Blow It Out Your Ass, Part II: Tim Schafer Calls Bobby Kotick A “Total Prick”
“Blow It Out Your Ass” is a series inspired by the unapologetic swagger of Duke Nukem that highlights brutally honest talk from figures in the gaming industry.
Speaking to Eurogamer during the Develop Conference, DoubleFine’s Tim Schafer has revealed his candid feelings about Activision’s grand poobah Bobby Kotick, referring to Kotick as a “dick” and a “total prick.”
“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.”
Oh, it’s on.
Schafer is behind DoubleFine’s Brutal Legend, which was slated to be published by Activision until the Blizzard merger put the kibosh on those plans. EA eventually picked up Brutal Legend, and, well, the rest is history. Schafer brought out the big guns, highlighting Kotick’s apparent disdain for his own industry, adding: “[Kotick] makes a big deal about not liking games, and I just don’t think that attitude is good for games in general. I just don’t think we’re an industry of widgets.”
His criticism didn’t stop there, either. We’ll just let his words speak on their own:
We can approach it like we approach bars of soap, where you’re just trying to make the cheapest bar of soap. 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.
Hopefully he’ll go back to another industry scene. He could go to an industry that makes more money. Ball bearings… something that suits his passions more. Weapons manufacturing?
Ball’s in your court, Bobby.
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Lol, soap…
Honestly, Schafer needs to grow up.
Ehhh…
Schaefer might be a dick for saying what he did, but Activision clearly has some leadership problems (see: Infinity Ward). I trust Tim over Bobby.
No doubt there are some major issues there, but nothing good will come from bad mouthing Kotick. It’ll just start one major flame war due to the lack of maturity they both share.