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1. People losing their jobs sucks. My sympathies.
2. People losing their jobs sucks especially when the company announced a $15 million signing package for a c-suite executive.
3. I wonder how many of the esports people will go work for EA and Respawn, given that those companies are probably looking into the esports side of the business now that they've got a Battle Royale game out.
4. Someone on D2 Reddit crunched the numbers, and apparently a third of A/B's profits go to seven folks at the top. IIRC, the number was around $70+ million. Those folks could easily get $50 million, leaving an extra $6+ million for Blizzard, Candy Crush, and Call Of Duty respectively. Who knows how many people could keep their jobs?
5. The choice to cut some of SC2's WCS funding right after the increase in attention and viewership seems really dumb.
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Any system where you are rewarded for being an asshole is flawed.
Giving bonus to someone for firing people in order to make already rich shareholders even richer is like unlocking achievements every time you BM someone on battlenet.
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On February 14 2019 17:26 veniss wrote:
3. I wonder how many of the esports people will go work for EA and Respawn, given that those companies are probably looking into the esports side of the business now that they've got a Battle Royale game out.
EA pulled the plug on teh C&C3 and Red Alert 3 servers the nanosecond Gamespy died. EA doesn't support RTS at all. Blizz has done a much better job supporting RTS than EA has.
On February 14 2019 17:26 veniss wrote:
5. The choice to cut some of SC2's WCS funding right after the increase in attention and viewership seems really dumb.
attendance in the WNBA is up and teh players are screaming for more money. That doesn't mean the league is making a profit. WCS isn't profitable. Never has been. I'm just glad it lasted as long as it did.
Its pretty hilarious that Blizzard does all these 'inclusivity' initiatives as some kind of distraction ploy somehow giving the public the signal that money really doesn't matter ... the #1 criteria is profit....
I wonder how big the team is that polices social media to pro-actively ban players? How many full time people does Blizzard have watching instagram, twitter, snapchat and AOL instant messenger for "inappropriate conduct" ?
maybe Jeff Kaplan can let us know.
Blizzard needs to get out of the social engineering business and get back to the business of MAKING GAMES.
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On February 14 2019 17:35 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2019 17:26 veniss wrote:
5. The choice to cut some of SC2's WCS funding right after the increase in attention and viewership seems really dumb. attendance in the WNBA is up and teh players are screaming for more money. That doesn't mean the league is making a profit. WCS isn't profitable. Never has been. I'm just glad it lasted as long as it did.
In corporate eyes, WCS is essentially marketing. For StarCraft in particular and Blizzard more generally. All big corporations spend stupid amounts of money on advertising their products and nurturing their brand. Its always a massive loss in iself, the profit comes from the derived increase in profits elsewhere in the business.
Blizzard is a special type of corporation because they get massive amounts of advertisement for free done by all the people who work in or are just part of the community around StarCraft. You would never see anything like that around Amazon or Netflix.
Which just makes it even more ridiculous how they keep cutting down on the support for this community while lining the pockets of executives and shareholders.
Although really it's not ridiculous at all. It's precisely how the system works, the point is just that it is a really bad system.
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If WCS ends, all hope isnt lost. It will make it easier for third party tournaments and smaller tournaments. So im sure there will still be some SC2 e-sports.
Might be rough for GSL without blizzard help?
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On February 14 2019 17:50 sneakyfox wrote:
Blizzard is a special type of corporation because they get massive amounts of advertisement for free done by all the people who work in or are just part of the community around StarCraft. You would never see anything like that around Amazon or Netflix.
its not that special
EA gets free advertising from the people working in and around the EA NHL '94 competitive scene.
www.NHL94online.com
Koei Tecmo gets it with Tecmo Madison
https://tecmomadison.com/
As the poster above me has pointed out.. nothing is stopping 3rd party people from continuing to run events the way BasetradeTV does.
