Bobby Kotick slags off Tim Schafer

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 27 September, 2010

"Was late" and "missed every milestone".

Bobby Kotick has hit back at Brütal Legend developer Tim Schafer – who famously called the Activision Blizzard CEO a "total prick" in a Eurogamer interview.

Double Fine boss Schafer told Eurogamer in July: "His [Kotick's] 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."

Activision hit the headlines last year when it tried to prevent EA from releasing Brütal Legend.

Brütal Legend was originally a Vivendi game, but was dropped after Activision merged with Blizzard Entertainment.

"The guy comes out and says I'm a prick," Kotick told the latest issue of Edge magazine.

"I've never met him in my life – I've never had anything to do with him. I never had any involvement in the Vivendi project that they were doing, Brütal Legend, other than I was in one meeting where the guys looked at it and said, 'He's late, he's missed every milestone, he's overspent the budget and it doesn't seem like a good game. We're going to cancel it.'

"And do you know what? That seemed like a sensible thing to do. And it turns out, he was late, he missed every milestone, the game was not a particularly good game..."

Kotick also insisted his infamous "taking the fun out of videogame development" quote was just a quip.

"That was a joke! The fact that there are people – and it's a small vocal minority – that actually think that I meant it... How do you combat that?"

He added: "This is my dream job. I've been playing games since I was 18 years old. I could have bought any company, but I bought a bankrupt game company, and I've been doing it for 21 years. This idea that I'm not passionate about videogames is ludicrous. But you say something and it gets taken out of context."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (82) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • captain_Carl #1 1 year ago

    Oh for fuck sake...

  • CaptainQuint #2 1 year ago

    Bobby Kotick: "The Holocaust didn't happen."

  • Skandalle #3 1 year ago

    Two news articles, both Bobby Kotick, both slagging someone off.
    I think hes trying to get a reputation as being an industry dickhead.

  • DAN.E.B #4 1 year ago

    Ok EG im starting to see a pattern here! how about listing all the people this prick has slagged off in one go!
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/10 @ 11:57

  • TopKatt #5 1 year ago

    Hey Bobby! See you next Tuesday!

  • Cronan #6 1 year ago

    +1

    Kotick is still a nasty little cock bite, but it's kind of comforting on a hung-over Monday morning to see Eurogamer still mining a single crappy interview with some turd-muncher for a dozen tatty headlines.

    Good going guys!

  • captain_Carl #7 1 year ago

    Hey Kotick, i have never met you either...I still think you're a prick

  • Sir_TimAlot #8 1 year ago

    what a monumental 5 star cunt!

  • lucky_jim #9 1 year ago

    The man who thinks Tony Hawk's Ride is a good game is dissing Brutal Legend?

  • Goodfella #10 1 year ago

    Coming next, 'Bobby Kotick slags off Mother Teresa'.

  • beastmaster #11 1 year ago

    What a plantwanker!

  • ZizouFC #12 1 year ago

    "U could have bought any company"

    And he speaks in text-slang as well apparently!

  • roz123 #13 1 year ago

    Bobby Cunt-tick: gamings very own vaginal infestation

  • Spekingur #14 1 year ago

    "U could have.." ?! That should be a 'You'. Is that a direct quote or a mistype by the reporter?

  • LukehMuse #15 1 year ago

    where's Ron Burgundy when you need him?

    Go fuck yourself, Bobby Kotick!

  • lcmnick #16 1 year ago

    Playing games since he was 18 years old?

    What.

    The Fuck.

    I've been playing since I was 8...and I'm 23 now...

  • Bigglesworth #17 1 year ago

    "U" --> "I"

    I did assume text-speak first as well though =)

  • zisssou #18 1 year ago

    He's an evil man

    just like Hitler.

  • DjSolid_AGR #19 1 year ago

    Am I the only one that thinks that Bobby is trying to make a fuss about everything just to get attention once again?

    The thing is this: If Activision releases only GOOD games, who would care about what Bobby says?

    And one more thing: we as gamers are good enough thinking people for Bobby to try and change our minds. Why don't just let your work do the talking?
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/10 @ 12:07

  • iHAZaCHEEZ3burger #20 1 year ago

    Kotick isn't good enough to clean Schafers shoes the cunt.

  • Fightclubber #21 1 year ago

    "never met him in my life" I dont think ive ever met Hitler but he will always get top regard for being a massive cunt! Cant we just fucking stick this disgusting Jabba the hut mother fucker in an acid bath?

