Candid words from a Eurogamer interview with Double Fine’s Tim Schafer are making the rounds this morning for some very choice words to a particular Activision CEO.
Eurogamer journalist, Wesley Yin-Poole articulated that Bobby Kotick was being misunderstood by gamers as one that pandered to them when his job is to ultimately serve his stockholders. At this point, Schafer went on the offensive.
His obligation is to his shareholders. 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.
Elaborating further, Schafer juxtaposes that Kotick’s views on the game industry is a complete polar opposite from his own.
Well, he makes a big deal about not liking games, and I just don't think that attitude is good for games in general. I don't think we're an industry of widgets. I don't think we can approach it like we approach bars of soap, where you're just trying to make the cheapest bar of soap.
Modern Warfare 2 pleased more than just the shareholders, to be fair. 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.
