Wed, Aug 17, 2011 | 20:34 BST

Activision isn’t too pleased about EA’s public “mudslinging”

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg hasn’t taken too kindly to EA’s recent spate of public “midslinging” at the company over Modern Warfare 3/Battlefield 3 showdown.

Speaking during his gamescom keynote today, Hirshberg requested publishers  encourage each other to produce amazing games rather than tearing chunks off each other in the press.

“Competition is of course a good thing,” he said. “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 felt that EA CEO John Riccitiello’s comment about he’s like to see Call of Duty”rot from the core” were really uncalled for.

“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,” he said. “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’? It’s kind of hard to imagine, right?”

Hirshberg then argued that the industry will make better games and attract more punters if everyone supported one another.

“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 went on to say that there are enough potential customers in the market to be able to do your own thing and still be successful. If  a company is able to make a great game, it’ll sell, no matter what the competition is up to.

“I believe that as many great games as this industry can make, that’s how many people will buy,” he said. “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.

He stressed that the key to success is coming up with great games, and rather than fighting amongst one other in order to be more successful at the expense of the competition, companies should focus all their energy and resources in moving towards that ultimate objective of producing a great game.

“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,” he concluded.

EA’s Battlefield 3 releases on October 25 while Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will release on November 9.

Both of the titles will be releasing on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Thanks, EG.

24 comment-trail-alt Posted in: Activision Blizzard, EA, PC, PS3, Shooter, Xbox 360
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24 comments

#1

Stephany Nunneley
17/08/11, 8:36 pm

5….4…3….2…

#2

G1GAHURTZ
17/08/11, 8:44 pm

Well done Acti! Show EA up for the classless leeches they are!!

#3

OrbitMonkey
17/08/11, 8:45 pm

A very mature, rational & positive speech there. Made a lot of sense & I hope he recieved a round of applause.

He obviously hasn’t been contaminated by some of the more toxic elements of the internet forums :)

#4

The_Red
17/08/11, 8:47 pm

@1
And here… we… go!

But yeah, as much as I hate Acti, some of EA’s antics regarding this rivalry have been rather tasteless.

#5

LOLshock94
17/08/11, 8:48 pm

Eric Hirshberg does hit the right notes

#6

CaptPierce
17/08/11, 8:49 pm

Part of this responce is because Activision is scared of finally having some actual competition this year with Battlefield 3, but as much as it would pain me to admit, I actually see where he’s going with on this statement. EA’s been slamming this game lately, and this is only fueling the fire between both companies.

In layman’s terms: We should all just calm the fuck down. ;)

#7

DSB
17/08/11, 8:53 pm

I don’t think negative statements does very much, except proving to everyone that you’re a dick.

There’s a pretty big difference between the companies that go that way, and the ones who don’t.

#8

ManuOtaku
17/08/11, 9:07 pm

I want to hear kotick respond regarding this, i got the feeling he will not be that civilize, but i like Eric Hirshberg respond though, really nicely done

#9

Erthazus
17/08/11, 9:11 pm

Oh the irony… Tell that to Bobby Kotick’s statement about console version from E3 m’kay?

Anyway, there is no such thing as a “saint” publisher. Their mission is to destroy each other and take that pie. EA wants it, Acti wants it.

Because it is money. Motherfucking money. bobby and Ricci wants new yacht and you console and PC peasents will play your shooters.

#10

DSB
17/08/11, 9:15 pm

I couldn’t agree more, Erth.

Kotick and Ricitiello is pretty much the most obvious gay couple that never was.

#11

Dr.Ghettoblaster
17/08/11, 9:19 pm

HAHAHAHA rightfully deserved Activision you cocksucking greedy leeches, how’s it feel to take it up the ass Kotick? You’ve been doing it to us all these years you fat greedy bitch.

#12

thesamy
17/08/11, 9:21 pm

what thay say and what thay do will not change nothing
ppl will keep buying the game thay want.

if ppl keep buying games from publisher like activision this guy and ricci dont got nothing to worry about.

i hate what activion is doing and i hate that ea are so secard about it that thay cant control them self and be proffesinal

only us the ppl who care about the games, ppl that are involv in the industry will understand the mistake thay are doing.

other player buy everything for entertaiment and nothing more.

#13

RandomTiger
17/08/11, 9:36 pm

I’m sure they are both happy to have their games in the headlines for any reason.

#14

Xuchilbara
17/08/11, 10:02 pm

I think this is the real reason they are saying such things…. From Gamescom: http://i.imgur.com/Pg3oJ.jpg

#15

undeadwolfy
17/08/11, 11:18 pm

@14 hahaha where did you get that image from?

#16

jagger
17/08/11, 11:20 pm

This is all true, as EA’s jealousy over the COD franchise made them very aggressive and they are doing ‘everything’ possible to bring it down. Activision has all praises and no negative comments regarding BF3 while EA has been trashing MW3 all the time.

This makes you think that Infinity Ward’s collapse may have been really EA’s work by pirating the founders. And we should all blame EA for it being really the true ‘rotten in the core’ publisher.

#17

Fin
17/08/11, 11:25 pm

@14

Fuck off, fanboy. That image has exactly zero context. Presumably the MW3 shot was taken before opening, the BF3 shot after.

I’m going to play BF3. I’m going to play MW3. Maybe everyone who’s biased one way or the other can just shut the fuck up and let us get on with the playing.

#18

DarkElfa
17/08/11, 11:39 pm

I like pie.

#19

Xuchilbara
17/08/11, 11:42 pm

@17 take it easy psycho… I never said anything against YOU, or Money Waster 3, I don’t care that you like a game I dont, but I will tell you that this picture is as legit as they come, you can ask anyone that is there.

But then again it is probably cause most CoD players parents won’t let them go to conventions without adult supervision ;) So its easily understandable…

#20

deadstoned
18/08/11, 12:10 am

Just because Activision is losing the mud slinging fight, they now go and tell on EA lol.

#21

Dralen
18/08/11, 4:00 am

@Xuchilbara

Haha! Nice.

#22

Fin
18/08/11, 8:58 am

@19

“Money Waster 3″
“most CoD players parents won’t let them go to conventions without adult supervision”

Seriously, fuck off with your fanboyism.
Presumably the queue for Boringfucks 3 (hahaha, did you see what I did there?) was so long as this is the first time all those guys have been out of their parent’s house all year! Hahahah! I am implying all Boringfucks 3 players are nerds who still live with their parents! Hahahahahaha!

I’m all for a bit of health competition, but don’t gratuitously disparage games or people, it reflects badly on gamers as a whole.

#23

TheBlackHole
18/08/11, 2:18 pm

“I’m all for a bit of healthy banter, but don’t passive-aggressively disparage other people, it reflects badly on gamers as a whole.”

Fixed.

#24

AHA-Lambda
18/08/11, 5:09 pm

that was actually a very rational and sensible speech. Kudos to Activision

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