Activision CEO says Bungie only high-quality indie developer


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Activision CEO says Bungie only high-quality indie developer

Bobby Kotick is at it again. The outspoken CEO of Activision Blizzard has gone on record as saying that Halo developer Bungie?who just so happened to sign a 10-year deal with Activision?is the only high-quality indie developer around.

"Bungie are a very unusual company," Kotick said during a talk at the America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications, and Entertainment conference (via CVG). "They're probably the last remaining high-quality independent developer... that has sort of has institutional skills and capabilities. And they're a real company."

And while Bungie is certainly good at what it does?as our review of Halo: Reach can attest?the list of other skilled indie developers is very long, including the likes of 2D Boy, 5th Cell, Capy Games, Gearbox, Level 5, Q-Games, Sucker Punch, Twisted Pixel, Valve and countless others.

It's an especially curious remark considering Activision recently attempted to court indie developers with a contest featuring a grand prize of $500,000. Then again, saying things that enrages gamers is sort of what Kotick does best.

Source: Ars Technica

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Really, rehashing the same product over and over again and creating weak ass single-player campaigns indicate a quality developer?

They were good in their glory days, now they just feel old and stale.

Bungie isn't even in my Top 5.

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So Bungie's the only high-quality independent developer?

Why can't this guy keep his mouth shut.

Yes, well done, you struck a deal with Bungie, good for you.

I'll listen when we see something from Bungie that isn't based on Halo.

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Granted, Bungie has been making some awesome titles, with Reach being their best......but only high quality? THAT is laughable. There are **** loads of high quality devs out there.

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As I've said before, Halo is a high-selling game but it isn't the holy grail of video games like many people and companies make it out to be. Like Call of Duty has more sales than Halo. Both COD4 and MW2 outsold Halo 3 just for a quick comparison. Granted, this is multi-platform vs exclusive (before someone beats me to it).

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As I've said before, Halo is a high-selling game but it isn't the holy grail of video games like many people and companies make it out to be. Like Call of Duty has more sales than Halo. Both COD4 and MW2 outsold Halo 3 just for a quick comparison. Granted, this is multi-platform vs exclusive (before someone beats me to it).

Halo 3 outsold mw2 on the xbox by a mile and overall was only a few million behind compared to mw2 in total sales, so mw2 that's, xbox, ps3 and pc. I think Halo Reach will outsell COD black ops on the xbox, if Halo was on the pc and the ps3 then Halo would be outselling the cod games.

They are both good games but Activision have ruined cod, each one slightly worse than the one before.

COD4 > COD5 > MW2

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Most of the Internet really don't like Kotick, it bothers me that Activision Blizzard let him run wild with what he says, they don't seem to care that he gives them such a bad image.

Activision have become a far worse presence than the EA we used to hate on.

Bungie is an indie dev house? They may not be a publisher, but I definitely wouldn't consider them "indie."

Indeed, everyone likes to throw around the word "Indie" these days for everything, it gets annoying.

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^ I've heard mixed reviews about Halo Reach and ODST.

Mixed reviews? The majority have praised it. You can even check out the ratings at metacritic. ODST on the other hand....FAIL....IMO.

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Indeed, everyone likes to throw around the word "Indie" these days for everything, it gets annoying.

Inidie, for independent. Bungie is independent and don't need to rely on anyone else. they're Indie. with their bag of money they're probably as indie as you get in fact. most other indie devs WILL have to change stuff if their publisher says so.

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Ah, Bobby Kotick another day another crazy comment.

I do however like that he's on our side when it comes to the California Law :

"Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has weighed in on the California videogame law headed to the Supreme Court, calling it a waste of taxpayers' money that's "beyond absurd.""

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103660-Bobby-Kotick-Says-California-Law-is-Beyond-Absurd

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Ah, Bobby Kotick another day another crazy comment.

I do however like that he's on our side when it comes to the California Law :

"Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has weighed in on the California videogame law headed to the Supreme Court, calling it a waste of taxpayers' money that's "beyond absurd.""

