Activision Reorganization Divides Corporate Responsibilities

[Doctor Setebos]

When you've got a hit money-maker franchise on your hands, you really have to be careful. You have to balance the quality with the quantity. Release too many iterations too often, and you risk diluting the brand. Release too few, and people may lose interest between titles. Now, someone tell Activision that.

As outlined in internal memos obtained by The Times, Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard Inc. has divided itself into four units, with one focused on the military video game Call of Duty, another handling other company-owned titles such as Guitar Hero and the Tony Hawk skateboarding games, and a third handling licensed properties.
That's right, one whole unit doing nothing but Call of Duty. It could be a smart move. Or it could be overkill. Taking Activision's history into account should tell you which it is. The shining light in this news is that at least they have sense enough to leave Blizzard alone. It will continue to remain an autonomous unit within the Activision behemoth.

There were reportedly 15 layoffs included as a part of the reorganization process.

Source - LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-activision31-2010mar31,0,177150.story)

[Yeti2005]

Activision had great success with Guitar Hero and then promptly over saturated the market. I think we're about to see the same with CoD. IW, Treyarch, and a 3rd studio are all working on new CoD titles.

[Kelegacy]

Good, oversaturate the fuck out of it.

[Mike Kelehan]

The shining light in this news is that at least they have sense enough to leave Blizzard alone. It will continue to remain an autonomous unit within the Activision behemoth.

I've got one Starcraft II for the price of three that says that no, Activision is not leaving them alone.

Activision had great success with Guitar Hero and then promptly over saturated the market. I think we're about to see the same with CoD. IW, Treyarch, and a 3rd studio are all working on new CoD titles.

I have zero doubts that this is exactly what will happen. Rather than have the bestselling single game each year, they'll split it into 3 or 4, which will not only make people tired of it Guitar Hero-style, but will splinter the online community, killing the franchise.

[Kielaran]

Activision had great success with Guitar Hero and then promptly over saturated the market. I think we're about to see the same with CoD. IW, Treyarch, and a 3rd studio are all working on new CoD titles.

I came in here to post this, but lo and behold it was already done for me. :)

[Doctor Setebos]

I've got one Starcraft II for the price of three that says that no, Activision is not leaving them alone.Who's to say that wasn't Blizzard's decision? Just because Blizzard is autonomous doesn't mean they don't like money.

[TheFlyingOrc]

I've got one Starcraft II for the price of three that says that no, Activision is not leaving them alone.

This continues to be a ridiculous opinion. You're getting 3 games for the price of 3, quit whining.

[ElektroDragon]

You've got to be f'ing kidding me! Where is the unit to handle ORIGINAL IP?!? Or have they given up on that? All we're going to see from this company is movie games, music game rehashes, MMOs, and military shooters until the end of time? (since I imagine the 4th unmentioned property is Blizzard.) God, I hope they release Diablo III this year and then just go under permanently. We don't need this kind of company in our hobby.

[DoctorFinger]

You've got to be f'ing kidding me! Where is the unit to handle ORIGINAL IP?!? Or have they given up on that? All we're going to see from this company is movie games, music game rehashes, MMOs, and military shooters until the end of time? (since I imagine the 4th unmentioned property is Blizzard.) God, I hope they release Diablo III this year and then just go under permanently. We don't need this kind of company in our hobby.They're a part of the Owned Properties unit along with Tony Hawk, Prototype and Blur.

[Kelegacy]

This continues to be a ridiculous opinion. You're getting 3 games for the price of 3, quit whining.

The fact that they split it up like that doesn't smell of coincidence.

If they wind up equaling 3 meaty games worth of content...well, that will be interesting to see. But if you need to buy all 3 to get the full experience (to play as the different factions in squirmishes and whatever) then that's cheap. I don't know, as I haven't been following it.

[Mike Kelehan]

This continues to be a ridiculous opinion. You're getting 3 games for the price of 3, quit whining.

I'm not whining. I never said it wouldn't be worth it. However, I don't think it was Blizzard's idea.

[Adam Blue]

This continues to be a ridiculous opinion. You're getting 3 games for the price of 3, quit whining.

The first one was three races as one game for the price of one. A single game better be goddamn brilliant.

[Talanvor]

I thought the deal with SCII was thus:

You buy any of the 3 games, and you can play the Zerg, Protoss or Human factions in multi. For single player, each game was going to be set around a single faction.

Personally, I don't know why the fuck they announced they were splitting them up. Should have just made a base game, and then released expansion packs. Then no one would have bitched about it.

[Widgetcraft]

The fact that they split it up like that doesn't smell of coincidence.

If they wind up equaling 3 meaty games worth of content...well, that will be interesting to see. But if you need to buy all 3 to get the full experience (to play as the different factions in squirmishes and whatever) then that's cheap. I don't know, as I haven't been following it.

Well, you basically get the full multiplayer package with any of them, from what I can tell. The benefit to buying more than one is to play the single-player campaigns. I would assume you would get some more multiplayer maps as well.

[boratika]

Then no one would have bitched about it.

Heh, yeah, that'll be the day. I don't even need to quote what you are talking about, for it to seem unlikely. :D

[Narradisall]

Eurgh, the SCII "zomg actievil $$$ grab $150 for 3 games, lololol" is old. Also, completely incorrect and based on assumptions.