As RTS fans we've had a very long run of support from Blizzard. That support exists no where else. Where is the SEGA//THQ support of Company of Heroes? How about EA's support for C&C? Ensemble//Microsoft for Age of Empires? etc etc.
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On February 14 2019 16:12 cha0 wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2019 15:39 Drake wrote:On February 14 2019 09:29 narbsncharbs wrote:
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.
Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years. no they reallocating those funds into the pockets of the shareholders Not even... they're reallocating those funds into Bobby Kotick and his top execs pockets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/activision-gives-15-million-sweetener-to-new-cfo-dennis-durkinThis guy just got 15mil as signing bonus, and less than month later they are laying people off to reallocate funds? What an absolute joke.
wow, if you put it like this it really seems ridiculous!
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On February 14 2019 17:59 MrMischelito wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2019 16:12 cha0 wrote:On February 14 2019 15:39 Drake wrote:On February 14 2019 09:29 narbsncharbs wrote:
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.
Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years. no they reallocating those funds into the pockets of the shareholders Not even... they're reallocating those funds into Bobby Kotick and his top execs pockets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/activision-gives-15-million-sweetener-to-new-cfo-dennis-durkinThis guy just got 15mil as signing bonus, and less than month later they are laying people off to reallocate funds? What an absolute joke. wow, if you put it like this it really seems ridiculous!
No, its not ridiculous. ATVI lost an entire layer of management who went on to better paying jobs. No one is going to be part of a leadership team for a $7 Bilion/year company for $1 million per year in pay. An experienced, talented leader of 5000+ employees with a track record of generating billions in profits is going to want 10s of millions of dollars.
I went to university and followed my passion.. software engineering. My gf decided to become a CA and get her MBA from a top business school. Up until now I've made more money than her. However, at age 31 her pay is about to skyrocket. Soon she'll be making double , triple or quadruple what i make. I chose to do what I love.. she chose to make money.
Becoming a CA , getting an MBA and taking economics courses is the money path. Its not like this is new information... its pretty well known. Its not ridiculous.
Now, rage creating youtubers like Angry Joe and video game "coverage sites" will give us a thin slice of information from the mountain of facts dropped at the ATVI investor call in order to whip up their viewers//followers//subscribers into an angry frenzy. This is how Angry Joe generates more views.. clicks... and subscribers... by keeping everyone emotionally invested.
Boy, am i angry! Yes, AngryJoe.. i'm angry.. 
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On February 14 2019 17:54 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2019 17:50 sneakyfox wrote:
Blizzard is a special type of corporation because they get massive amounts of advertisement for free done by all the people who work in or are just part of the community around StarCraft. You would never see anything like that around Amazon or Netflix.
its not that special EA gets free advertising from the people working in and around the EA NHL '94 competitive scene. www.NHL94online.comKoei Tecmo gets it with Tecmo Madison https://tecmomadison.com/As the poster above me has pointed out.. nothing is stopping 3rd party people from continuing to run events the way BasetradeTV does. As RTS fans we've had a very long run of support from Blizzard. That support exists no where else. Where is the SEGA//THQ support of Company of Heroes? How about EA's support for C&C? Ensemble//Microsoft for Age of Empires? etc etc.
That is some really bad examples, how many employees at Koei or EA do you think work mostly with those two competetive scenes. The answer is probably a lot less than how much work Blizz historically has laid down on SC1 and SC2 esports, the amounts of spectators they reach are probably not comparable either. (Guessing here)
In regards to the actual topic at hand, its a damn shame if this is how Blizz goes down. Blizzard has historically made their success possible through making superb products, scraping any project that is not of amazing quality and continuing to support any released game for what feels like forever. Their success has been partly made by their reputation, Activisions business model is the opposite. Make cheap plastic, sell it to those that cant distinguish quality from plastic, cease support fast and make more plastic to sell.
