Activision Reorganization Divides Corporate Responsibilities

Doctor Setebos · 03-31-2010, 09:02 AM

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.

Quote:

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

Yeti2005 · 03-31-2010, 09:38 AM

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.

Mike Kelehan · 03-31-2010, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor Setebos

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

Doctor Setebos · 03-31-2010, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Kelehan

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 · 03-31-2010, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Kelehan

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.

Kelegacy · 03-31-2010, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFlyingOrc

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.

Widgetcraft · 03-31-2010, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelegacy

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.

Doogie2K · 04-01-2010, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelegacy

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.

Mike Kelehan · 03-31-2010, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFlyingOrc

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 · 03-31-2010, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFlyingOrc

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.

Kielaran · 03-31-2010, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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

Kelegacy · 03-31-2010, 09:57 AM

Good, oversaturate the fuck out of it.

MagGnome · 04-01-2010, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelegacy

Good, oversaturate the fuck out of it.

Agreed! Let's move on to something else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFlyingOrc

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.

ElektroDragon · 03-31-2010, 10:33 AM

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 · 03-31-2010, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

They're a part of the Owned Properties unit along with Tony Hawk, Prototype and Blur.

Talanvor · 03-31-2010, 10:46 AM

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.

boratika · 03-31-2010, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talanvor

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.

Talanvor · 03-31-2010, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boratika

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

I don't remember anyone crying about Brood War.

LongStepMantis · 03-31-2010, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talanvor

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.

Narradisall · 03-31-2010, 11:05 AM

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?!?!

03-31-2010, 09:57 AM	#12
Kelegacy The Pill Man Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Augusta, Maine Posts: 10,152	Good, oversaturate the fuck out of it. __________________ PSN: Kelegacy 360: Kelegacy Steam: Kelegacy

03-31-2010, 10:33 AM	#14
ElektroDragon La crème de la crème Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bothell, WA Posts: 2,017 Blog Entries: 1	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. __________________ Gamertag/PSN/Zune/Steam: ElektroDragon CoG Folding@Home Team

03-31-2010, 10:46 AM	#16
Talanvor Hatredcopter Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2,884	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. __________________ XBL - Talanvor \| PSN - Tralgore \| Steam - Talanvor

03-31-2010, 11:05 AM	#20
Narradisall Colonist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: London, England Posts: 15,510	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?!?! __________________ Gamertag: Narradisall Steam ID: Narradisall

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

03-31-2010, 09:38 AM	#2
Yeti2005 Colonist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 1,775	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.