  • Fab4 #22 1 year ago

    I've been playing games since 1981...swivel on that Kotick!!

    Edge should have asked him about 'life on his private jet', especially related to the hired help....cunt.

  • butler` #23 1 year ago

    I quite like Bobby.

  • razzastuta #24 1 year ago

    @ beastmaster

    LMAO - I've never heard a term like that and if you don't mind I'm going to use that in future....but just out of interest, can you actually DO that to plants? I just thought they needed water and sunlight for stimulation....

  • ZeroAX #25 1 year ago

    Brutal Legend not good? ..... I accept everything else (the late and out of budget stuff) but brutal legend not a good game? So what is a good game Bobby? Call of Duty 3?

  • darkmorgado #26 1 year ago

    I think hes trying to get a reputation as being an industry dickhead.

    He doesn't need to try. He's had that reputation for quite a while now.

  • schnide #27 1 year ago

    As much as Kotick is a complete tool, I did find it quite hard to believe that he meant the "take the fun out of making games" quote as anything but a joke.

  • CosmicFuzz #28 1 year ago

    To be fair, Brutal Legends wasn't a particularly great game, was it?

  • darkmorgado #29 1 year ago

    @schnide

    Perhaps you're right, but also perhaps he should be wondering why people are so eager to take it seriously. I mean, think about it, given his reputation it's not exactly a stretch to think him being capable of any sort of fuckwittery.
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/10 @ 12:21

  • Zombie-Hamster #30 1 year ago

    Perhaps, Bobby, he was struggling to make a good game because he was under constant pressure from your idiot subordinates. He seemed to do a pretty decent job once he'd gone to EA and frankly you're in no position to question the quality of it.

    Twunt.

  • MisterFalseName #31 1 year ago

    The slagging off of EA seems ridiculous, but I have to say I don't really see that much to complain about here.

    Being significantly delayed and over budget is a pretty big complaint for a game developer... I hate to say it (and fully anticipate being negged into oblivion for this) but it sounds reasonably justified, and the insult here is non existent compared to Schafer's outburst.

  • sunjumper #32 1 year ago

    He is turning into quite the James Bond villain, isn't he?

  • DDevil #33 1 year ago

    I liked Brutal Legend. The mp was a bit wank though.

  • modo_komodo #34 1 year ago

    Why is this news?

    It sounds like Jeremy Kyle.

  • Antaios #35 1 year ago

    "The guy comes out and says I'm a prick."

    Yeah, and he more or less took that back too, Darth.

  • Woffls #36 1 year ago

    So nobody thinks it's possible for someone to be taken out of context on the internet?

  • actionfitz #37 1 year ago

    ""That was a joke! The fact that there are people – and it's a small vocal minority – that actually think that I meant it... How do you combat that?"

    try not opening your mouth ever again...
    even to breathe...
    That might work.

  • actionfitz #38 1 year ago

    Next up on the Bobby Kotick Quotarama Show! "What about all the good things Hitler did?"

    /sigh

  • Raiftel #39 1 year ago

    Considering that he's currently 'the most evil person in gaming', Kotick always comes across as fairly reasonable albeit aggresively business minded. I think a lot of Kotick's reputation has to do with gamers disliking the idea of gaming being a business.

  • Ryboy #40 1 year ago

    You're still a cunt.

  • Fab4 #41 1 year ago

    @ZeroAX, There is fuck all wrong with CoD3 compared to the trash that has appeared as CoD for the last 2 outings.

  • OnlyMe #42 1 year ago

    I hate the industry. Everyone is a damn childish prick who never left puberty.

  • ucankurbaga #43 1 year ago

    Bobby Kotick: "I saw an UFO"

  • FladgeMangle #44 1 year ago

    Will everybody who's on Tim Schafer's side please stand over there. Will everybody who's... hello? HELLO?

  • funkateer #45 1 year ago

    Brutal Legend got 83 points on Metacritic, which means that it *is* a particularly good game and Kotick is factually wrong.
    Well, that is not taking personal taste into account, but Kotick's personal taste couldn't be less relevant here, now could it?

    Looks like he just wanted to hit back at Schafer like a snotty spoiled little brat.

  • Riggers #46 1 year ago

    I absolutely loved Brutal Legend - it was full of charm and humour, bloody good fun and tried to do something a bit different.

