Fire Bobby Kotick (The Jimquisition)

/ jimquisition
www.thejimquisi...
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Activision Blizzard let go of nearly 800 employees for short term financial gain. At the same time, CEO Bobby Kotick boasted of record revenues for the company.
The company's value has halved and profits are down, all while more money than ever flows through it. In any sensible world, Kotick would take the hit as leader of the publisher. He passed the buck.
Executives hand their failures down because they know they can do so without consequence. There should be consequences. Fire Bobby Kotick.
#FireBobbyKotick #BobbyKotick #Activision #Layoffs
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Twitter: / jimsterling
Facebook: / jimsterling0
Jim’s Big Ego (No Relation): bigego.com/
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[@d2factotum]

Satoru Iwata once said at a conference, "On my business card I am a corporate executive. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." You just can't imagine Bobby Kotick saying something like that, could you? At least not without a tragedy as several people in the audience laugh themselves to death.

[@DMDarren]

Ngl I’d be one of those people, Bobby isn’t a gamer, he’s a money-hog and nothing else

[@anthonyfaiell3263]

Oftentime profitability>passion in business. Iwata was a rare outlier where someone who was passionate, was also able to climb the ladder of his respective corporation. Imo it was a freak accident. Don't get me wrong nintendo makes great games, and I think Iwata was an amazing dude, and there was no one better suited to the job than him imho. But when he got promoted it was actually to the surprise of many people. There were many candidates that made more sense on a pure profitability prediction level. But he ended up leading nintendo to its biggest boom in popularity 4 years later. The guy was a legend, and should be remembered as such.

[@DMDarren]

Anthony Faiell people who diss Iwata deserve a eternity in hell

[@JimSterling]

A number of immediate responses (too immediate to have watched the video) echo this: "From an investor standpoint, he's doing a great job, the business is profitable. And isn't that all that matters?" Yeah, actually watch the video. The very argument you're using is the systemic argument this video is criticizing.

[@angeloffish]

Jim Sterling I agree. Watching the video would help. But for some reason some people don’t 🤷🏻‍♀️.

[@voltronik9141]

Hi Jim, I love your videos! Cheers from Colorado, USA

[@SkyFellowship]

Voltronic 81 I’m a fellow Brit but I’m Avs mad GoAvsGo

[@yaldabaoth2]

But where are all the socialist run billion dollar companies, I ask? If unions and making no profit are the way to success, why is no one doing it?

[@ninetailedfox579121]

Isn't the entire cause of all this crap that just being profitable is *not* good enough for the investors?

[@brandtreppond2167]

Fire 800 employees, save millions. Fire one Bobby, save billions in money, morale, and marketing appearances

[@robertjohnson8097]

woundnt the share holders just replace him with someone else that they would pay an equal amount to do the job

[@youtubesuresuckscock]

You realize that the people laid off weren't even game developers. They basically laid off tech support staff and forum moderators, both of which have been almost completely automated. As shitty as Activision is, the lay offs aren't going to have a shred of impact on any games.

[@oldskool4572]

No, it will only impact 800 human beings and their livelihoods. So.....no problem there then.

[@youtubesuresuckscock]

@@oldskool4572 There are only two ways to have any security: be indispensable or get a government job. These people did neither. They're also complicit in supporting Bobby K, so don't pretend that they're some martyrs.

[@robertjohnson8097]

@@youtubesuresuckscock That's what I heard, their jobs were redundant and not needed any longer

[@shaggy2124]

Koticks salary and bonus' should all be in loot boxes

[@coastalumbra2682]

underrated comment award achieved.

[@isenokami7810]

And the odds of him unboxing an actual decent salary should be close to nothing.

[@jackwinterheld4335]

Delightfuly devilish, just the way I like it. Maybe paid loot boxes, also? Paid loot boxes on a platform you already have to purchase before trying your luck? Something along these lines.

[@LUISPRIME]

I lost it at the fact that women google him, see pictures of him with devil horns and don't date him because of that. That shit was hilarious.

[@tyrus1235]

When your net worth is as high as his is, to have trouble finding *any* woman is really an achievement in and of itself - horn photoshops notwithstanding

[@theguywhowentthere3346]

that's what SHOULD happen. He's probably busy going "yeah toots, i make MILLIONS, now come SUCK MY COCK!" Then the wimans googles and see: "Eww what da fuu THE DEVIL!" (you know ONE BITCH is still gonna go down on her knees for all that $$$ so his dating life i doubt is THAT bad lolz)

[@tgzus40oz2]

@8bit NES Cutscene yep u can be mad at him for alot of shit. BUT if you were in the same place I doubt you would act differently. We are all more similar than we like to admit. Greed is a evolved human trait hardwired into our minds. You might not be greedy for a hundred bucks but one million and people would eat eachother in minutes.

[@blacxthornE]

Meh. It's not like his IRL Jabba face is remotely dateable.

[@leavy]

Ersen according to half the men on the Internet, that should have zero to do with it and he should be drowning in it due to his big fat wallet

[@onixtalks]

RIP Iwata. The industry did not deserve him.

[@Sarato]

But they needed him.

[@asuraichermit878]

The hero we needed but not the hero we deserved

[@jakublulek3261]

I had big issues with how Nintendo of Japan did business with third parties but even me, non-fan of Nintendo, have huge respect for theyr leadership. They know, how industry works, who are the people that made theyr company as big and famous it is and how to treat them with respect. Funny how Japan is teaching us how to do business as a hero and not as villain.

[@Ghost-cd7tx]

There recent announcement of Metroid Prime 4 shows how the company is leading by example.

[@evilduck1000]

His employees did.

