Activision condemns EA "mudslinging"

By Fred Dutton Published 17 August, 2011

COD vs BF3 banter "hurts the industry."

EA's recent spate of public "mudslinging" over this year's Modern Warfare 3/Battlefield 3 showdown is bad for the industry, so says Activision exec Eric Hirshberg.

Speaking in his Gamescom keynote today, the Acti Publishing CEO called on publishers to encourage each other to make great games rather than tearing chunks off each other in the press.

"Competition is of course a good thing. It keeps us all on our toes and ultimately makes the games better. It's healthy. But it's one thing to want your game to succeed and another thing to actively, publicly say you want other games to fail," he said.

"Recently a competitor of ours was quoted as saying that he wants to see Call of Duty 'rot from the core'. I've been asked countless times to respond to this comment and I've generally chosen not to. My job is to help our incredibly talented, passionate teams to make the best games they can, not to throw insults around at others. But I actually feel this kind of rhetoric is bad for our industry.

"Can you imagine the head of Dreamworks animation coming out with a new movie and going to the press and saying that he wants Toy Story to 'rot from the core'," he continued. "It's kind of hard to imagine, right?"

Hirshberg went on to argue that if everyone supports one another then the industry will make better games and pull in more punters.

"As someone who runs one of the biggest publishers in this business I can tell you that I want as many games as possible to succeed, whether we created them or not," he continued, "because I want this industry to keep growing and bringing in new people.

"I believe when someone in this industry does something great, whether they work in California, or Sweden, or North Carolina, or the United Kingdom, it doesn't just benefit their company. It benefits us all."

He added that there are plenty of potential customer out there to go around. Make a great game and it will sell, no matter what the competition is up to, he argued.

"I believe that as many great games as this industry can make, that's how many people will buy. I say that not only as the CEO of Activision but also as a gamer.

"This isn't politics. In order for one to win, the other doesn't have to lose. This is an entertainment industry, it's an innovation industry and, at best, it's an art form. But we're still a young art form. If we were the movie industry the movies wouldn't even be talking yet.

"We all still have a lot to prove in our position in the pop cultural landscape. We still need to stand the test of time. We need to show we can withstand the kind of disruptive change and new competition that we're facing now.

"The only way to do that is to continue to make great games. We shouldn't be tearing each other apart fighting for a bigger piece of the pie - we should all be focused on trying to grow a bigger pie. If we as an industry act like there's a finite number of games in the world, then there will be."

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (71) Latest comment 9 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Architect_z #1 9 months ago

    Peace!? NO PEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

  • funkateer #2 9 months ago

    And there I was thinking that competition helps moving the industry forward.

  • Daddy-Doom-Bar #3 9 months ago

    Daddy Doom Bar condemns Acti's mudslinging about EA's mudslinging...or something like that.
    You all know what I mean.

    It's all good. I'm going to get both cause I'm a gamer and I want to play good games. I prefer the BF series, but hey, you never know.

  • Kayin #4 9 months ago

    Says the company that wouldn't get off Tim Schafer's balls because Brutal Legend didn't sell COD numbers after trying to can it.

    Activison's not exactly peachy clean when it comes to slagging off their competition either.

  • kassmageant #5 9 months ago

    WHAT A LOAD OF BULL....

    ( i actually wanted to quote " best " part of this statement here but considering its coming from activision, entire speech is so BATSHIT INSANE that it's pointless)

  • Daddy-Doom-Bar #6 9 months ago

    @Architect_z
    Watched that earlier with my boys. They loved it. Great film.

  • abot #7 9 months ago

    Mr. Hirshberg, If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. Your competition can say whatever they want to about your company. Its called competition.

  • Red_Devilfish #8 9 months ago

    Wow, just in terms of this monologue he sounds pretty reasonable. Wouldn't it be cool if all publishers were like this (including Acti).

  • StolenGlory #9 9 months ago

    Mummy! I want to go home! That nasty EA lad is saying bad things to me!