This combination is deadly because if Activision get full control of Blizzard they can sell their cheap plastic shit with the Blizzard stamp of quality on it. Since the public is slow and Blizzards reputation is so great it will take years for people to realize and for their hope to die.
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On February 14 2019 18:14 Shuffleblade wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2019 17:54 JimmyJRaynor wrote:On February 14 2019 17:50 sneakyfox wrote:
Blizzard is a special type of corporation because they get massive amounts of advertisement for free done by all the people who work in or are just part of the community around StarCraft. You would never see anything like that around Amazon or Netflix.
its not that special EA gets free advertising from the people working in and around the EA NHL '94 competitive scene. www.NHL94online.comKoei Tecmo gets it with Tecmo Madison https://tecmomadison.com/As the poster above me has pointed out.. nothing is stopping 3rd party people from continuing to run events the way BasetradeTV does. As RTS fans we've had a very long run of support from Blizzard. That support exists no where else. Where is the SEGA//THQ support of Company of Heroes? How about EA's support for C&C? Ensemble//Microsoft for Age of Empires? etc etc. That is some really bad examples, how many employees at Koei or EA do you think work mostly with those two competetive scenes. The answer is probably a lot less than how much work Blizz historically has laid down on SC1 and SC2 esports, the amounts of spectators they reach are probably not comparable either. (Guessing here)
They provide advertising for Tecmo and EA and improve their brand strength... all free of charge.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/nhl-94-tournament-1.4881134
How many people show up to an SC2 GSL? 100? Tecmo Madison has 300 or so show up along with hundreds of spectators. EA NHL '94 has Toronto events with 50 participants and 100 spectators. Check the video in the link i provided and keep in mind the game is now 26 years old. Nothing is stopping the same thing happening with SC2 where it has a grass roots dedicated fan base continuing with competitive events for the indefinite future.
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this is sad to hear, but it's the inevitable consequence of a system that encourages a bunch of out of touch, money grubbing execs and investors to prioritize short-term growth over everything else.
if you want to prevent mass layoffs like this from happening again in the future, encourage employees to unionize, it's the only way they can have any sort of democratic influence in corporate decision making.
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On February 14 2019 18:00 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2019 17:59 MrMischelito wrote:On February 14 2019 16:12 cha0 wrote:On February 14 2019 15:39 Drake wrote:On February 14 2019 09:29 narbsncharbs wrote:
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.
Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years. no they reallocating those funds into the pockets of the shareholders Not even... they're reallocating those funds into Bobby Kotick and his top execs pockets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/activision-gives-15-million-sweetener-to-new-cfo-dennis-durkinThis guy just got 15mil as signing bonus, and less than month later they are laying people off to reallocate funds? What an absolute joke. wow, if you put it like this it really seems ridiculous! No, its not ridiculous. ATVI lost an entire layer of management who went on to better paying jobs. No one is going to be part of a leadership team for a $7 Bilion/year company for $1 million per year in pay. I went to university and followed my passion.. software engineering. My gf decided to become a CA and get her MBA from a top business school. Up until now I've made more money than her. However, at age 31 her pay is about to skyrocket. Soon she'll be making double , triple or quadruple what i make. I chose to do what I love.. she chose to make money. Becoming a CA , getting an MBA and taking economics courses is the money path. Its not like this is new information... its pretty well known. Its not ridiculous. Now, rage creating youtubers like Angry Joe and video game "coverage sites" will give us a thin slice of information from the mountain of facts dropped at the ATVI investor call in order to whip up their viewers//followers//subscribers into an angry frenzy. This is how Angry Joe generates more views.. clicks... and subscribers... by keeping everyone emotionally invested. Boy, am i angry! Yes, AngryJoe.. i'm angry..
It is ridiculous, just because "it is the way the world works" doesn't mean it makes sense or that it should be that way. The reply "its the way it is" is never a good arguement for anything. I'm sure there are people that would be "part of a leadership team for a $7 Bilion/year company for $1 million per year in pay."