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103660-Bobby-Kotick-Says-California-Law-is-Beyond-Absurd

He is only against it because it will make a dent in his wallet. If there was a law stating that everyone should pay for online playing by the hour, he would be all for it. In the end, he only cares about what goes into his wallet.

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Inidie, for independent. Bungie is independent and don't need to rely on anyone else. they're Indie. with their bag of money they're probably as indie as you get in fact. most other indie devs WILL have to change stuff if their publisher says so.

imho i think most people know that the term "indie" refers to smaller groups or firms. just like valve isn't an indie company, neither is bungie or some of the other dev studios named in the OP. just because they aren't owned by a bigger company/publisher, doesn't make them indie. independant? yeah, but not indie. there are tonnes of game son steam from indie firms for like $5-10 each or $20 for their whole library.

i played a bit of halo 3 but i didn't like it. the story was pretty bad of what i played. and ofc console fps controls were sluggish and clumsy. i really don't see what people see in the franchise. on the pc these games would be generally subpar(though i am usually surprised by what kind of fps are popular on pc these days so...)

i remember when the original halo was still in development for pc. a co worker upgraded his pc just for the game and wouldn't shut up about how good the ai was going to be. iirc he bought he first 64 bit cpu for consumers in that rig.

then they switched to the original xbox for it, and it was pretty much the only game worth buying on that system. and pretty much saved it.

some people credit goldeneye for introducing console gamers to fps, but it was really halo that made fps on consoles popular.

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Spot on and well stated.

Inidie, for independent. Bungie is independent and don't need to rely on anyone else. they're Indie. with their bag of money they're probably as indie as you get in fact. most other indie devs WILL have to change stuff if their publisher says so.

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imho i think most people know that the term "indie" refers to smaller groups or firms. just like valve isn't an indie company, neither is bungie or some of the other dev studios named in the OP. just because they aren't owned by a bigger company/publisher, doesn't make them indie. independant? yeah, but not indie. there are tonnes of game son steam from indie firms for like $5-10 each or $20 for their whole library.

i played a bit of halo 3 but i didn't like it. the story was pretty bad of what i played. and ofc console fps controls were sluggish and clumsy. i really don't see what people see in the franchise. on the pc these games would be generally subpar(though i am usually surprised by what kind of fps are popular on pc these days so...)

i remember when the original halo was still in development for pc. a co worker upgraded his pc just for the game and wouldn't shut up about how good the ai was going to be. iirc he bought he first 64 bit cpu for consumers in that rig.

then they switched to the original xbox for it, and it was pretty much the only game worth buying on that system. and pretty much saved it.

some people credit goldeneye for introducing console gamers to fps, but it was really halo that made fps on consoles popular.

I think you're confusing indie with niche.

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Inidie, for independent. Bungie is independent and don't need to rely on anyone else. they're Indie. with their bag of money they're probably as indie as you get in fact. most other indie devs WILL have to change stuff if their publisher says so.

Umm, ok? Did I say otherwise?

I am referring to the use of the word being used more in the culture, you know, your cool if your indie, oh indie this, etc. as if it is some awesome title assigned to some special people, I know what it stands for, I didn't say anyone was using it wrong.

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Umm, ok? Did I say otherwise?

I am referring to the use of the word being used more in the culture, you know, your cool if your indie, oh indie this, etc. as if it is some awesome title assigned to some special people, I know what it stands for, I didn't say anyone was using it wrong.

Indie never meant cool, but more of well... independent. In the movie industry, Indie movies comprised of usually regular people with low budgets making what they wanted. As those people get noticed, they normally grow and make better products and sort of grow out of that label. Bungie started off Indi, but they surely have grown out of it.

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We shouldn't support people who mock developers aside with their greed and arrogance.

It's just not right for the galaxy.

What about BioWare (pre EA) and many others?

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We shouldn't support people who mock developers aside with their greed and arrogance.

It's just not right for the galaxy.

For sure. I haven't purchased an activision game since codmw1. Makes me sad that blizzard joined forces, because I will get diablo 3, but other than that, I don't and won't buy really any of their games.

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