    Good lord. Grow a pair Acti would you? There is no higher ground to be taken here.

  • Xardan #10 9 months ago

    I totally agree. EA do seem to act a lot like juveniles with this whole EA vs Activision thing. It was mildly amusing at first, but its pathetic now.

  • dirtysteve #11 9 months ago

    Because Activision only want the best for all their competitors of course. The moral high ground is a shaky place, especially when you hear Acti talk about growing the industry, despite their approach being to drain IPs to husks while limiting innovative growth.

  • kadooosh #12 9 months ago

    I think that's a good response. Everyone always hates the top dogs, if EA had the market for fps games i would guarantee most would hate them. Thats the way it always goes...

  • Flipper79 #13 9 months ago

    Ah that old classic, responding to an argument by stating the original argument, saying you've been asked about it loads but insisting you've never lowered yourself to a response despite the contrary evidence that in this statement itself you are bringing up the original argument unprompted. Classic. Or to put it simply, passive aggression from a corporate behemoth. Nice.

  • Lord_Gremlin #14 9 months ago

    ...
    Why I myself would like CoD to rot from the core. This way a lot of money will pour towards other games, good chance that some of those games will be good.

  • polaris70 #15 9 months ago

    Read between the lines, the guy is talking sense, but he's mudslinging at the same time. It's a win - win speech that could've been written by Josh Lyman. "This isn't politics" - yeah right.

  • Paulie_P #16 9 months ago

    I hate Activision and Call of Duty, but I have to agree with them on this one. I'm sick of EA constantly referring to it in each Battlefield news story.

  • metalangel #17 9 months ago

    He's right, whether you want to admit it or not. EA are making fools of themselves, and neither IW nor DICE deserve the shit that's being spouted at or 'for' them respectively.

    All EA has done is remind me why I don't want to be a customer of theirs any longer, because it makes me feel dirty by association.

  • Apaar #18 9 months ago

    In this case I'm finding it incredibly difficult to symphatise...

  • prudislav #19 9 months ago

    they are acting like kids

  • Phantom_Dynamite #20 9 months ago

    EA and Activision should chose 3 people each and sit down to a game of Quake 3 winner takes the crown of FPS king.

  • GrizzleBoy #21 9 months ago

    Calling a polished turd a polished turd does not hurt the industry.

    It hurts those creating yearly iterations of said polished turds that are sold above "full price".

    It also puts pressure upon those being exposed for constantly producing overpriced polished turds to up their game and show that they can produce more than just polished turds.

    Therefore it actually helps gamers. Those who have to buy your polished turds. They get more value.

    However, if your only response to this pressure/challenge, is to cry at others for calling your polished turd a polished turd, then you will eventually have do die in a pool of your own polished turds that noone wants anymore because you refused to innovate.

    I mean you raped your own guitar hero franchise with your yearly polished turd factory.

    I myself, only purchased one of your polished turds because the non console spin-off Battlefield games are over half a decade old.

    Now that I have an old school styled Battlefield game to play that isn't six years old (*retires BF2/BF2142, prepares for BF3*), not a single polished turd will ever pass through my front door until those turds become games.


    Say no to polished turds. Say yes to putting pressure on the dog rectum that is the Activision factory.

  • whoyouknow #22 9 months ago

    "Can you imagine the head of Dreamworks animation coming out with a new movie and going to the press and saying that he wants Toy Story to 'rot from the core'," he continued. "It's kind of hard to imagine, right?"

    Hard to imagine because it is in no way analogous. Last I checked, Pixar don't want me to pony up an extra £3 a month to "get the most" out of the DVD I already paid for, and I don't spend hours a night watching Toy Story with my friends online (especially not Toy Story 3 because I prefer not to spend my evenings fighting back manly tears).

  • Markusdragon #23 9 months ago

    If Activision says it's hurting the industry, keep on doing it. Mercilessly.

    /spite

  • aphex187 #24 9 months ago

    http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php...

