Oh yeah, it’s on! Electronic Arts (EA) is hella angry at Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick for claiming that the gaming company “lost its way” and no longer appeals to developers.
“Kotick’s relationship with studio talent is well-documented in [ongoing] litigation,” EA corporate communications VP Jeff Brown told Gamasutra in an official statement.
The obviously antagonized Brown also insisted that Kotick’s company was based solely on three game franchises.
“One is a fantastic persistent world he had nothing to do with [World of Warcraft]; one is in steep decline [Guitar Hero]; and the third [Modern Warfare] is in the process of being destroyed by Kotick’s own hubris.”
According to Gamasutra’s Leigh Alexander, the litigation to which Brown refers is Activision’s (very) public dispute with both Double Fine and Infinity Ward.
“In the case of the former, Activision dropped the studio’s Brutal Legend from its publishing slate amid its acquisition of Vivendi and later sued Double Fine and EA when the latter picked it up,” wrote Alexander.
“As for Infinity Ward, the departure of the Modern Warfare house’s founders and the resulting lawsuits between the studio and Activision received quite a high profile in the press.”
