Zoro11031
A Major PS2 Fanboy
"When he wasn't promoting the company's games or technology, Kotick was celebrating its laserlike focus on the bottom line. He pointed to changes he implemented in the past as being particularly beneficial, such as designing the employee incentive program so it "really rewards profit and nothing else."
"You have studio heads who five years ago didn't know the difference between a balance sheet and a bed sheet who are now arguing allocations in our CFO's office pretty regularly," Kotick said.
He later added, "We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."
If that sounds like it would create a corporate culture that isn't all sunshine and hugs, then it's "mission accomplished" for Kotick. The executive said that he has tried to instill into the company culture "skepticism, pessimism, and fear" of the global economic downturn, adding, "We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."
http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6226758.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1
I think it's fair enough to run Activison primarily as a business (that is, after all, what it is) but "taking the fun out of making video games?" I think it's important for any creative industry to have entertainment in mind foremost. This sort of 'motivation' is waht leads to bland and uninspired sequel-a-thons (IMO, such as what Guitar Hero has become.)
"You have studio heads who five years ago didn't know the difference between a balance sheet and a bed sheet who are now arguing allocations in our CFO's office pretty regularly," Kotick said.
He later added, "We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."
If that sounds like it would create a corporate culture that isn't all sunshine and hugs, then it's "mission accomplished" for Kotick. The executive said that he has tried to instill into the company culture "skepticism, pessimism, and fear" of the global economic downturn, adding, "We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."
http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6226758.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1
I think it's fair enough to run Activison primarily as a business (that is, after all, what it is) but "taking the fun out of making video games?" I think it's important for any creative industry to have entertainment in mind foremost. This sort of 'motivation' is waht leads to bland and uninspired sequel-a-thons (IMO, such as what Guitar Hero has become.)
