CALL OF DUTY may look like a movie, but Mr. Kotick has little interest in turning it into one — and has turned down several studios’ requests. He says movies based on video games rarely please devoted fans and could taint the brand.
“He’s a very, very careful thinker about how value is created in the business,” says Bruce Hack, who was chief executive of Vivendi Games when it merged with Activision. He says that most Silicon Valley companies, meanwhile, haven’t figured out how to make money on free online games.
“He’s a very, very careful thinker about how value is created in the business,” says Bruce Hack, who was chief executive of Vivendi Games when it merged with Activision. He says that most Silicon Valley companies, meanwhile, haven’t figured out how to make money on free online games.
Kotick also opens up about what it's like being one of the most hated and vilified person in the gaming industry.
In several online photographs he is depicted as the Devil, with red horns against a Hades-like background.
On this particular Sunday, it’s those Photoshopped horns that really irk Mr. Kotick. He is seated at a corner table in the cavernous breakfast room of the Pierre hotel, across the street from Central Park, shaking a leg nervously and whispering in a conspiratorial hush.
“Think about what it’s like for my dating life when the first picture that comes up is me as the Devil,” says Mr. Kotick, who is recently divorced. “You see all this chatter and you realize that they game the search results. These super-sophisticated 19-year-olds are smarter than our expensive P.R. firm.”
On this particular Sunday, it’s those Photoshopped horns that really irk Mr. Kotick. He is seated at a corner table in the cavernous breakfast room of the Pierre hotel, across the street from Central Park, shaking a leg nervously and whispering in a conspiratorial hush.
“Think about what it’s like for my dating life when the first picture that comes up is me as the Devil,” says Mr. Kotick, who is recently divorced. “You see all this chatter and you realize that they game the search results. These super-sophisticated 19-year-olds are smarter than our expensive P.R. firm.”
In related news, the cover image for the New York Times article (seen above) is amazing for all the wrong (right?) reasons.
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