[@jonnygat5364]

Hello! Activision employee here! This is how Activision has done business for the last several years. You all saw this happen after Infinite Warfare. There was a Kotaku article about layoffs after the game was released. We are seeing it again with BO4. What you might not be aware of is that all of the layoffs affect almost exclusively the lowest people in the company. When people from Infinite Warfare were laid off it was around 300 people. They closed their entire mobile QA department in Canada and moved all the work state side. Which is great for Americans except that it was the same amount of work being done by a much smaller team. There were also several layoffs of longstanding loyal persons in America. One particular story I heard was an employee who was honored for X# of years with the company. Got a plaque, said a speech...etc. At the end of the year that same "honored" employee was holding all of his/her stuff in a box and ushered out. Their position was removed during the "restructuring". We receive email blasts about "newly created" positions in the upper echelons of the company. Which is VPs and Executives doing favors for each other, enriching themselves...because they can. I wish more people would speak out about this stuff but the draconian contracts that we have to sign to protect "intellectual property" are worded vaguely enough that we can be sued for talking about ANYTHING company related that public doesn't already know about. I have no intention of leaking company secrets but a company will never change if it's policies aren't a little transparent. Activision was started by former employees of Atari because they were pissed that Atari refused to put their names in the credits of games to prevent poaching. Ironically today, Activision withholds professional references as a company policy.

[@moonasha]

what a piece of shit company. i hope they crash and burn like atari did.

[@Hebdomad7]

You can fund entire studios with that kind of CEO pay.

[@thestwinner680]

NO JOKE or even EXAGGERATION!

[@ashthetic_art]

Makes you wonder why game companies even need CEOs or shareholders if they can make that much money 🤔

[@thechodeofhammurabi]

Net worth isn't how much he's payed.

[@brzzzy]

@@thechodeofhammurabi I think that's obvious, but even his 2018 salary of $28 MILLION (1.7M Salary, the rest from bonuses) is enough to fund some smaller studios.

[@thechodeofhammurabi]

@@brzzzy yeah, dude gets paid a lot because he's responsible for a lot.

[@bocodamondo]

how exactly does the higher ups in activision expect to make new games that will bring them "all the money" when they make the employee's shit their pants for doing everything right, its a shame that the rest of them just dont start a strike about this

[@RAFMnBgaming]

Lack of unionisation. But were I them I'd organize something behind closed doors.

[@jacoblevenson7934]

It wouldn't be that hard. Find some guy you trust, gather more people together. The layoffs make's it so that the the number of strikers would hit hard. Heck just doing it even if you get caught would be worth it to give yourself a chance or have pride. Thats what so fucked up about Activation's activities. You leave people no reason not to do such acts given how even if they do everything asked of them and more, they might still get fired. @@RAFMnBgaming

[@biokido575]

They are not firing too many developers or artists as I understand it. For instance, now that Bungie has taken Destiny the Activision side no longer needs the staff associated with that game. Some are moving to other teams while others are being let go. In fact, the vast majority of people being laid off are in IT and support. Since there are not a lot of games coming out they are having trouble finding room for them in other teams. Jim is just stupid.

[@henrym5908]

@@biokido575 Citations?

[@biokido575]

@@henrym5908 There's a Forbes article that touches on this. I have my own sources, however. www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2019/02/14/making-sense-of-activisions-massive-layoffs-following-a-record-2018/#48872bf419d7

[@ArseniusRubric]

back in the days they were called robber barons , today they call themselves CEOs

[@TimdeVisser86]

To be fair, they've always called themselves CEO's.

[@bernardoheusi6146]

And unions controlled that shit.

[@spacejunk2186]

Sound like the german goverment lol

[@deusexmachina101]

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Boundaries shift, new players step in, but power always finds a place to rest its head General Shepherd; modern warfare 2

[@hazukichanx408]

Yeah, it's the same old story. Jerkwad has no morals. Jerkwad stabs backs, cons people, deceives police, throws own "friends" and co-workers/employees under bus, sucks up to investors, scams stock market, etc. etc. Jerkwad ends up rich. Everyone around, knowing none of the actual story, says "GAWRSH! That there nice jerkwad feller sure is swell! Look how rich he done made himself!!" =___=;;

[@mark_speranzart]

Rest in peace, Iwata. You weren't perfect, and neither was Nintendo, but goddamn you had such respect for your own employees. The good dying young could not be truer of a statement.

[@Golemoid]

It was just pragmatism really. He knew treating his employees well means they will make a better product, and that will result in more cash, long term. What Bobby does is short sighted greed. Make 10 bucks now vs 100 bucks tomorrow.

[@BinBintheRiceCake]

@@Golemoid Doesn't change the fact that he did what other CEO wouldn't have done. Without googling, how many other ceo's can you think off the top of your head would slash their pay?

[@jamie7168]

@@BinBintheRiceCake Wait what did iwata do?

[@otakon17]

@@jamie7168 when Nintendo did badly after the Wii U, Iwata cut his own salary by 50% so they wouldn't have to fire anyone.

[@jamie7168]

@@otakon17 I've just gotten to that part of the video. The guy was fucking insane. Taking 2 50% cuts in a 3-4 year period along with other top Nintendo heads is something I wouldn't of expected from any company

[@LabMatt]

Remember Fallout New Vegas? When his top general failed him, Caesar set him on fire and tossed him down the Grand Canyon. Why am I bringing this up? No reason. No reason whatsoever.

[@Deadlock239]

To be fair, josh was too hardcore to die. Last thing we need is "the burned kotick"

[@saveritas731]

>recounts a relevant Fallout New Vegas scenario >avatar is Adagio Dazzle You, sir, are my internet hero today.