  • BillyBrush #25 9 months ago

    To be fair, EA operate on the basis that they the publisher perch their arse on your face, you the customer open your mouth, and they the publisher shit down your neck. And then you the customer thank them for it.

    And it works. So fair do's to them and all that.

    I'm off to sign up for the ea sports season pass and get some listerine.

    The whole thing with call of duty is that you don't have to buy it if you don't want to....zumba fitness selling lately hasn't caused a black hole to open up and engulf the industry and i'm not sure it's too innovative either, so don't go worrying about the caustic effect cod has on the artistic integrity of shooty shooty games. Other thing about it is they do hold their value quite well because you haven't knocked 10quid off it the second you play online.

    I'm sure Acti are pure molten evilTM and all that, but EA's shit also stinks, and it stinks reeeal bad.

  • Machiavellian #26 9 months ago

    Because Activision only want the best for all their competitors of course. The moral high ground is a shaky place, especially when you hear Acti talk about growing the industry, despite their approach being to drain IPs to husks while limiting innovative growth.

    No, Activision understand that both games are different so such petty feuding only hurts both franchise thus pissing off consumers and thus losing them money. In other words, it it doesn't benefit sales, then Acti doesn't want no part of it. It's almost like Coke vs Pepsi. If you notice, Coke never have any ads that talk about Pepsi because Coke sales 5 times as much as Pepsi so why give them any pub. Pepsi, on the other hand is trying to gain market share so they make the comparisons hoping to get Coke drinkers to become Pepsi drinkers.

  • Johnson #27 9 months ago

    It says a lot about Activision that they see themselves as the Pixar of the video games industry rather than the Dreamworks.

  • Triggerhappytel #28 9 months ago

    He's actually got a point, but then he should look closer to home at a certain Mr. Kotick if he wants to talk about senior execs damaging the industry.

  • JadedSoul #29 9 months ago

    Post deleted at 08:10:55 26-04-2012

  • Ahskay #30 9 months ago

    Lol @ Activision

    It doesn't want to play anymore with the big kids so it goes into a corner and starts crying.

  • Tryhard #31 9 months ago

    I guess Acti are just pissed after seeing that BF3 Caspian border trailer.

  • loksfox #32 9 months ago

    is this guy retarded? both battlefield 3 and cod mw3 are helping each other sales with this "fight" and "insults"

  • Acrid #33 9 months ago

    Oh poor Acti, realising they have the inferior product and now they want us all to get along.

  • Zyklonbzombie #34 9 months ago

    I feel bad for the developers having these ridiculous corporations representing their work.

  • Snake_2011 #35 9 months ago

    I think they have seen BF3 is looking the better game & is going to overtake soon.

  • Mister-Wario #36 9 months ago

    "Make a great game and it will sell, no matter what the competition is up to, he argued".

    Okami?

    Banjo-Kazooie: N+B?

    Zack and Wiki?

  • jonbwfc #37 9 months ago

    "Make a great game and it will sell, no matter what the competition is up to, he argued".
    "And if it doesn't sell as much as we think it should have, we'll still shut your studio down anyway" He didn't add.

  • addugg #38 9 months ago

    Sorry what!

    I feel asleep halfway through the talk.

    Something about money?

  • joelstinton #39 9 months ago

    Hes got a point. The Juvenile mudslinging is pathetic. Yeah sure you can constructively criticise, and make a comment. Thats only fair. but like the comments that plague all COD articles, petty one liners is pointless. You just make other people angry and and turn away from your own product or game you are defending. You think what dicks make this game/play this game, and actually not end up buying it/playing it.
    Edited by joelstinton at 17/08/11 @ 22:10

  • jefranklin18 #40 9 months ago

    @JadedSoul:

    +10 if I could for that comment

  • TheInvincibleCarmine #41 9 months ago

    This reminds of the old tupac versus biggie smalls war. Hopefully this time no one will get shot!

