Activision CEO: EA Did a Good Job “Taking the Soul” out of Studios

Electronic Arts has been criticized in the past for its handling of development studio acquisitions, and rightly so. More recently, particularly since John Riccitiello came to the helm, things seem to be much better, but that didn’t stop Activision CEO Bobby Kotick from taking a shot at its main rival in a recent interview.

When asked about what the key has been to the growth of Activision, Kotick said, “It’s about really being considerate of the culture in the game studios that Activision buys. That’s the biggest difference between us and any of our competitors. We built a model that celebrates entrepreneurial, opportunistic, independent values.”

But, presented with the opportunity to bash EA, he added, “It’s almost the opposite of Electronic Arts, which has commoditized development. It did a very good job of taking the soul out of a lot of the studios it acquired.”

Kotick wasn’t able to comment on EA’s attempt to purchase Take-Two, but I can easily imagine what he would have liked to been able to say. Can you say “Monopoly”?
via GamesIndustry.biz