[@WebsiteTourist]

Who'd be Caesar in this scenario, though? Corporate structures have effectively become independent authorities. Kotick is accountable to no one but the investors - and his investors have no motive beyond the profit motive.

[@residentgrigo4701]

You are calling out the fascist villain of that games as something to be emulated? Aha. Did you even play Fallout NV? Caesar´s army was built on slavery and eugenics...

[@WebsiteTourist]

@@residentgrigo4701 and also on Hegelian dialectics! A hilariously broken reading of Hegel, but hey, probably the only reading of Hegel placed in an AAA game.

[@DionysiosC]

Imagine being his employee and knowing that even going above and beyond in profit won't save your job. Why bother giving your 100% or even your 1% when they have equal chances of getting you sacked? Pessimism brings despair, despair brings surrender and surrender brings failure.

[@TraustiGeir]

This is why workplace morale is important.

[@slaughterround643]

Anthony?

[@youtubesuresuckscock]

Yeah those Blizzard CMs surely went above and beyond by posting on a forum that 99.9% of their customers don't even read. They were REALLY valuable and worth paying, which is why they're still at the company. Oh.

[@DionysiosC]

@@youtubesuresuckscock My point exactly. How can we tell them to go above and beyond when no matter what they do they will get sacked. If they are to get fired, they might as well get lazy as there is no saving their job. Their CEO has been quoted as wanting to take out the fun out of making games.kzbin.info/www/bejne/in6rn5iIe9WEqac

[@BobtheX]

@@youtubesuresuckscock yeah thank god it was ONLY those blizzard CMs that got layed off Oh.

[@Playbahnosh]

"Noblesse Oblige", which means "nobility obliges", it's an (by now forgotten) expression that denotes the concept, that those who hold nobility, status and wealth are obligated to fulfill social responsibilities. This usually means, that those with insane amount of wealth and power are OBLIGATED to help those worse off. Like Jim mentioned, Bobby Kotick doesn't need billions of dollars to live comfortably, and yet he hoards all this wealth...for what? He could build entire mansions made purely out of dollar bills, and even that wouldn't put a dent in his bottom line. And yet he refuses even the simplest of human decency towards his own friggin employees, and wouldn't spare one single thought to what happens to those who's lives he completely ruined with the stoke of a pen. If the company is doing well, he rakes in all the profit. If the company is doing badly, everyone else pays the price BUT him. He is a pathological sociopath. To quote Shakespeare's Julius Caesar "The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power". Bobby Kotick is the perfect example of that. All the games that make him personally BILLIONS of dollars, he didn't write a single line of code, didn't create a single graphical asset or piece of music, and yet he rakes in all the profit. Then fires the people who actually made all that possible. It's madness! FIRE BOBBY KOTICK!

[@thestwinner680]

Fuck KotDICK

[@gagep3194]

''Noblesse Oblige'' is a concept made up by people who hold insane amounts of wealth and power to justify themselves by saying ''Hey, I'm doing my part, I'm one of the good guys! Please don't question how I got all this money.'' No one needs billions of dollars to live a dignified life, and no one should have insane amounts of wealth and power for themselves, this amount of wealth always comes from exploiting the hard work of others, every single time. Bobby Kotick is a disgusting freak, but what he represents isn't an aberration, he is a healthy child of the economic system that spawned him, an economic system that takes money from workers and transfers it to the hands of execs and shareholders, so they can roll around in their wealth as the people who made all the work live in fear of not having enough to provide for their families.

[@youtubefuckingsucks]

flaming cock dicks

[@jaredlucev4481]

Please stop comparing Bahbee Kahhtic to the devil. Satan never hurt anyone and doesn't deserve to be dragged through the mud like that.

[@ThePhantomSafetyPin]

Satan is currently filing a lawsuit against Kotick for defamation actually.

[@LermaBean]

@@ThePhantomSafetyPin He's friends with Dr. Downvote from Nerd City so he's got this, he can represent himself in court!

[@di4se]

Satan is my friend, and so is Vegeta.

[@boatstall9855]

Hail satan

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

Satan keeps his word and always makes contracts clear. Satan lets you say no.

[@evaristegalois6282]

Bobby Kotick is the manifestation of Corporate Commander from the Angry Joe Show

[@voltronik9141]

Bobby Kotick is what Cobra Commander shits out in the morning.

[@pswaw]

Angry Joe is a paid shill so who cares

[@EddThe19th]

@@pswaw God forbid a entertainer trys to make money from their entertainment...

[@sublime90]

bobby kocktick is satan in human form

[@Phantom-kc9ly]

Piotr Siemiątkowski wrong

[@eiyukabe]

As a professional in the game industry, I explicitly ask recruiters to not bother with Activision when I am looking for a job because of shit like this. I encourage everyone in the same situation to do the same.

[@anirudhviswanathan3986]

Please inform other people in your network of this also.

[@thestwinner680]

*Good* on you, and also, what *Anirudh Viswanathan* said.

[@TheTherapistGamer]

Even after Iwata took a 50% pay cut twice, apparently he still made close to $200,000 a year. That's still a pretty good wage! Have we just accepted that business executives make tens of millions of dollars a year? In the US in the 60s a CEO made about 20 times more than their average employee. In the 70s it was 30 times as much. Now it's about 270 times as much. In Japan and many other countries, CEOs make closer to 15 times more than their average employee.

[@HadalStreetlights]

As a financial thought experiment I like to suggest people imagine a system wherein those at the top are NOT ALLOWED to make more money than their poorest paid worker.

