Kotick Tells His Side of Brutal Legend Story

[The_root_of_all_evil]

That doesn't sound far fetched to me, because like I said it's rare for a CEO to make every decision.

Twenty. Million. Dollars.

Nearly a fifth of their annual income.

In an ideal world where rainbows are everywhere and we all hold hands and sing sure, but in a cut throat capitalist society this is EXACTLY what anyone who wants to stick it to the competition would and *should* do. Get back some of your money AND cause problems for a major rival in your industry? Thats a big hell yeah for any corporation.

See, I have a problem with corporations being expected to use the Fair Game [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_%28Scientology%29] policy. That's less Capitalism and more Anarchy.

Who knows how much more money they would have lost if they had kept throwing money at Schafer.

Ok, other foot, who knows how much Brutal Legend could have brought in without aggressive anti-advertisements, Acti-Blizzard's know-how, forced delays and lawsuits?

Does it really have to be something nefarious?

Nope, but when Joystiq self-advertises during the interview, you are perhaps conscious of shenanigans.

Maybe he is being truthful when he says he finally wants to say his side of things and Joystiq was merely the first place that asked for an interview? Not everything is cloak and dagger stuff.

I've not said Kotick's lying. I've just said if he isn't, he really shouldn't be in charge - because he's proven himself awful PR, ignorant of game design, incompetent at handling legal charges, and generally a sadistic, greedy, little piggy-eyed dolt. He may be telling the truth though.

If the Escapist interviewed him would you be saying the same thing?

Oh man, you would see venom like you've never seen

 

[Hoplon]

If you had lost 20 million dollars wouldn't you jump at the chance to recover some of that if the opportunity presented itself? You'd be crazy not too. They (Double Fine) didn't have the rights to shop around for another publish so when Schafer did exactly that Activision pounced. I would have done the same.

The judge in the case clearly didn't agree as he was going to dismiss the publication delay and given they had already declined to publish the game.

Legitimate or not, it looked like a douche bag move since it was fucking with the release rather than when the alternate publisher was announced.

 

[Hoplon]

Twenty. Million. Dollars.

Nearly a fifth of their annual income.

Fiftieth. They make billions not hundreds of millions.

 

[PapaGamer]

Activision/Kotick are totally in the right on this one. Yes, they had canceled the project and were going to write the money off; but, once Double Fine went to EA, then Activision is basically demanding EA take on the debt related to the game. Activision not getting their money back is tantamount to allowing EA to publish a game financed with Activision's money. Activision is saying: you want the game, you take the debt right along with it. And, yes, this is really how it works in the really real world. When companies cancel projects, they do not just let any other company come in and take over the project without paying for the right to do so. Activision's big mistake was in advancing the $20 million and not writing into the contract any kind of non-compete clause so Double Fine wouldn't even have the option of taking Brutal Legend somewhere else.

By the way, where are the kudos for Activision recognizing BL was a flop?

 

[Delusibeta]

Ultimately, if a publisher drops a game, the developer's not going to sit there with an unfinished game, never to be released. That would be stupid. The developer instead looks for a new publisher.

Take, for example, Atomic Games. If they manage to get a new publisher for 6 Days In Fallujah and finally release it, should Konami sue for any advances they paid? Hell no. Same principal applies here.

Ultimately, as much as Kotick tries (and I have to admit, this bit of PR is better than Kotick's usual standard), he really doesn't have a leg to stand on af far as I'm concerned.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Twenty. Million. Dollars.

Nearly a fifth of their annual income.

Fiftieth. They make billions not hundreds of millions.

Operating Income : FY 2009: -$26 Million Dollars
Net Income : FY 2009 $113 Million

They own billions, they make millions.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Stop trying to be nice and Embrace you villainy Kotick!

 

[Delusibeta]

Twenty. Million. Dollars.

Nearly a fifth of their annual income.

Fiftieth. They make billions not hundreds of millions.

But it's 40% of their profit (going by this year's figures). Still a sizeable sum.

[Edit] OK then, about 20%. Point stands.

 

[Hoplon]

Twenty. Million. Dollars.

Nearly a fifth of their annual income.

Fiftieth. They make billions not hundreds of millions.

But it's 40% of their profit (going by this year's figures). Still a sizeable sum.

Yeah, but that's a quarter... plus, that's the net profit, after cost like investing in upcoming games they want to publish...

 

[Loonerinoes]

Okay...so putting aside all the legal stuff, which at the moment I doubt most of us can review to verify this side of the story, Activision had made a promise to Double Fine about a game and financed it. Then it went back on said promise and desired the money back via a lawsuit. Now I'm not entirely sure wether the lawsuit included said money that was invested in Double Fine as the actual reason, or wether it claimed copyright reasons. If it was the former, then fair enough - it may have indeed happened as such. But if it was the latter - honestly...how can he expect us to believe this after using the law for ulterior motives?

And all of this is ignoring the legality of it all and the fact that it wasn't just Activision's money and time being wasted. It was also Double Fine's, because Activision ultimately dropped its promise of support! So what...we're supposed to say "Yeah, you guys were poor babies that they made such a poor game and Double Fine were the bad guys all along?" Doesn't work like that. Both sides lost something and trying to extort MORE after both sides have lost still sounds pathetic to me. You want to talk about lost money Activision? How about the lost time and support from Double Fine because of your decision? Is that worth nothing too?