  • jablonski #42 9 months ago

    Jablonski condemns EG's obsession with stirring rather than reporting real news or reviewing games

  • trubadman #43 9 months ago

    I predict cod sells more

  • SaintDaveUK #44 9 months ago

    Impeccable timing, Activision! Just hours after that amazing BF3 trailer was released, you couldn't help yourself but do a bit of mudslinging yourself - only disguised as gaining the moral highground...

  • Breach #45 9 months ago

    What the guy says is morally right.

    But he's in the business of selling games, and his speech is more alligned to profits than morals.

  • Vedfolner #46 9 months ago

    I have come to hate EA for many, many reasons lately - at least this guy makes sense. I'm with him.

  • Nazo #47 9 months ago

    He's absolutely right, of course.
    Considering the amount of money the games industry makes it doesn't get anywhere near the recognition it deserves and I suspect a lot of it is down to the fact that so many involved in it behave like juvenile idiots, whether it be Sony vs Microsoft, EA vs Activision or fanboy vs fanboy.

    Of course considering where he works he should be directing this speech towards his boss and getting his own house in order first.

  • GrizzleBoy #48 9 months ago

    ANYONE defending this idiot has just been brainwashed.

    When was the last time you saw an EA rep bashing MW3?

    A week ago? Couple weeks ago? A month?

    However, this guy comes out of nowhere with his "OMG EA STOP BASHING US ALREADY!!" and people are like "YEAH EA!!!".

    Regardless of the fact that the whole BF3 vs MW3 thing has been pretty damn quiet for a LONG ASS time.

    Anf of some reason, these brainwashed folk dont find it convenient that this guy has to appear NOW of all times, after DICE release probably the most awesome trailer for an FPS game this year and are fully focused on their own game, to complain about EA jabbing at them at SOME random point in recent memory, as if they're constantly doing it.

    To summarise:

    EA/DICE release huge info about their newest game. The internet goes wild. Wins Gamecom awards.

    Activision immediately pops up to soil the name of EA as if there actually has been some kind of ongoing to and fro, when its been quiet for a good while now.

    People jump on Activisions side, blind to the fact that Acti is actually working silent politics on them.

    Good job.

    Buy MW3. You deserve it.
    Edited by GrizzleBoy at 17/08/11 @ 22:59

  • Falcon9x5 #49 9 months ago

    To be fair, Josh Lyman wouldn't've written a win-win speech, that would've been Toby (Ziegler) and Sam's (Seaborn) job.

  • polaris70 #50 9 months ago

    @Falcon9x5
    Toby doesn't write the speech, he articulates it. The speech is written in Josh and Leo's head ;p

  • UkHardcore23 #51 9 months ago

    EA have no class, never have never will.

  • Ace-Reject #52 9 months ago

    Somebody's a little scared i think.

  • shadowdogg #53 9 months ago

    Oh go play with your junk.

  • Stuvok #54 9 months ago

    calls for peace just because they are getting the shit kicked outa them xD

  • CamberGreber #55 9 months ago

    PLEEEAAASSSEEE!

    Activision hasnt created anything innovative or game changing that supports the industry since the 90s.

    Activsion just like all the big companys only care about filling there pockets with money.
    Now that EA is in direct competion with them there being hypocrates.

  • Master09 #56 9 months ago

    I really don't see the problem in getting both games. They offer different experiences and each has its positives and negatives.

    I will be getting BF3 for its team work, huge maps and slower paced gameplay whilst I will get MW3 for the faster paced game-play on smaller maps. Sometimes I dont want to play as a team and want to play solo so MW offers that.

    Its not IW's fault that COD games get released every year.

  • styles_dg #57 9 months ago

    Hurts the industry?! Who do they think they're kidding ....this kind of thing has gone on since the dawn of gaming. Idiots.

  • GrizzleBoy #58 9 months ago

    @styles_dg

    They know EXACTLY what they're doing.

    Put it this way:

    -Activision released their "survival mode trailer" for MW3. People cared, slightly.