[@a_pet_rock]

@Halcyonacoustic Nah, it would explode growth. 1. If the only way Kotick could give himself a raise was to also give the janitor a raise then we'd actually see a real middle-class again. 2. How did we forget the Henry Ford model? If all your workers are paid well enough that they can buy a Ford, then every single one of them will buy a Ford every chance they get! A consumer economy requires consumers with money to spend!

[@Motrax1337]

@@HadalStreetlights lol so corporate socialism basically? Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with that. /s

[@WarlordShinkouhyou]

@@HadalStreetlights I'm working on indie games myself and should I ever make it to the point where I have my own employees, that is exactly how it will be. There will only be one wage. "The Wage". And EVERYBODY earns "The Wage". All these people saying 'well then no one would want that CEO job'... GOOD! We've seen what video games companies become when people whose priorities are money over VIDEO GAMES, end up in charge! If equal wages are a "greedy fucking bastard" repellent, THAT SOUNDS PERFECT TO ME!

[@Slash-XVI]

@@a_pet_rock the easiest way for a CEO to get a pay raise in that system would be to take any other job in that same company, leaving the CEO position vacant. So either we would see some CEO in name only people appearing with nothing actually changing or a bunch of open leadership positions that cannot be filled without offering some kind of incentive (why should peole assume more responsibilities for worse pay?).

[@Terrakinetic]

I don't understand how CEOs and executives avoid being regularly targeted with murder. It is the modern equivalent of slaying a dragon. (Because they hide in luxurious lairs filled with ill-gotten treasure and hold valuable people/franchises/medicines/etc hostage. And they're hard to get rid of.)

[@isenokami7810]

Funny that I discovered this comment, since I just replied to someone else about how we need to slay monster CEOs in a more figurative manner.

[@bradleycrouch8448]

@Joe Be careful with that. The Maries end up dragging people who would work with us down with them, and they get beheaded, too. (Poor Louis)

[@emprsnm9903]

@@@bradleycrouch8448 Some knights were fried taking down the dragons, but it was for the best. Armchair warrioring gets us nowhere. Might even get a name on a statue for it. Thats pretty good as long as EA doesn't commision it :)

[@emprsnm9903]

Sounds like the plot to Die Hard 7: An entire industry under seige! But seroiusly, that's what crosses my mind when these things hit the media. It's like living in the same neighborhood with a confirmed serial rapist or murder (free and unpunished) and somehow nobody cuts the snakes head off? Frankly, I'd be too afraid to pull stunts like those if I were in their position. Almost as like they have no sense of self preservation. Or maybe mine is overactive? With all the violent people in this country, and a big fat target somehow needs no protection? One would think out of 800 people, 80 would consider it, 10 would plan it, 3 would try it, and 1-2 would succeed. Remember that in this case, these are young energetic people, likely being disillusioned (careerwise) for the first time. But no, nothing ever happens, and it blows my mind. We must simply be way too complacent, or fearfull of the rich.

[@StrazdasLT]

They can afford security.

[@legion999]

I don't really understand why companies pay ceos such wages. When they leave/get fired, and go to another organization, I mean. What, they can't find someone for cheaper? I refuse to believe people like Kotick are some genius savants companies can't do without.

[@Donnerbalken28]

The CEOs pay themselves.

[@SomeRandomJackAss]

Same. I always wonder what exactly they are doing all day to earn those millions/billions. Sure, they "run the show," but management isn't that involved.

[@legion999]

@@Donnerbalken28 Doesn't the board of directors decide a CEO's pay usually?

[@NatrajChaturvedi]

most of my knowledge comes from tv shows and movies but I think their connections/relationships are a huge part of why they get paid those sums. They know the right politicians, high level artists also perhaps and other executives like themselves who can get things done for them and their companies. Anyways one billionaire I really respect is Bill Gates, he was the richest man in the world at one point in time but when he retired he gave away most of his wealth to causes he considered important. Wish more billionaires were like him.

[@daithimac5785]

@@NatrajChaturvedi I love that full disclosure in The first sentence. That's a type of up front honesty you don't get often. Respect mate. I already respect you just for that. I would assume there's some truth in what you commented as well.

[@Noobie2k7]

Iwata died for the videogame industry's sins.

[@Ninos.D]

Iwata is 5 letters, Jesus is 5 letters... OMG Iwata was Jesus!

[@ahriman79]

Ninos D If Iwata is Jesus does that mean... KOJIMA IS GOD!

[@brainrich1358]

God rest that man's soul.

[@justinreschke3642]

Unfortunately if he gets fired then he probably gets millions of dollars as a severance package and then gets another CEO job somewhere else with a million dollar sign on bonus.

[@firant]

He essentially owns Activision. He formed a company to purchase it out from Vivendi and still owns over 170 million share. (Yes, shares, not dollars in shares). Dude isn't going anywhere.

[@moonasha]

what the fuck does he even do for the company besides run it into the ground? I bet the company could function perfectly fine without him

[@OmniCloud9]

@@moonasha Many, many companies can FULLY function without their Executives/CEOs... probably better honestly because there are many CEOs like Booby Cockpit ONLY looking out for their personal bottom line, not the employees.

[@grubbybum3614]

Exactly. Firing him WILL NOT do anything. Boycotting Activision will hurt the puppet masters... But what's the bet that Jim promotes another Activision game this year?

[@Traumglanz]

@@moonasha He lead acitivion from a bankcroup compnay into one of the few tripple a publishers in the world. That is actually on him. While not everything he tried worked out, he seems to have a rather good track record. Mainly based on his firing practise. The first thing he did after taking over Activision was basically to fire everyone. ;-)

[@odinsplaygrounds]

You know what to do guys, photoshop horns and devil smiles on all of Bobby Koticks photos. In reality you're just restoring the true photo, as he personally photoshops away his devil horns to attempt to look like a human.