It's not a matter of one person to blame. It's a matter of both sides ultimately not coming to an agreement, no matter which was more unreasonable (something we'll ultimately never really know for sure).

 

[Jesus Phish]

My view on it is that when Activision dropped the developers, they ended the contract. Unless in the contract there was a clause that Double Fine would pay back any investment regardless of the outcome of the contract, then Activision wouldnt be able to go after Double Fine for bringing their IP to another company.

 

[Bigeyez]

That doesn't sound far fetched to me, because like I said it's rare for a CEO to make every decision.

Twenty. Million. Dollars.

Nearly a fifth of their annual income.

In an ideal world where rainbows are everywhere and we all hold hands and sing sure, but in a cut throat capitalist society this is EXACTLY what anyone who wants to stick it to the competition would and *should* do. Get back some of your money AND cause problems for a major rival in your industry? Thats a big hell yeah for any corporation.

See, I have a problem with corporations being expected to use the Fair Game [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_%28Scientology%29] policy. That's less Capitalism and more Anarchy.

Who knows how much more money they would have lost if they had kept throwing money at Schafer.

Ok, other foot, who knows how much Brutal Legend could have brought in without aggressive anti-advertisements, Acti-Blizzard's know-how, forced delays and lawsuits?

Does it really have to be something nefarious?

Nope, but when Joystiq self-advertises during the interview, you are perhaps conscious of shenanigans.

Maybe he is being truthful when he says he finally wants to say his side of things and Joystiq was merely the first place that asked for an interview? Not everything is cloak and dagger stuff.

I've not said Kotick's lying. I've just said if he isn't, he really shouldn't be in charge - because he's proven himself awful PR, ignorant of game design, incompetent at handling legal charges, and generally a sadistic, greedy, little piggy-eyed dolt. He may be telling the truth though.

If the Escapist interviewed him would you be saying the same thing?

Oh man, you would see venom like you've never seen

That doesn't sound far fetched to me, because like I said it's rare for a CEO to make every decision.

Twenty. Million. Dollars.

Nearly a fifth of their annual income.

In an ideal world where rainbows are everywhere and we all hold hands and sing sure, but in a cut throat capitalist society this is EXACTLY what anyone who wants to stick it to the competition would and *should* do. Get back some of your money AND cause problems for a major rival in your industry? Thats a big hell yeah for any corporation.

See, I have a problem with corporations being expected to use the Fair Game [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_%28Scientology%29] policy. That's less Capitalism and more Anarchy.

Who knows how much more money they would have lost if they had kept throwing money at Schafer.

Ok, other foot, who knows how much Brutal Legend could have brought in without aggressive anti-advertisements, Acti-Blizzard's know-how, forced delays and lawsuits?

Does it really have to be something nefarious?

Nope, but when Joystiq self-advertises during the interview, you are perhaps conscious of shenanigans.

Maybe he is being truthful when he says he finally wants to say his side of things and Joystiq was merely the first place that asked for an interview? Not everything is cloak and dagger stuff.

I've not said Kotick's lying. I've just said if he isn't, he really shouldn't be in charge - because he's proven himself awful PR, ignorant of game design, incompetent at handling legal charges, and generally a sadistic, greedy, little piggy-eyed dolt. He may be telling the truth though.

If the Escapist interviewed him would you be saying the same thing?

Oh man, you would see venom like you've never seen

eh I think we just have a fundamental difference in how we view this type of thing. I see where your coming from but I don't agree with your thinking. guess this is one of those cases where we ill just agree to disagree.

 

[ohgodalex]

Bobby Kotick, shine on you crazy diamond.

 

[Necromancer1991]

You do realize that Tim Schafer is a REALLY popular developer and having his name on a game pretty much guarantees people buying it, unless the ALL the reviews suck

 

[Blind Sight]

I love how Kotick is always like six months behind on gaming news, he always seems to put his two-cents in way after the issue has been settled, that doesn't really help his whole 'incompetent' image.

 

[Grounogeos]

So Activision wanted Double Fine to pay back the money that was spent on a project that Activision decided to cancel?

Sounds retarded to me.

They wouldn't have asked for the money back if EA didn't sign them to a deal.

I give Bob twenty of my water balloons to throw at Joe. After realizing that Bob can't hit Joe and would be wasting my water balloons, I tell him it's not going to work.

Ernie decides he can coach Bob and gives him twenty more water balloons to hit Joe. I say good luck but want the water balloons back to give to Mike.

Mike has proven he can hit Joe.

I understand that. What I'm saying is retarded is the fact that they even thought Double Fine would pay back the money that was poured into a project that was canceled by the same company that supplied the money.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

eh I think we just have a fundamental difference in how we view this type of thing. I see where your coming from but I don't agree with your thinking. guess this is one of those cases where we ill just agree to disagree.

That's fair enough. Can't change personal views. Glad to have knocked heads though.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

You do realize that Tim Schafer is a REALLY popular developer and having his name on a game pretty much guarantees people buying it, unless the ALL the reviews suck

On the contrary, Tim Schaefer is famous for making popular BOMB's. In this case though, Brutal Legend wasn't even a critical darling. I enjoyed the experiance I had with the game, for what it was, but it didn't nearly live up to it's proposed vision, and the universe cries out for a better treatment.