    -DICE released their "Caspian Border" trailerfor BF3. They won best game of Gamescom award.


    Now we have this Acti rep (OR Eurogamer for that matter) suddenly feeling like he needs to tell the world about how "recent" remarks made by EA......"recent" being OVER a month ago.....didn't rub him nicely.


    There has been no real COD bashing from EA for a long time and there has been a lot less directly competitive talk, yet this guy opens a can of worms, refers to a comment made on the 15th of June and brings up the fact that EA WERE at SOME POINT talking smack.

    They're not now, but he's having a dig in order to cast some bad light over EA/DICE in their finest hour, about a topic pretty much noone cared about and had pretty much died down until he opened his mouth. ESPECIALLY after Battlefield 3s latest trailers/buzz.


    Taking the "high ground" while stirring the pot at the same time.

  • svenjl #59 9 months ago

    Activision might not be "squeaky clean" but that shouldn't absolve EA from behaving like prats because it's irrelevant to the actual product. Trash talk is cheap and pointless. The last laugh will clearly be had by the publisher that sells more of their product. I would put my money on MW3, but perhaps as BF gains publicity it will catch up in coming years. A lot of people will buy and enjoy both, so EA is just making an ass of itself. I will get neither ;-)

  • WinterMute78 #60 9 months ago

    But activision......it not just EA that want you to fail. We all want you to aswell !

  • Laminator #61 9 months ago

    To be fair both companies are as bad as each other, they have both turned their attentions to inventing new and innovative ways to milk IP's to please the shareholders instead of actually innovating in games. I pretty much refuse to buy a product published by either one at this point.

    Wish there were more CD Projekts out there making/publishing AAA games.

  • xXHamdamcwaXx #62 9 months ago

    How dare they take the moral high ground, when they've been shoveling just as bad as EA! What about the whole 60FPS thing?

    More importantly, the punters love it when the big boys go toe-to-toe. You don't see boxers say "I'm sure we're both going to fight really well and hope for success all round" before a bout. This even suggests that Activision are getting nervous that their annual bank account filler might not deliver... maybe something to do with paid access via Elite?

  • MADANDKEZ #63 9 months ago

    ....is it me or does he sound worried?

    ....Battlefield 3 wins 'Best of Gamescom' award

    ....and it all becomes clear

  • tankboi #64 9 months ago

    in the words of Arnie,

    STOP WHINING!!!!

  • jrb #65 9 months ago

    No. Activision are bad for the industry.. that doesn't stop them being douches every single day.

  • Jimster71 #66 9 months ago

    I don't care who started it, just pack it in now!

    That's what their mum would have said.

  • radioactive_bumfluff #67 9 months ago

    lol, I like how this article is basically about MW3 v BF3 and the Zavvi advert to the right if the article is advertising BF3....
    Edited by radioactive_bumfluff at 18/08/11 @ 11:41

  • svenjl #68 9 months ago

    Activision are bad for the industry?! And what...EA are the choirboys of gaming? *cough, cough*
    I will continue to buy products from both publishers as long as their products are quality. By the way, I bet EA would LOVE for the BF series to be as successful as COD/MW has been. Gamers have a choice about how to spend their money. If COD/MW appeals to a broader spectrum of gamers than BF3, who the heck cares? If you prefer BF then you can revel in the fact that you get to play a kick ass game that you wouldn't swap for any other. For me, military shooters are too close to home so I prefer to put aliens in my sights (that's looking at you Dead Space 2, my new favourite 3rd person shooter!).

  • Moz #69 9 months ago

    That would have been a good speech if Activision hadn't lost all credibility already. How can you talk about wanting to improve the industry and promote talent when you go around sacking your best staff to avoid paying them their profit share. Activision and all associated companies still sit at the top of my black list.

  • peppergomez #70 9 months ago

    Boo hoo hoo

  • DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON #71 9 months ago

    ...some weeks later...acti vs EA court case is boiling up...