision the Antichrist makes no sense as your limiting your audience to Christian gamers.

If you really despise Activision you would compare them to Germany WWI as nobody liked them. Of course thats what protestors did to Bush and he won twice and that what protestors did to Obama and he will likely when twice.

This analogy shows how infact name calling and exagerating your hatred does nothing people simply ignore you and unless activision fired employees big deal its their company and if you really disdain them dont buy their products geez and stop the hate. I would say the same thing to people who wine under every president ( yes people whine under everypresident) to vote if you disapprove as name calling is just plain wrong

[QUOTE="dragonfly110"]

this was coming from the same guy that previously said he liked to take the fun out of developing games?

fend_oblivion

That was Bobby Kotick - the guy in my sig. Bobby likes speaking random gibberish. Silly Bobby.

We haven't yet announced the content of their game, but it's going to be an innovative take that will further broaden the audience for Call of Duty.

Yikes.... super casual fun time inc?

Espada12

[QUOTE="forza420"]how can you call yourself a gamer if you support this evil company?Willy105

Sometimes, there is no PR in the world that can help.

Coming from the guys who bought out the studio making Scratch: Ultimate DJ (competition to DJ Hero), and then closed them down. Yup. You really *care*.skrat_01

There's a lot of those kind of stories.

One is about Infinity Ward. IW wanted to move Call of Duty into the modern era after the first Call of Duty, but Activision was reluctant and would only give IW access to 360 dev kits if they made CoD2 take place during WW2. Also Activision fought against Modern Warfare.

Here's what Tim Schafer of Double Fine had to say about the circumstances under which West and Zampella were fired. He speaks from experience as Activision reportedly after a failed attempt to turn Brutal Legend into some form of Guitar Hero spinoff dumped the game and then sued Double Fine as the game was picked up by EA.

Anyone trying to play devil's advocate here, or just plain believe Activision's damage control...you're simply wrong. It's extremely obvious which kind of business it is they're running, and it has been for some time now. Robert Kotick has flat out confirmed it himself, multiple times. If the creative process has to be bulldozered to make way for the piles of cash they project to bring in, then that's what they'll do.

[QUOTE="ghost392"]

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"] Obama is not Bobby Kotick, and your presidential analogy has zero to do with the topic at hand.Greyfeld

Yes it does because people call Activision the antichrist and should just wait for the results of the court case and my analogy was perfect because Obama is just like other politicians just a better politician but being better at your job doesnt make you the antichrist just like being a better publisher doesnt make you one and thinking Activsion will fail is like thinking Obama wont win reelection because Activision is a big company like their policies of setting deadlines or not and Obama is a very good orator and charismatic like his policies or not. calling Activision the Antichrist makes no sense as your limiting your audience to Christian gamers.

If you really despise Activision you would compare them to Germany WWI as nobody liked them. Of course thats what protestors did to Bush and he won twice and that what protestors did to Obama and he will likely when twice.

This analogy shows how infact name calling and exagerating your hatred does nothing people simply ignore you and unless activision fired employees big deal its their company and if you really disdain them dont buy their products geez and stop the hate. I would say the same thing to people who wine under every president ( yes people whine under everypresident) to vote if you disapprove as name calling is just plain wrong

You fall asleep while I clearly explained the analogy and I knew noone would actually read it but I explained anyways how it is relevant and how its valid

Thanks Activision, I needed a good laugh.:lol:

No point to talking to these stuffed shirt corporate aholes no matter where they come from. Thats just the way people at that level are. Greed before people really.

I'm pretty sure Activision doesn't allow creative freedom. Brutal Legend got rejected because of what? Wasn't it some "it's not exploitable" reason or something? Singularity made the cover of GameInformer awhile back, in the article the head of whatever company is developing Singularity stated "lots of ideas are always brought to Activision and most of them get turned down because they can't be annually exploited and thus get shut down." There's also countless other instances, you know, like how Activision got another studio to develop CoD, Infinity Ward's creation, and then gets ANOTHER studio to milk the franchise even more. Sorry Activision, you can't change the definition of creative freedom. It is what it is and you do the complete opposite.Prodigy32

This damage control does little to actually try to convince anyone though. For the most part it focuses on explaining that they'll continue attracting developers because the Call of Duty brand has pedigree, Activision has a big marketing machine, and Activision rewards success with wads of cash. That one sentence about creative freedom is pretty indicative of how committed Activision is to it.

Activision's image is irreparable. At this point they're so antagonistic any attempt by them to prove otherwise is met with disdain and treated like a lie. Guess that's why Tippl barely bothered.

Oh well, he did say that one sentence. And as you say it is pretty obvious baloney, malarkey, balderdash and poppycock.