[@crimsondynamo615]

Odin's Playground it’s like the ancient legends of Alexander the Great killing his barbers when they find his horns in his locks of hair

[@smilesaredaggers3088]

7 billion dollars and can't get a date... blames google images? I'd say its a personality problem if you can't wine & dine with that type of change...

[@TheKiroshi]

If you think people are googling you for a date. youre a lost cause.

[@grubbybum3614]

I really wish I had a Death Note. I also hope people actually boycott Activision, and aren't just talking shit.

[@TheKrenk999]

I want to point out that Kotik has SEVEN BILLION FUCKING DOLLARS and he can't even get people to stay with him as their Sugar Daddy. Then again, that would require Kotik to actually give a decent payoff to somebody and he'd probably prefer to never have the loving touch of another human being than to do that.

[@Vandragorax]

It's more likely because his idea of a good date is going out to piss on a tramp and having a good laugh about it.

[@saddemgargouri]

it means he is so repulsive and disgusting on personal level not gold diggers can withstand him and even have a dinner with him

[@xET3RNALxEVOx]

Calling Kotick a parasite is insulting to parasites

[@tyrus1235]

At least parasites have to do some work to get their nutrients.

[@ProbaDuck]

@@tyrus1235 that was good.

[@Jackal_El_Lobo34]

Wouldn’t it be better if Activision Blizzard self destructed like a certain homicidal developer?

[@angeloffish]

Satoru Iwata had the right idea. And the other people who did the same.

[@ShootingStarNeo]

Exactly! Lead by example!!

[@SWIFTO_SCYTHE]

"THE COMPANY HAS TO FIRE EMPLOYEES FUCK THAT IM TAKING A HUGE PAYCUT AND SO WILL MY FELLOW EXECS. WE ARE A FAMILY HERE AT NINTENDO" -Paraphrase Iwata

[@zmdumpbox2340]

Who are these "other people" though? Genuine question, because people always seem to bring up only Iwata's example, which makes me feel only Iwata has done it.

[@lunarveggie]

@@zmdumpbox2340 as mentioned in the video one is Shigeru-Miyamoto, the Father of games like the Zelda series and Mario series. i'm not sure about any other people, i didn't look into it, but it seems like Iwata was the one who cut the most with 50% (in the video Jim says the others cut around 20% to 30% or something) and it's one big deal when its' the CEO doing it

[@proteus2103]

@@SWIFTO_SCYTHE To Iwata Sensei, May he rest in piece.

[@idioticreborn]

Since Iwata died, this industry has really gone down an 85 degree cliff.

[@ghb323]

That’s a steep downturn, as if the game industry sees iwata as nothing.

[@CrossfacePanda]

It’s worth noting that it’s not just Nintendo and Iwata who’ve taken pay cuts during periods of poor performance. Both Sony and Square Enix CEO’s has done the exact same thing before. Because unlike American CEO’s, Japanese CEO’s actually feel shame and culpability when their companies do poorly. And feel responsible for keeping its employees, you know, employed. Now Japanese companies have other problems, of course. And their CEO’s are very good at spreading the blame towards middle management, even when middle management had nothing to do with the company’s poor performance. But still, American companies like Activision and EA could still learn a thing or two not just from Nintendo, but Japanese devs in general when it comes to higher ups taking actual responsibility for their company and it’s employees.

[@biokido575]

Most CEO's take cuts in their salary when things don't go well as they are generally paid a percentage. In fact, 50% is sort of stingy in comparison.

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

That's the thing: both the merits and the flaws of Japanese companies stem from the same source- the company is _everything._ The workers are expected to sacrifice themselves for their jobs because the company is more important than them, but the executives are expected to take responsibility for the company because the company is more important than _them_ too. American executives treat the company they technically "work for" as a personal money-making scheme, something to be wrung dry for as much cash as they personally can squeeze out of it with their massive salaries and performance bonuses, and if they end up leaving the company a dry, withered husk by the time they're done they just bail out with their golden parachute to go find another one. They're not held accountable because they're rich cunts and in American culture the Rich Cunt is the highest and most sacred ideal- they're not above the law, they _are_ the law.

[@TheUndeadslayer221]

Japan has a slightly different culture, but I agree; Bobby Kotick should've taken a pay cut instead of laying off his employees.

[@biokido575]

@@TheUndeadslayer221 Why should Bobby Kotick take a cut? Look at what has happened. Activision gave Destiny to Bungie. They no longer need the staff they had on their side. So they laid off some employees that were not doing anything.They phased out heroes of the storm so they no longer need that staff. As I understand it the lay offs are centered around support and IT. Why should they continue to employee people that they don't need?

[@CrossfacePanda]

ArcaneAzmadi Well described. I think there’s very glaring problems in Japan’s way of running a company (especially with regards to work/life balance), but it’s a far better approach that can at least be tweaked and fixed, and a lot closer to a fair distribution between the higher ups and general workers. The American system is just a prolonged scheme to make the people on top as rich as humanly possible at the cost of others. And it’s not like Americans have the best work/life balance in the world either, so... Granted, I’m European, so my perspective is different. But I’m also fully aware that on a fundamental level our way of doing things here is basically the same as in the US, and where it not for strong unions standing up for the working people we’d have the exact same work culture as the US does. Imo, the ideal would be a structure of culpability similar to that of Japan, with strong worker unions the same way we have it up here in the Nordics. That’s probably as close to a viable version of this system as we could possibly get.

