Bobby Kotick talks about what Blizzard can do for Activision
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 26th 2008 at 1:00PM
The Wall Street Journal sat down to interview Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, and our little World of Warcraft game got a nice bit of face time (one wonders why no one's asking Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime about, say, Guitar Hero, but who are we to question the corporate structure?). Kotick says that Activision closely examined what everyone else was doing with MMOs and online gaming, and saw that the only real winner in the market was Blizzard. Rather than investing in their own franchise, then, they decided to just buy Blizzard from Vivendi (and as you know, that's what happened). Kotick says what's so difficult about running these online games is just the scale -- you've got to handle credit card fraud, keep thousands of servers up and running (and patched), and still provide a good experience for millions of players at a time.Kotick also talks about the way that WoW is sold in Asia (there, instead of paying a monthly fee, many people in Internet cafes pay per hour in cash), and says that Blizzard's experience with setting up a viable pay model may come in handy with other Activision properties overseas, Guitar Hero being his first choice.
We're still not exactly clear on how all of this relationship works -- while both Blizzard and Activision have said in the past that it's hands off, you have to think that even though things are buddy-buddy now while the money's flowing, but what happens when the two sides start to disagree?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dotixi Sep 26th 2008 1:11PM
Activison is just going to use Blizzard to make money and as soon as Blizzard refuses to play by their rules WoW will suffer. I have a feeling we are already seeing this...Wrath shipping unfinished is just one example.
Ahoni Sep 26th 2008 1:27PM
Did you read the article? Or are you just here to troll?
Wrath is not shipping unfinished.
BTW, the article requires registration. The registration/login isn't showing up in my Firefox ... anyone gotta link to the unlocked article?
emptyrepublic Sep 26th 2008 1:34PM
I seriously doubt Activision is putting that much pressure on Blizzard to release WotLK early. It's hardly unfinished either. Rough around the edges? Sure.
Regardless, I think Activision wanted some high profile and proven IPs under its umbrella to better leverage itself as a major player in the industry. With the likes of EA, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo stomping around its easy to go unnoticed unless you have a powerful line-up of well known titles to prove you belong with the big boys.
Dotixi Sep 26th 2008 1:40PM
Oh and apparently "unfinished" isn't the right word either..."unpolished" might fit better, either way it's semantic argument.
darian Sep 26th 2008 1:41PM
Troll probably.
The "Zomg Activision is destroying Blizzard!" argument is the latest in a long line of baseless criticisms throw against WoW and Blizzard. It has prestigious siblings such as "Blizzard only cares about your $15 a month" and "Tigole/Furor have hated Paladins since EQ".
There's potentially a reasonable argument or concern behind these vast exaggerations, but I've never seen them treated as anything other than excuses to spread FUD.
Candina@WH Sep 26th 2008 1:38PM
"Wrath is not shipping unfinished"
OK. Launch Date is 7 weesk out.
They need to be burning DVDs and Printing materials TODAY to make that date.
The talent trees are not finalized.
There are class balance questions (and always will be :-) )
The Beta servers can't go 24 hours without crashing.
Much of the end game content is not implemented.
Spells, Abilities, Racials, Talents, are all in flux.
And you think Wrath is finished?
Nope. I will wait for patch 3.0.3 (or whichever patch happens about 6 weeks after launch) before buying Wrath, thank you very much. Until then. It will be a buggy, frustrating experience.
darian Sep 26th 2008 1:43PM
Fun fact: Unlike console games or many other PC titles, MMOs do not need to have a complete game in the box. Blizzard can and will be developing WotLK up to the day before the launch as any necessary changes not included on the disk can be patched in on launch day.
This is what they did with BC, so it's nothing new or surprising.
Ahoni Sep 26th 2008 1:49PM
"They need to be burning DVDs and Printing materials TODAY to make that date."
Really? What do you base this on? Is there any reason they wouldn't just print the box/materials LAST month and insert the CD when finished?
"The talent trees are not finalized."
Not on the CD or in the box.
"There are class balance questions"
Not on the CD or in the box.
"Much of the end game content is not implemented."
Not on the CD or in the box. Kinda like Hyjal, Black Temple, Black Wing Lair, Naxx, AQ 40 etc.
"Spells, Abilities, Racials, Talents, are all in flux."
Not on the CD or in the box. This is patch 3.02, or even patch 3.1.
"The Beta servers can't go 24 hours without crashing."
Very valid point. However, that is a beta with many items in flux at the same time. The live servers will not be this unstable. If I recall correctly, the BC Beta crashed too. I don't recall a single crash of my server the first week of BC.
"And you think Wrath is finished?"
Where did I say that? I said it wasn't shipping unfinished. Has it shipped and I just missed it?