As for the actual topic. It seems weird to have whole divisions for certain franchises equal the licenced properties. I'm confusing them a bit with EA atm, but how many licenced properties do they have?!?!

[Talanvor]

Heh, yeah, that'll be the day. I don't even need to quote what you are talking about, for it to seem unlikely. :D

I don't remember anyone crying about Brood War.

[LongStepMantis]

I don't remember anyone crying about Brood War.

I did. But that was mostly because I got some weird bug where installing Brood War invalidated my existing SC install. :p

[Acidpoptart]

While an intern at Activision a few years ago, I got to talk to several high ups at lunches and all sorts of events, and when I brought this up their opinion was that as long as they have the big name brands (at the time we were talking about Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero vs skate and Rock Band) that people would keep coming back for more and yearly releases would keep coming.

When I asked developing new IP to eventually take the pressure off of and replace those big names, they shrugged it off and suggested there was no need to fund new IP except for 1 or 2 new projects a year. They ended up canceling the new IP they were referring to. They also think they can just go out and buy a proven IP in the marketplace instead.

This new re-organization shows they really were not kidding. They are going to milk and kill CoD. At this point, I just want to see them fail. I don't know what it is, but I find my self really hating publishers lately. Ubisoft with its DRM, Activision with its shit pricing and milking... EA seems friendly in comparison.

And splitting Starcraft 2 into three games (at $60 a piece) is bullshit. If the ONLY difference is single player campaigns, $60 is really too much to play new levels for a game you already have.

[Doogie2K]

The fact that they split it up like that doesn't smell of coincidence.

If they wind up equaling 3 meaty games worth of content...well, that will be interesting to see. But if you need to buy all 3 to get the full experience (to play as the different factions in squirmishes and whatever) then that's cheap. I don't know, as I haven't been following it.

You will have all three races in MP/skirmish. The campaign is exclusively the Terran story, but the MP is everyone. Presumably (hopefully), the other two games will include Brood War-esque changes along with their race-specific campaigns.

Also, where is Acidpoptart getting the $60 price point from? I don't recall any announcements to that effect.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Also, where is Acidpoptart getting the $60 price point from? I don't recall any announcements to that effect.

There has not been one. What they've announced is that they're creating 3 giant campaigns that will be released in waves.

Also, I'm sure blizzard will ONLY be including map packs in each one. There's NO WAY they'll include other stuff.

[Kelegacy]

If it is released at $60 it will be no surprise. It's an anticipated sequel, like MW2 was. And that was $60, as was Ubi's ACII. It's becoming the new standard for big games apparently. And it's Activision, so it would be even less a surprise.

[TheFlyingOrc]

If it is released at $60 it will be no surprise. It's an anticipated sequel, like MW2 was. And that was $60, as was Ubi's ACII. It's becoming the new standard for big games apparently. And it's Activision, so it would be even less a surprise.

I see no reason to be certain that the 2 expansions will be at the exact same price point, however.

[Kelegacy]

I see no reason to be certain that the 2 expansions will be at the exact same price point, however.

So they are just expansions? I thought they were full, separate games? Will you need the first one to play the other two campaigns?

[TheFlyingOrc]

So they are just expansions? I thought they were full, separate games? Will you need the first one to play the other two campaigns?

Man, I don't know. But:

Option 1: 3 games, all can be played without purchasing the others.

Option 2: 3 "games", the last 2 requiring all previous games to play.

Option 2 is clearly worse, right? So, in that case, 3 separate games would be better, no?

Roughly, whether this is a dick move or not entirely depends on price, which nobody knows.

[MagGnome]

Good, oversaturate the fuck out of it.

Agreed! Let's move on to something else.


I see no reason to be certain that the 2 expansions will be at the exact same price point, however.

A Blizzard expansion is usually only $10 less than a full-priced game anyway.

[Narradisall]

Chaos rising is a stand alone expansion. It's perfectly possible to have stand alone expansions for a game with a new solo campaign that doesn't split the MP.

Hell, if all you want to do is MP, you can pick up the first, and still have access to most the sweet Mods and maps people make.

I don't believe that the other 2 parts will be £20, nor do I believe they will be the full £50 for a game, I reckon they'll fall somewhere in between. I also think they will be value for money given previous experience and playability of Blizzard games.

[MagGnome]

Like I said, they will probably be $40 each. Blizzard seems to think that's a good price point for an expansion, and their rabid fanbase apparently agrees. I happen to think that's too much.

[Narradisall]

Like I said, they will probably be $40 each. Blizzard seems to think that's a good price point for an expansion, and their rabid fanbase apparently agrees. I happen to think that's too much.

I'd agree, that is too much for an expansion.

Problem is, the lines between expansion and full game get a bit 'blurry' at times. How much gameplay do you consider to be an expansion? On the one side you have things like Shivering Isle, which was marketed as an expansion, I recall it being rather cheap and well worth the game time you got from it.

Then on the other hand you have things like Chaos Rising, a 'stand alone' expansion, which imo, was very short and didn't add much to the MP either.

Where SCII 'Heart of the Swarm' and 'Legacy of the Void' fall is unknown at this point. We know they will be stand alone, and with equal the amount of SP content, MP is unknown, but since the first game 'Wings of Liberty' will have the whole MP I can't see them adding much in the other parts.