[@TheTherapistGamer]

Another legit complaint against Kottick is that he has not diversified the company enough. Activision has billions and billions of dollars to work with. They could take the PlayStation approach and produce lots of varied games, knowing that some will be hits and some will be misses but overall it's a low-risk strategy (PlayStation didn't collapse when Knack was a dud). It also happens to be great for gamers since a lot of games are produced. Instead what Activision has done is make a few games and bet the bank on them. If they have a single Call of Duty sell less than the year before their stock price takes a dive, and they can't counteract it with "We also have these six other franchises that we also expect to sell well/make loads from microtransactions," etc., they just have to make up lame excuses to make up for Kottick's shortsightedness, greed, and poor business skills. Anyone, including those without any business training, could predict that Call of Duty's growth was unsustainable, and Kottick should have counteracted this by producing several new games and IPs.

[@ZivTheWyrd]

Thats assuming that many gamers aren't idiots and that people like Kottick give a dhitty pebble what you think. He could quit tomorrow and still make more monry in a month than i do in a year.

[@KalavinkaK]

Ah, but that's because they can't do that. Why can't they do that? Because the soul-sucking environment of Activision employment drains employees of their will to live, let alone their creativity. This probably means nobody even comes up with alternative franchises or varied ideas.

[@gavinerickson9392]

ie, Venom was terrible, made a bunch of money, Spiderverse was fan-fucking-tastic, made *some* money.

[@sirazazeloflowkey6424]

@@KalavinkaK Correct. And why would they put their soul, creativity and hard work into developing a good new IP if they are just toss-able trash anyway as far as their superiors are concerned? It's not like Bobby has the skills or creativity to make one himself. - shakes head - So sad.

[@youtubesuresuckscock]

What are you talking about? He's diversifying them very well. I can't wait to play Diablo Immortal on the phone that I own because I love building 2 grand PCs to play games on my fucking phone.

[@Arkay429]

*Fun isn't something one considers when monetizing the universe. But this... does put a smile on my face.*

[@N_o196]

You're a genius lmao

[@diekssus7194]

As the late TB once said: ""Bobby Kotick is the devil incarnate""

[@BradenBest]

What did the devil do to deserve being compared to Bobby Kotick?

[@Possiblekim]

@@BradenBest agreed that is a low blow, stupid, immoral and rude to compare the devil to that man.

[@evillecaston]

So this guy lays off hundreds for no good reason, actively campaigns to make customers into lifelong addicts, and admits to exploiting IPs to death while ignoring modest ones, and he wonders why people compare him to the devil? Why should we care about him when he's clearly shown not to care about anyone else? Who would have thought a dude who makes millions a year off shady business practices could get so offended over a simple photoshop...

[@eewweeppkk]

Is making a profit, as the head of a business, not a good reason to lay off unnecessary workers?

[@powerhousejp]

@@eewweeppkk If your company is failing, then yes, you must do whatever you can to turn it profitable, including laying off 8% of your workforce. If you have workers, assets...well, anything attached to the business you run that is or will soon become an unnecessary burden that absolutely needs to be cut out of the company to ensure the health and profitability of that company, then as the leader of that company, you have failed. Slashing is the avenue of companies like K-Mart, Sears, and other business failures that need to take drastic action to survive. A normal, successful, profitable company with competent leadership does not "need" to take these actions, because they don't reach that point of failure. And that's the point of this video, and every argument like it. Bobby Kotick has failed. #FireBobbyKotick

[@eewweeppkk]

@@powerhousejp Except they're expecting to take a 13% decrease in profits this year due to the low amount of games releasing so they're reorganizing in order to hire more developers and produce more games. Allowing your company to lose 13% of its profits is beyond stupid. What kind of CEO is like, "Yeah, we're going to take a massive hit this upcoming year, lets just _not change anything at all_" You're criticizing a businessman for running a business. The guy might be a dickhead but I haven't seen a single comment of the thousands on this video that I would trust to be a manager let alone a CEO with the amount of financial awareness you people have. The world doesn't exist for your enjoyment; people need incentives and that's just the way of it. A company can't afford to pay 3 million dollars a month to keep nonessential employees when they're expecting to take a dip in profits anyway because that is the opposite of what companies do.

[@RoyalFusilier]

Didn't you see what Jim suggested to do instead, when there's a shortfall to be made up? Reduce the obscene pay of swine like Kotick and his ilk, who can well afford to take the hit. Also, his prickly pride about the photoshops remind me very strongly of Digital Homicide and other asset flippers in a weird way. "Seemingly without shame, yet strikingly sensitive to criticism."

[@Schlurcherific]

@@eewweeppkk And the 13% decrease in profits is because they fucked up strategic decisions in 2018 and probably even earlier. It still is a failure of management and as such the brunt of the burden should be shouldered by the decision makers.

[@manic_miner]

"It's not about need, it's about greed". Sterling work as always, thank God for you.

[@grubbybum3614]

Yeah, nah. He'll be playing Sekiro when it's released. Thus helping sell a few extra hundred copies, at the very least.

[@grubbybum3614]

@Honudes Gai. Yes, I would. If that restaurant just laid off 800 staff... That was a bad ananolgy lol. Here's a better one. If chef Jamie Oliver made a video about how horrible 'caged chicken eggs' are (which he did), then went on to use caged-eggs in one of his recipes - he would absolutely be a hypocrite.

[@grubbybum3614]

@Honudes Gai. Ok I'll stick with your analogy. This video has Jim (the food critic) writing that the owner of Activision-resturants is an absolute wanker, who should be fired, because he got rid of other chefs for no good reason. After his article, if Jim went back to the restaurant again to critique their food (which promotes it), it would appear as though he doesn't want to play a part in forcing change on the restaurant owner (who was never fired afterall).

[@EyeofSol299]

In addition to all those poor workers laid off, you've gotta feel bad for the IT people kept on board too. They probably had to collect all 800 of those decommissioned workstations.