    And Bobby, backtracking on previous statements with the claim "I was being ironic!" or "it was meant tongue in cheek" doesn't tend to wash. It's a bit like the internet forum equivalent of trying to be deliberately offensive to someone and then putting a smiley on the end to avoid the wrath of the mods.

    Like this: Bobby, you're a complete and utter Kotick! ;)

  • mcwildcard #47 1 year ago

    "I'm not passionate about videogames" says Kotick.

  • ozzzy189 #48 1 year ago

    I'm going to be a troll for the first time ever and write the same thing in all the booby kotick stories, and even use some swearing words too.
    Fuck off you fat cunt, no one likes you or even gives a fucking shit what you say.

  • carlitoswagon #49 1 year ago

    Koticks right, as always. He's like the Simon Cowell of gaming but better looking.

    -1 and counting

  • nuanimal #50 1 year ago

    I've never met Bobby Kotick either, but I think he's a prick too?

  • Freek #51 1 year ago

    Diden't he just prove that he is infact a total prick? And Shafer apologised for nothing?
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/10 @ 17:28

  • djed #52 1 year ago

    Kotick, could it be that Schafer too was making a joke?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #53 1 year ago

    Anything that will get you some attention, right Bobby?

    I have a lot of respect for Tim because even though he worked on a lot of fantastic games for quite a long time he doesn't come off as needy as others (looking at you Jeff Minter or Cliff Bleszinski).

  • FladgeMangle #54 1 year ago

    WTF? Minus 4? Didn't any of you do sport at school? Pick team a, pick team b..?

    Just in case it need spelling out, I was making a comment about everybody (quite rightly) supporting Tim.

    Jeez, tough crowd.

  • Fatum #55 1 year ago

    @CaptainQuint

    Shame on you.

  • gnrlstuart #56 1 year ago

    the man has a point, whist playing through brutal legend, i couldnt help but notice that beyond the charm and humour, it was pretty boring. it sounds more as though he is defending himself rather than attacking EA.
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/10 @ 14:34

  • beastmaster #57 1 year ago

    @ razza...

    Feel free to use the term plantwanker. It's one of my mates who's infamous for them. Another favourite being "stick your cock up your arse and call yourself a crab-stick".

  • Machiavellian #58 1 year ago

    The slagging off of EA seems ridiculous, but I have to say I don't really see that much to complain about here.

    Being significantly delayed and over budget is a pretty big complaint for a game developer... I hate to say it (and fully anticipate being negged into oblivion for this) but it sounds reasonably justified, and the insult here is non existent compared to Schafer's outburst.

    Wasn't that the same problem Tim had with Psychonauts when MS was going to publish the title. Tim got so behind that MS dropped him and he had to find another publisher.

  • IamTheElderScrolls #59 1 year ago

    Why is everyone being so harsh on Bobby, hes just a guy whos trying to make a buck, isnt that what we all do when we go to work??

  • Soton4084 #60 1 year ago

    The more this idiot says, the more inclined I am NOT to buy Activision games. This guy is a PR disaster!

  • kingmong #61 1 year ago

    @IamTheElderScrolls: yeah, but he doesn't have to be a total prick about it :)

  • waynenot #62 1 year ago

    Brutal Legend was an overindulgent, shoddy, steaming turd - put in the context of him going overbudget and missing every milestone, he did what a responsible businessman would do. It's alright Tim Schafer whining, but it wasn't coming out of his pocket, was it?

    Don't get me wrong, I loved his earlier stuff and Psychonauts was great in parts - but he's nowhere near as good a GAME MAKER as his reputation suggests these days.

  • Centrifugal #63 1 year ago

    I think a lot of this Kotick hate is just mob-mentality. He's a business man, not the devil incarnate. His primary goal is to make money, not please you all.

    Get your own opinion, and don't be such a conformist.

  • ouchio #64 1 year ago

    I HATE Kottick and I do not buy his games.

  • FenderMaster #65 1 year ago

    I thought Brutal Legend was a very good game, the driving and world were fantastic, stopry, music and characters too...

    it was a bit short though, and while good, the combat and strategy could have used a little more work

  • Pirotic #66 1 year ago

    He is good at his job, he took a limping company on the brink of going bankrupt and made it's shareholders extremely rich. His success is down to all you lot still buying his games despite moaning he's the devil.