Candina@WH Sep 26th 2008 1:50PM
Which by definition proves my point.
They ARE shipping Wrath unfinished. And will use the online patch ability to finish it.
All I am asserting is that the DVD you get (which will be 'unpatched') will be buggy enough to be frustrating UNTIL the online patch 4-6 weeks after launch happens.
BlizzAct is doing this so people can have something to wrap and put under the Christmas Tree.
I think this is an actual outgrowth of the BC experience. BC hit HUGE. But was a um.. tad... buggy out of the box.
So, I think that someone at BlizzAct said, lets ship it in a rough form, and take advantage of the christmas selling extravaganza. We know we're going to have to continue to patch it anyway, so why wait?
Whether this was driven by Activison (a company saavy in the marketing and distribution of video games.) or Blizzard, a company saavy at making compelling game play is pretty irrelevant.
Candina@WH Sep 26th 2008 1:58PM
Ahoni:
All class spells, tool tips, talent trees, damage calculation, etc. are in the client, not in the server. So, yes they are on the DVD.
But you are right, None of my concerns will be on CD, as Wrath is shipping on DVD only. :-D (and I mean this as gentle ribbing, not ripping. :-) smile it is only a game).
Ahoni Sep 26th 2008 2:12PM
"All class spells, tool tips, talent trees, damage calculation, etc. are in the client, not in the server. So, yes they are on the DVD."
Nope. All class spells, tool tips, talent trees etc are in patch 3.02. You will download them weeks before the release date, same way we did before BC.
Drakkenfyre Sep 26th 2008 4:01PM
"All I am asserting is that the DVD you get (which will be 'unpatched') will be buggy enough to be frustrating UNTIL the online patch 4-6 weeks after launch happens."
If they release the game unfinished, the patch will be waiting for you as soon as you install the game. It won't be "4-6 weeks after launch", lol.
And the boxes are already printed. So are the manuals. Go check your manuals for the original game and the expansion, if you have them. Notice how they are slightly off? How the screenshots might be a little different? It's because the manuals are printed while the game is still in beta, lol.
totemdeath Sep 27th 2008 2:31AM
What goes on the DVD that'll ship on Nov 13th will most likely consist of cinematic files, and a few data files. Most of the actual game content will be downloaded over an 8 - 10 hour period once you load that DVD and get the authenication key right. The $39.99 you will spend at GameStop will in effect buy you a semi-random 18-24 digit encrypted code key. Thats it.
Hmmmm Sep 26th 2008 1:39PM
"Rather than investing in their own franchise, then, they decided to just buy Blizzard from Vivendi (and as you know, that's what happened)"
I know that this may not be a professional commentary, but at least post facts please. Vivendi bought a majority stake in Activision and created the new company to replace Vivendi games. Activision did not buy Blizzard. For a website called Wow Insider, it seems strange that you are unable to relate this accurately to the readers. Misinformation like this is the catalyst for ridiculous posts like the first one here.
Dotixi Sep 26th 2008 1:42PM
Take a look at who wrote this piece and it'll make sense. Schramm never checks his facts...
Lemons Sep 26th 2008 1:58PM
You never check your facts...idiot
GnarlynarZ Sep 26th 2008 1:47PM
With Activision buying blizzard, that only makes me think one thing: L70(80 now?)ETC songs in Guitar Hero AMIRIGHT?
To answer your question though, if both sides start to squabble, it could come down to dev's leaving the company, it's happened with other companies, it could happen to Activblizz just the same. However the consequences would be much more devastating seeing how WoW players take such a sizable chunk of the gaming market. Yet since both sides have lucrative series(Wow, GH), the long-as-theres-a-record-deal-we'll-always-be-friends friendship shouldn't sway too much.
Yeng Sep 26th 2008 2:17PM
They already are. You can download L70ETC's 'I Am Murloc', have been able to for some time.
Lemons Sep 26th 2008 1:58PM
The whole Activision + BLizzard thing just seems odd. It's like they're the odd couple. I can't image a game where they'd work together so whats the deal? Are they just trying to bulk up so they don't get absorbed by EA?
That seems the only reason blizzard would agree to team up with another developer. The whole thing is just strange and I'd of prefered if Blizz just stayed Blizz without having to be coupled with any other company.
Dotixi Sep 26th 2008 2:10PM
I think you hit the nail squarely on the head. Activition saw their market share being gobbled up on the Squeal Giant that is EA and said, "WTF!?" They did a Google search on "cool games" or "top computer game" and saw World of Warcraft topping the charts on all gaming sites (PC/MAC gaming). So, they called Vevendi, told the ol' gal she was pretty and made coy references to the fat sack-o-cash they had burning holes in their collective pockets. A few months later after some awkward bumping Activision Blizzard was born. The "WTF!?" of gaming. :-D