[@grubbybum3614]

Furniture removalists move the workstations, not IT.

[@protoquantum]

Those who kept their jobs, no matter in which division, will be left with looming understanding of their expendabilty. That’s much more to worry about then a couple hundred PCs.

[@michaelkitchin9665]

Game development has always been a project job.

[@kruleworld]

i'd spare a those who didn't get the cut. those guys have to pick up the slack left from having 800 people's worth of work falling on their shoulders.

[@Traumglanz]

And most likely they are still working half the time for free. Because that is the blizzard way, hours and hours of unpaid overtime.

[@windmacher]

Jim Sterling knew the whole time. DAMMN DID THIS AGE WELL. Hail

[@Kwatcher100]

The Cassandra of Video Games calls it again.

[@dreammfyre]

"Bu-bu-but Bobby made Activision into what it is today!" The studios did that. In particular, much of what is now the studio responsible for the most successful game at the moment, Apex Legends. Also, that's like saying whatever record executives were in charge during the music industry's heydays were the ones responsible for most of it's success, and not the actually bands.

[@kaarpiv375]

The studios made Activision what it is today. That's a good thing. Bob also made Activision what it is today. And that's terrible.

[@jcnot9712]

re hash we live in a culture where blame trickles down and credit trickles up.

[@disgustipated86]

Activision hasn't been good since the PSOne and the early wrestling games

[@Kingmaxi19944]

Peace sells but who’s buying 😉

[@yaroracool9249]

What activision is today isn't that great in my opinion.

[@jordick8427]

#FireBobbyKotick God bless Satoru Iwata's soul, a Paragon of the gaming industry. May he rest in peace.

[@natgrant1364]

That and boycott Activision/Blizzard.

[@grubbybum3614]

@@natgrant1364. I wonder how many people boycotting Activision will play Sekiro next month... Hmmm

[@grubbybum3614]

In fact. I'll slap down $5 that Jim has a go at that game.

[@Iggsy81]

He wasn't a paragon, though, that's the thing. He was merely a decent reasonable person. It's just that leadership standards are SO low someone doing something half-decent once in a lifetime seems like some messianic act. That's how ridiculous the whole situation is.

[@natgrant1364]

@@grubbybum3614 : I haven't bought anything published by them or EA in years. I don't like their business practices, thus I don't buy their products anymore. Boycotts could work if people were able to exercise a little self-discipline.

[@javierortiz82]

I was laid off by a bank about a year and a half ago and you can't imagine the burden it is to be laid off like that, no reason, no explanation, you just unceremoniouslyl receive a letter with the termination of your contract, no advice, not anything, and not just me, around 500 other people went the same way. CEOs are responsible for the well being of hundreds of families and doing that kind of moves is something only a souless man could do, how do they sleep at night?

[@FrostyAUT]

They can lay off that many people without a second thought because many of them have degrees in economics or business where they have internalized various like "The (labour) market is efficient" (unless it isn't, which is usually the case) or "You just gotta work hard and be WILLING to get a job and it will happen" (working hard when you're out of work? okay ... ). Most of them are also children of wealthy families, got tutored in their Ivy League schools and got to build a network of contacts while others were busy working part-time to afford their college education.

[@greatlyreducedgameplay9939]

@@FrostyAUT salty over your useless degree? working hard means to get your boots on and find a job for you and swallow your dose of shit and taking jobs you feel over qualified for and build a career for yourself or become self employed. i hate having to defend this logic but you are not thinking rationally with logic you are thinking using emotion which does not help.

[@FrostyAUT]

@@greatlyreducedgameplay9939 You assume too much. I majored in economics and I've worked in banks and public agencies. Which is why I can say these things with confidence and without any sort of emotion, really. Though anyone with any sort of common sense should be able to realize that some people earn a disproportionate amount of money compared to their marginal productivity and that rich parents send their kids to private schools and elite colleges where they get the best possible tutoring and education. It's common sense, I've known that long before I got my degree.

[@ionbing2884]

"CEOs are responsible for the well being of hundreds of families" Incorrect. They are responsible to their shareholders. That is all.

[@isenokami7810]

javierortiz82 If a CEO’s a big enough dick to do a massive layoff like that, “How do they sleep at night” is the wrong damn question. What you need to do is realize that these aren’t people, they’re monsters. And then you ask, “How do we slay them?” Not literally slay them, of course. It’s the internet, so god knows I have to cover my ass on that.

[@m_s7155]

So... one of my psych professors once spoke about why ridiculously rich people NEED more money... sometimes they have kinda the same mindset as a serial killer and they just need to harm other people in order to make themselves feel better... They "get off" on seeing people below them suffer.... Other times its just sheer greed as you said, very similar to an animal instinct, take for example a squirrel... A squirrel will only eat roughly 10% of its collected food, yet they are programmed to ALWAYS gather more. In order for folks to make sense of just "why"... You honestly have to think of people like Bobby Kotick as NOT human. You really have to go out of your way to be this much of a pos.

[@somedudeok1451]

I think it's similar to durg addiction. Only with rich people it's profit addiction. A junky would do any foolish, dangerous, reckless or morally wrong thing just to get another fix. Just like rich people stop at nothing to stuff even more money into their accounts so they can just SIT on it.

[@TheBrennanSchafer]

This is a very big generalization with evidence to back it up. No wonder our schools are going to shit. Some teachers are insecure about their success in life and are spreading their hate for people who are more successful then them. Rich people can be dicks but so can poor people.