Just because the people on the top is used to more doesn't mean that is not ridiculous, Ï think it is very ridiculous that the richest 1% owns more than half of earths net wealth. Its a fact and yet it is ridiculous, should it be that way? Well I don't think so, I guess you do and that just means we have different opinions on this.
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On February 14 2019 18:30 Shuffleblade wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2019 18:00 JimmyJRaynor wrote:On February 14 2019 17:59 MrMischelito wrote:On February 14 2019 16:12 cha0 wrote:On February 14 2019 15:39 Drake wrote:On February 14 2019 09:29 narbsncharbs wrote:
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.
Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years. no they reallocating those funds into the pockets of the shareholders Not even... they're reallocating those funds into Bobby Kotick and his top execs pockets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/activision-gives-15-million-sweetener-to-new-cfo-dennis-durkinThis guy just got 15mil as signing bonus, and less than month later they are laying people off to reallocate funds? What an absolute joke. wow, if you put it like this it really seems ridiculous! No, its not ridiculous. ATVI lost an entire layer of management who went on to better paying jobs. No one is going to be part of a leadership team for a $7 Bilion/year company for $1 million per year in pay. I went to university and followed my passion.. software engineering. My gf decided to become a CA and get her MBA from a top business school. Up until now I've made more money than her. However, at age 31 her pay is about to skyrocket. Soon she'll be making double , triple or quadruple what i make. I chose to do what I love.. she chose to make money. Becoming a CA , getting an MBA and taking economics courses is the money path. Its not like this is new information... its pretty well known. Its not ridiculous. Now, rage creating youtubers like Angry Joe and video game "coverage sites" will give us a thin slice of information from the mountain of facts dropped at the ATVI investor call in order to whip up their viewers//followers//subscribers into an angry frenzy. This is how Angry Joe generates more views.. clicks... and subscribers... by keeping everyone emotionally invested. Boy, am i angry! Yes, AngryJoe.. i'm angry.. It is ridiculous, just because "it is the way the world works" doesn't mean it makes sense or that it should be that way. The reply "its the way it is" is never a good arguement for anything. I'm sure there are people that would be "part of a leadership team for a $7 Bilion/year company for $1 million per year in pay." Just because the people on the top is used to more doesn't mean that is not ridiculous, Ï think it is very ridiculous that the richest 1% owns more than half of earths net wealth. Its a fact and yet it is ridiculous, should it be that way? Well I don't think so, I guess you do and that just means we have different opinions on this.
Its sort of like Conor Mcgregor getting a $10+ million per year deal to fight in the UFC. The UFC makes billions and a big reason why is Conor Mcgregor. So they have to pay him $10+ million per year. If the UFC won't give McGregor the $10 million per year he'll go and get it from some other fight promotion.
I make database software. I need the CIOs and Project Managers to help me build my product; I then need marketing partners to help sell my stuff. As a result, "business people" get a major piece of the revenue my software generates. Its no different for Blizzard software developers. Business guys get a big piece of the pie. CEOs , marketing people, distribution specialists etc.. get a big piece of the revenue.
The creative software makers at Blizzard do some fascinating , exciting stuff. That said, the infrastructure around these smart people provides an environment where great software building is possible. That infrastructure and the people who built that infrastructure get a big piece of the revenue.
Look at Steam. They take 30% for being "just a store front".
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So this is something I don't understand:
They have not been releasing a new game in a while and there're no plans for this year neither. Yet they still decide to fire service employees that were working on the existing games. If I had nothing big coming up for this year I would atleast try to get the most out of the games I have right now. Releaving the community managers and so on sounds like the exact opposite of keeping existing games alive. Also I would have imagined they would see the value in esports for showing your game to a bigger audience and keeping players active. I'm fairly certaine the amount of ingame purchases for HotS will see a major decline after the dawn of their esports.