  • JeffGerstmann #67 1 year ago

    all Hail Bobby Kotick!

    c'mon the man's the head of a publisher NOT a developer. His job is to make money and this field this man is a TRUE artist.

    and yes I am not really Jeff Gerstmann

  • Kengro #68 1 year ago

    Of all the worlds idiots... Bobby Kotick and George W Bush are the two biggest idiots to walk the earth

  • bdc #69 1 year ago

    Kotick you are a complete fucking dickhead, now fuck off and die in a fire

  • Calgon #70 1 year ago

    Personally I see nothing wrong with being business minded(every publisher and developer needs to be for this industry to do well) but not when it appears their values are milking their customers for everything they have for as little effort as possible rather than offering value for money and listening to what his consumers and partners/devs want(which he DOES need, you'd never think it with the attitude he displays).
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/10 @ 18:46

  • Machiavellian #71 1 year ago

    Well here I go for the negs. I do not hate Kotick. I actually understand where he comes from. If a CEO only thought like a game player his company probably would go belly up (looking at you 3dRealms). You need a man in charge who think about the money, sometimes can be a prick but keep developers focus on not just pie in the sky ideals but things that will net cash.

    Gamers always talk about wanting creative games but do not put their money where their mouth is. A successful company can take risk but even they have to be very careful. Spend to much money on your innovative game but cannot get consumer acceptance and you risk putting your company in jeopardy.

    So is Kotick a prick, yes but then again it's probably good for Activision that he is.

  • Calgon #72 1 year ago

    Machiavellian being a businessman you'd think company image is up there on the list somewhere, he's damaging it and heading for a fall if you ask me... like I said there's being business minded(which is absolutely necessary but you went a bit overboard defending his position imo, like it or not theres still plenty of competition around so it not "gimme your money I do what I want" time just yet) and there's treating your consumers like cash cows("how can we get more money while offering less... thats my goal!";) and publicly critisising your partners both are something which you do not beat your chest about to journolists, unprofessional is the word. He's on top now but it wont last long if he keeps this up.

  • Machiavellian #73 1 year ago

    Machiavellian being a business man you'd think company image is up there on the list somewhere, he's damaging it and heading for a fall if you ask me... like I said there's being business minded(which is absolutely necessary but you went a bit overboard defending his position imo, like it or not theres still plenty of competition around so it not "gimme your money I do what I want" time just yet) and there's treating your consumers like cash cows("how can we get more money while offering less... thats my goal!";) and publicly critisising your partners both are something which you do not beat your chest about to journolists, unprofessional is the word. He's on top now but it wont last long if he keeps this up.

    I guess my post could be considered defending kotick but I am really only stating that being a prick and thinking the bottom line isn't evil or bad. Making sure you have a cash cow also isn't bad since it's something that Nintendo has been doing for years and it's what their fanbase expect them to bring out. Once the money is there, then investment can be made for those more risky projects but you still have to keep your eye on the money.
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/10 @ 19:30

  • Calgon #74 1 year ago

    Machiavellian huh I dont understand your position then we both agree theres nothing wrong with being business minded I think everyone can agree with that. Also it depends on your own moral ethics what you consider to be evil or bad doesn't it(same with what you personaly beleive to be good business ethics... you vote with your wallet), I dont think he is necessarily evil personaly but some people do see greed(which he undoubtably is looking like one of the unashamedly greediest execs/CEO's going at the moment) as evil, I dont think many people were saying that though most people just dont like the guy.

    Making sure you have a cash cow also isn't bad since it's something that Nintendo has been doing for years and it's what their fanbase expect them to bring out.

    Nintendo do have a habbit of milking their fans I guess but what they have always had and they must work really hard on is a good company image(Sony and especially MS would love to have one in the same league as theirs) which is what you are missing here, Kotic really isnt being smart here at all(not good for business, will eventually cost money as he is turning his customers off its plain to see).

    PR plays a vital role in this industry just ask Sony or MS both have lost alot of money through different reasons because of it, Nintendo make a packet because of it.

    Offer good value products, respect your customer and your partners and you should in most cases expect good return its pretty simple really, none of this attention seeking chest beating he's been doing is doing him or his company any good, can you agree with that?

    Does he seem such a smart businessman with that in mind?
    Edited by 4 at 27/09/10 @ 19:51

  • cobaltfram #75 1 year ago

    I once dated a guy who said "I could have any guy I want, but I want you". And shocking no one, he was a tool. I'm noticing odd parallels.

