This blog is a mixture between superhero and villain, but I chose to do so because I believe there are many leaders in corporate America who are viewed in different lights. Bobby Kotick is not a name commonly heard unless you own some sort of gaming device, pc or console. Kotick became the CEO of game publisher Activision Blizzard in 2008 and completely restructured the way the video game industry delivers content for games. Before 2008 gamers enjoyed being able to purchase games for the reasonable price tag of $49.99 and in addition received downloadable content for their game free of charge, but when Kotic took the reins he realized the untouched money making potential his company’s games had. Activision Blizzard is mainly known for its two most popular series, Call of Duty and World of Warcraft it’s two biggest cash cows. Kotick expanded the idea of downloadable content for all of the games Acitvision and it paid off, by 2010 Activisions revenues were over $4.4 billion. This is the sort of innovation that propelled other publishers to view Kotick as a Superhero. Kotick also promotes giving his employees the freedom to fail. His company has come up with so many innovative games that just don’t do well in the marketplace but are well received by critics. For example DJ hero was an idea that spawned off of the very popular guitar hero series that critics loved, but no one ended up buying it. Public relations with their customers allow Acivision to deliver the content consumers want, and they know that customers will fork out additional money for that content. This is where we see the villain inside of Kotick, he essential sucks cash out of his customers because he knows he can and he won’t have to deal with any complainers. I’m one of the few customers who hates the idea of DLC being released every few months, it essential allows publishers to earn upwards of $100 per game. I personally believe Kotick is a villain in the industry because he has essentially found a way to release and incomplete game and charge full price but then charge consumers more money to buy the rest of the content to complete the game.
-Eddie Nemeth
Ewalt, David M. "Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick: How To Be An Innovator - Forbes." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2011/07/20/activision-blizzard-bobby-kotick-innovation/>.
3 comments:
Eddie,
Great article. Again we see the theme of "freedom to fail" idea that is so popular. This is the wave of future business ideas.
I agree with the villain aspect of Kotick, but it'd be hard in his shoes not to do what he's doing. There's seems to be a fine line between screwing your customers and customers being dumb enough to pay for the product. I don't know.
Ryan Luginbuhl
Wow, that does not seem right. As much innovation that Kotick may have brought to Activision, I'm not liking the idea of sucking money out of consumers. I feel like a lot of superheros in industries become villainous once they get the taste of money, and their thoughts move more towards profit than content. But like Ryan said, there is a fine line between what is right and what is just bogus. This is kind of like what Reed did with Netflix, and look at how many customers he lost/ is continuing to lose. And after all this controversy he now regrets his decision to hike prices. I just hope this similar story is not in the stars for Kotick.
-Kaitlin Reichel
I would agree with the idea of Kotick being a villain in the eye of the consumer, I am included in the category because I have purchased the last 3 Call of Duty games myself and it is expensive having to buy updates for the game through out the year.
Although it is interesting to look from the business perspective and to see how his business strategies are looked at as well received by critics and others in the industry. I personally think it is more important to be praised by by your target market than to be praised by my critics, but there are obviously individuals out there that are not going to feel the same way.
--Michael Lorimer
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