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On February 14 2019 18:30 Shuffleblade wrote:
Just because the people on the top is used to more doesn't mean that is not ridiculous, Ï think it is very ridiculous that the richest 1% owns more than half of earths net wealth. Its a fact and yet it is ridiculous, should it be that way? Well I don't think so
Nothing to add.
The next question is, what can we do about it? Do we need better education, which teaches about the hardships that are caused for many because of few making big profit? Do we need political regulation?
One thing to also consider is: People from the original Blizzard development teams that made Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo are kind of praised as the representatives of the good ol' times when money wasn't the only thing that counts.
But they somewhere in this journey decided to sell their studio... again and again. I'm not sure who made the decision in each step but the Mike Morhaime (which I admire) probably aren't uninvolved in that development.
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Activision's stock dropped from 83.19$ on Sept. 24 2018 to 44.57$ (today), yikes. We're entering a new era in the gaming industry.. and sadly RTS games are most likely a dying breed.
I still remember the days of when guys like IdrA were pulling 15k-20k viewers on Twitch.. but the financial benefits weren't a fraction of what they are now, the streaming industry was still in its infancy.
It's no secret that gamers and viewers are into team games and FPS' these days (it's more so just to be a part of w/e is currently hot, ppl enjoy being a part of a large community). Activision's stock decline in the past few months can largely be attributed to the Fortnite craze. We're starting to see how much power big name streamers have in the gaming industry (it even extends to athletes/celebs), Fortnite really only blew up due to their partnerships with streamers. They're the main sellers/marketers.
Back when i played SC2 we didn't have a tourney circuit sponsored by Blizzard. SC2 was the biggest esport, we didn't really have any competition so there was no need for Blizzard to step in and take control of the tournament scene. As time went on and SC2 started getting dropped from events in favor of other titles (this is when MOBAs began to rise), Blizzard was left no choice but to step in and take control of the scene. They no longer had the luxury of having esports companies create SC2 content for them, they had to take it upon themselves to create that content.
A lot of companies today are bypassing this entire process, streaming is changing the gaming landscape and the big name streamers are providing gaming companies w/ their player base (the maturing of the Gen Z pop also plays a big role). The gaming model today is basically: fun play-ability/view-ability (team game/fps etc.), F2P and generate revenue from mainly micro-transactions. Companies want big streamers to market their game and they make it F2P to create a gaming frenzy. Players get attached to the game, they stream it because that's what all the cool streamers and their friends are doing.. and voila, you have yourself a thriving gaming community. It really is a cost efficient business model.. but obviously the product has to be somewhat good too  .
Blizzard/Activision is a business and trends in the gaming industry are shifting elsewhere, sadly at the end of the day it's just not logical for them to keep dumping money into something that isn't profitable. That's the reality of today's gaming landscape and it really does suck. I don't think we're gonna see a shift from twitchtv meme frenzy games to quality games any time soon. Streamers and viewers are constantly going to go from 1 flavor of the month game to another.. APEX legends seems to be the next big game :[.
Sad times for the people who've gotten laid off, i wish them all the best of luck.
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6 years, 14 years... With the economic results as well as growth in popularity that came with Starcraft in 2018, this is all just wrong.
Sad times, best of luck to all the staff that was laid off.
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On February 14 2019 18:35 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2019 18:30 Shuffleblade wrote:On February 14 2019 18:00 JimmyJRaynor wrote:On February 14 2019 17:59 MrMischelito wrote:On February 14 2019 16:12 cha0 wrote:On February 14 2019 15:39 Drake wrote:On February 14 2019 09:29 narbsncharbs wrote:
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.
Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years. no they reallocating those funds into the pockets of the shareholders Not even... they're reallocating those funds into Bobby Kotick and his top execs pockets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/activision-gives-15-million-sweetener-to-new-cfo-dennis-durkinThis guy just got 15mil as signing bonus, and less than month later they are laying people off to reallocate funds? What an absolute joke. wow, if you put it like this it really seems ridiculous! No, its not ridiculous. ATVI lost an entire layer of management who went on to better paying jobs. No one is going to be part of a leadership team for a $7 Bilion/year company for $1 million per year in pay. I went to university and followed my passion.. software engineering. My gf decided to become a CA and get her MBA from a top business school. Up until now I've made more money than her. However, at age 31 her pay is about to skyrocket. Soon she'll be making double , triple or quadruple what i make. I chose to do what I love.. she chose to make money. Becoming a CA , getting an MBA and taking economics courses is the money path. Its not like this is new information... its pretty well known. Its not ridiculous. Now, rage creating youtubers like Angry Joe and video game "coverage sites" will give us a thin slice of information from the mountain of facts dropped at the ATVI investor call in order to whip up their viewers//followers//subscribers into an angry frenzy. This is how Angry Joe generates more views.. clicks... and subscribers... by keeping everyone emotionally invested. Boy, am i angry! Yes, AngryJoe.. i'm angry.. It is ridiculous, just because "it is the way the world works" doesn't mean it makes sense or that it should be that way. The reply "its the way it is" is never a good arguement for anything. I'm sure there are people that would be "part of a leadership team for a $7 Bilion/year company for $1 million per year in pay." Just because the people on the top is used to more doesn't mean that is not ridiculous, Ï think it is very ridiculous that the richest 1% owns more than half of earths net wealth. Its a fact and yet it is ridiculous, should it be that way? Well I don't think so, I guess you do and that just means we have different opinions on this. Its sort of like Conor Mcgregor getting a $10+ million per year deal to fight in the UFC. The UFC makes billions and a big reason why is Conor Mcgregor. So they have to pay him $10+ million per year. If the UFC won't give McGregor the $10 million per year he'll go and get it from some other fight promotion. I make database software. I need the CIOs and Project Managers to help me build my product; I then need marketing partners to help sell my stuff. As a result, "business people" get a major piece of the revenue my software generates. Its no different for Blizzard software developers. Business guys get a big piece of the pie. CEOs , marketing people, distribution specialists etc.. get a big piece of the revenue. The creative software makers at Blizzard do some fascinating , exciting stuff. That said, the infrastructure around these smart people provides an environment where great software building is possible. That infrastructure and the people who built that infrastructure get a big piece of the revenue. Look at Steam. They take 30% for being "just a store front".
We understand WHY it is that way, still it is ridiculous and even Connor McGregor would have a good life if he got some millions less. The system is bad, it is wrong and it is unfair and not healthy to the world. I cannot change it, i don´t have the ultimate answer as to how we make it better. But still it is ridiclous how much money the people at the top earn for their job. It is more money than you can spend in a reasonable way, more money than you need to life or you need to even have a very, very good life. So it is ridiculous. And in this sense it is sad that hundreds of people lose their jobs and one gets hired for a 15million bonus. It is pretty much the perfect example why this world is insane.
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On February 14 2019 18:35 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2019 18:30 Shuffleblade wrote:On February 14 2019 18:00 JimmyJRaynor wrote:On February 14 2019 17:59 MrMischelito wrote:On February 14 2019 16:12 cha0 wrote:On February 14 2019 15:39 Drake wrote:On February 14 2019 09:29 narbsncharbs wrote:
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.
Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years. no they reallocating those funds into the pockets of the shareholders Not even... they're reallocating those funds into Bobby Kotick and his top execs pockets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/activision-gives-15-million-sweetener-to-new-cfo-dennis-durkinThis guy just got 15mil as signing bonus, and less than month later they are laying people off to reallocate funds? What an absolute joke. wow, if you put it like this it really seems ridiculous! No, its not ridiculous. ATVI lost an entire layer of management who went on to better paying jobs. No one is going to be part of a leadership team for a $7 Bilion/year company for $1 million per year in pay. I went to university and followed my passion.. software engineering. My gf decided to become a CA and get her MBA from a top business school. Up until now I've made more money than her. However, at age 31 her pay is about to skyrocket. Soon she'll be making double , triple or quadruple what i make. I chose to do what I love.. she chose to make money. Becoming a CA , getting an MBA and taking economics courses is the money path. Its not like this is new information... its pretty well known. Its not ridiculous. Now, rage creating youtubers like Angry Joe and video game "coverage sites" will give us a thin slice of information from the mountain of facts dropped at the ATVI investor call in order to whip up their viewers//followers//subscribers into an angry frenzy. This is how Angry Joe generates more views.. clicks... and subscribers... by keeping everyone emotionally invested. Boy, am i angry! Yes, AngryJoe.. i'm angry.. It is ridiculous, just because "it is the way the world works" doesn't mean it makes sense or that it should be that way. The reply "its the way it is" is never a good arguement for anything. I'm sure there are people that would be "part of a leadership team for a $7 Bilion/year company for $1 million per year in pay." Just because the people on the top is used to more doesn't mean that is not ridiculous, Ï think it is very ridiculous that the richest 1% owns more than half of earths net wealth. Its a fact and yet it is ridiculous, should it be that way? Well I don't think so, I guess you do and that just means we have different opinions on this. Its sort of like Conor Mcgregor getting a $10+ million per year deal to fight in the UFC. The UFC makes billions and a big reason why is Conor Mcgregor. So they have to pay him $10+ million per year. If the UFC won't give McGregor the $10 million per year he'll go and get it from some other fight promotion. I make database software. I need the CIOs and Project Managers to help me build my product; I then need marketing partners to help sell my stuff. As a result, "business people" get a major piece of the revenue my software generates. Its no different for Blizzard software developers. Business guys get a big piece of the pie. CEOs , marketing people, distribution specialists etc.. get a big piece of the revenue. The creative software makers at Blizzard do some fascinating , exciting stuff. That said, the infrastructure around these smart people provides an environment where great software building is possible. That infrastructure and the people who built that infrastructure get a big piece of the revenue. Look at Steam. They take 30% for being "just a store front".
So you believe Bobby Kotick is comparable to Mcgregor, if Mcgregor left UFC and worked somewhere else the UFC would lose a lot of money right? So paying him a lot makes sense, you somehow believe that if Bobby Kotick left Activison-Blizz would face the same consequences? A lot less revenue/profits? Well that is one point were I disagree, Kotick is replaceable and I don't think he plays as big of a role for Actiblizz as Mcgregor does for UFC.
I think paying Mcgregor that amount of money is crazy but it is also understandable, in the case of Kotick it is not.
I agree with your arguements about the infrastructure and how those people also need to get paid and get a part of the revenue. You however never go into the actual numbers, which is were the logic in your arguments starts to fade. Its like record labels in the 80s and 90s, they took a huge part of the revenue and no that is not reasonable. When a leader (part of the infrastructure) gets payed a ton more than the people that actually creates the products it stops making sense.
Steam is whole different beast, I would compare Steams success to that of the effect of a valuable copyright. Steam invested in its storefront early, got it rolling and is still earning tons of money because of their early investment in developing and supporting it. Taking 30% is unreasonable and ridiculous but its the way it works, the rich gets richer until something changes.
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On February 14 2019 19:23 Shuffleblade wrote:
So you believe Bobby Kotick is comparable to Mcgregor,
There was nothing left of Activision in 1990 when Bobby Kotick bought it. + Show Spoiler +No studios, no creative talent, nothing. Just a brand name and a mountain of debt. He built it from less than nothing ( because it was in debt ) to what it is today. Activision IS Bobby Kotick. Its his baby.
If you want to take an even deeper dive into the origins of Actvision .. check out my signature. If you care to take some time exploring it you'll discover Activision has a very cool history.
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