  • Machiavellian #76 1 year ago

    Offer good value products, respect your customer and your partners and you should in most cases expect good return its pretty simple really, none of this attention seeking chest beating he's been doing is doing him or his company any good, can you agree with that?

    Lets give Kotick a little break. This was an interview by edge and the statements are taken out of context. Reading the whole interview, he doesn't come off as a total prick and make some very insightful comments. The problem with reading stuff from EG is that they do pull out those comments and people go bananas. People always like to root for the underdog and love finding an outlet for their hate so at the moment Kotick is the new villain. His comments about EA is pretty spot on in my opinion but now EA is the company to love because Activision is the new big dog.

    I guess the good thing going for Activision is that most of their cash cows are not dependant on people like us who spend time reading game sites so the issues with IW, and the blood on the sand with Tim never really reach the majority of their customer base.

    Anyway, his comments from the edge interview really isn't all that baleful. What I see with most comments are knee jerk reactions. He is the enemy so no anything he says is taken with that mentality.

  • Calgon #77 1 year ago

    Machiavellian Ive just proved to you there are plenty of us who werent simply having a kneejerk reaction(but then I wasnt saying I hate him I guess, Im saying he isnt the model businessman he thinks he is by a long shot, infact some of his behaviour/comments have been stupid, poor ethics that turn the consumer off) I still dont understand why you are defending him so much nothing you've said has countered any of my critisisms. Oh and its not like any of the comments that are being quoted are being taken out of context really or that any of it was intended to be off the record(as was the case with Tim's comment which was unprofessional too Im sure even he will admit that).

    My position was never everything he says is wrong and a lie, you were making points to me infact that Id already said myself which shows you prefer to beleive/assume everyone is just another idiot jumping on the bandwagon without really reading what they are saying hence not really knowing what their position is either. :/

    Thats all from me on it anyway I dont care enough to discuss it any further, far more important things for all of us to be concerned with even as far as gaming is concrened, than this saga. Oh and if Activision do start overcharging and underdelivering then dont buy their products, problem solved. :)
    Edited by 2 at 27/09/10 @ 20:34

  • DrStrangelove #78 1 year ago

    Thank God there are still people like Tim Schafer, people whose goal is to create something wonderful instead of something that generates maximum profit. And thank God there are still publishers with CEO's who aren't total pricks.

  • Machiavellian #79 1 year ago

    My position was never everything he says is wrong and a lie, you were making points to me infact that Id already said myself which shows you prefer to beleive/assume everyone is just another idiot jumping on the bandwagon without really reading what they are saying hence not really knowing what their position is either. :/

    I actually had to go back and see that before my post you posted the same thing. I did not see it since I was writing mine and did not read it afterwords because I was responding to your post after mine. Sorry for that.

    Actually, I really wasn't looking to defend kotick more than make a statement that keeping an eye on the money or making sure your cash cows stay cash cows isn't wrong. I believe a business man should do that. I agree that that same man must also understand the industry they are in and be flexible. So the man isn't a PR person and probably should do what Peter M does and have those people with him so he can respond with the non answers to questions that tell you nothing but also doesn't incite hate.

  • Machiavellian #80 1 year ago

    Thank God there are still people like Tim Schafer, people whose goal is to create something wonderful instead of something that generates maximum profit. And thank God there are still publishers with CEO's who aren't total pricks.

    Only if we had more people who would take the risk in buying games where developers take risk, then we would see more developers willing to take more risk (yeah, having fun deciphering that one) and publishers willing to publish them but the world would implode and we all die.

  • DrStrangelove #81 1 year ago

    I don't want the world to implode. Maybe I haven't thought it through.

  • JayKwon #82 1 year ago

    I thought Brütal Legend was really great and the mp was great as well, an really original game finally with you entering battle and commanding troops at the same time. It just had as steep learning curve because not many things were explained to you properly, most people didn't find out half the things you could do in the game. That was, I have to admit, stupid. The game didn't seem finished as well. However, it had a superb soundtrack (made me appreciate metal), a warm storyline with good voiceovers, original gameplay, very original world and look, brutal action, varied things to do and was just the fresh breaht of air I needed in my big game collection.

    Overall though it has a great metascore with a 82 and that's the same as Blur (which I also quite like), and definetely an higher score than the last guitar hero effort or tony hawk ride or any licensed game like transformers or any other of their latest efforts. But I don't think he's talking about metascore, he's talking about sales. A good game in his words would mean a game that sold really well in our words.