EA responds to Bobby Kotick slur
COD destroyed by "Kotick's own hubris".
EA has slammed bitter rival Activision after CEO Bobby Kotick accused the Medal of Honor publisher of "suffocating studios".
"Kotick's relationship with studio talent is well-documented in litigation," EA corporate communications VP Jeff Brown told Gamasutra.
"His company is based on three game franchises – one is a fantastic persistent world he had nothing to do with; one is in steep decline; and the third is in the process of being destroyed by Kotick's own hubris."
While EA refrained from naming the "three game franchises" in question, we can safely assume the company referred to Blizzard's MMO World of Warcraft, the Guitar Hero franchise and first-person shooter series Call of Duty, respectively.
The "litigation" clearly refers to Activision's disputes with Tim Schafer's Double Fine Productions over the release of Brütal Legend, and its own developer, Modern Warfare creator Infinity Ward, over the Modern Warfare series.
EA's response stems from an interview Kotick conducted with Edge magazine.
In it he defended his decision to fire Call of Duty creators Vince Zampella and Jason West, insisting: "We didn't have any choice!"
Ex-Infinity Ward bosses Zampella and West were sacked amid a high profile lawsuit that eventually led to the formation of Respawn Entertainment, which signed with EA.