[@retrogamelover2012]

@Brennan Schafer To be honest, it's not like their stigma towards the higher classes is necessarily uncalled for, or not rooted in some sort of logic. While it can obviously be considered misguided at best, we are talking about people that let money control their lives, never having a moment's thought on how their actions to get more can impact everything around them positive or negative and essentially just seeing most if not all of those around them as just a means to get more profits, throwing away any sense of genuine compasion, humidity or just basic human decency for something as pitiful and ludicrous as raking in money without an end goal, AKA what the Bhuddists would call a "hungry ghost"; Always craving profit, but never satisfied with what they have.

[@TheBrennanSchafer]

retrogamelover2012 if that’s the type of wealthy people you hang out with or know you need to surround yourself with better people. That is not my experience at all. The wealthiest people I know are some of the nicest, most generous humans I’ve ever met. Which makes sense. People don’t hand their hard earned money over to people who are disrespectful. You give someone money in return for something you want. Therefore one does not get rich by being selfish and or a dick. Just look at the wealthiest few people in the world. They are all giving away essentially all of their fortunes back to humanity. I think you need to live in the real world and not let movies or false narratives run your emotions.

[@TheBrennanSchafer]

@ThatPurpleFunk No you dipshit. They are literally giving 99% of their wealth away. By definition that is not a "drop out of the ocean" to them. Not sure why I assumed you were at least somewhat educated on the matter. You have this belief in your head that you want so badly to be true but don't know any facts of the reality. Uneducated people like you who don't bother to learn things before they blabber their mouths are exactly why there is so much division in society. Have an open mind. You'll start seeing a lot more success in your life. Who knows one day you might be one of those rich people you despise so much. Be fortunate enough to give all your wealth back to society.

[@HeadsFullOfEyeballs]

The idea that it's fair to pay CEOs a lot because they carry so much "responsibility" is very odd to me. Responsibility implies power + accountability, doesn't it? But what CEOs have is simply power, and power isn't a burden when you have no conscience and suffer no consequences for abusing it. People like Kotick don't suffer if they fuck up. He probably gets a fifty million dollar severance package if he runs Activision into the ground. The worst that can realistically happen to him is that he'll become richer at a somewhat slower rate.

[@g0tm04]

7 Billion dollar net worth, cant get a date. Faith in humanity restored.

[@ShadowWolfRising]

I guess the silver lining in all this. Even with all his money, no woman wants to have sex with him.

[@devilmikey00]

@@ShadowWolfRising Well I'd say the companionship part is the part he's missing. I don't need to be worth 7 billion dollars to track down a prostitute. The difference is that 7 billion buys you the finest prostitutes on earth. The man can get sex on a whim if he so desires but the part that should warm your heart is that no one will ever truly love him. He'll die on a bed of money alone.

[@ohnoitschris]

What's even sweeter is that he publicly whined about it, like a teenager on their Livejournal.

[@ShadowWolfRising]

@@devilmikey00 Like I said, no woman WANTS to, didn't say no woman wouldn't. After all, Prostitutes require payment.

[@Possiblekim]

@@ShadowWolfRising Well... Even prostitute has standards.

[@bighandsbeno1157]

A Tick: a blood sucking animal with an insatiable appetite that causes discomfort and pain that can lead to the death of its host. Kotick: Same but with less legs

[@Dreznin]

Are you sure about the less legs?

[@bighandsbeno1157]

The reports that Kotick is actually a 8 legged spindle monster is as of yet unconfirmed

[@namkha209]

Funfact: the suffix "ko" in Japanese means "small/little/young" and also means "something related to the Ice element" in the Bionicle universe.

[@GeorgeNoiseless]

Bobbard's head on a tick body is another great idea for a photoshop! Increase awareness dangerous koTick parasite!

[@theguywhowentthere3346]

we need pictures of kotick with horns and his head ON said ticks now. Get on it internet :P

[@adampoole948]

I think the title should be "Fire Bobby Kotick into the sun"

[@ClayMann]

What has the sun done to deserve that? You leave the Sun alone you....you Sunist (that's like racist but against giant nucleur powered planet things)

[@adampoole948]

@@tau-5874 I guess I didn't think that shooting garbage like him into the sun that could be considered polluting.. forgive me, mr sun

[@tau-5874]

Adam Poole just put him on a course outside the solar system. Once he leaves that, not our problem anymore

[@adampoole948]

@@tau-5874 that's fine until an alien race gets mad at us for polluting their solar system lol

[@joshmitchell6182]

I love how #FireBobbyKotick is already on twitter

[@Jechto1999]

I think both of us know it will no jack shit, in regards of getting Bobby fired. He's making the company to much money.

[@crimsondynamo615]

I feel #ImprisonBobbyKotick would be much better because he paid 0% in taxes and got more money for it, meanwhile i try that and i get arrested

[@ryanw7196]

back in the 50s 60s and 70s CEO's made far less and were people who ascended from within the industries they had become CEO, today theyre all rank and file finance guys puked up from the depths of wall street to ride the CEO money carousel from this company to the next. 50s, 60s, and 70s = powerful, well maintained middle class, today = all money being sucked up by billionaires with shrinking middle class and widening lower classes. Youre starting to touch on something that goes way deeper than just the "Treeeple Ayyyye" video game industry, Jim. "Socializing losses while privatizing profit" isn't a new idea, its something large companies have been doing to the U.S. government for decades now and these 800 employees unfortunately got to see exactly what the meaning of that phrase is.

[@jonskinner5664]

Its the jew way of capitalism.

[@oliviawilliams6204]

Look at your stat again, extreme poverty is diminishing rapidly

[@IsaacIsaacIsaacson]

The lower class is not extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is very rare inside the industrialized world. The lower class is people who are just managing to survive.

[@ryanw7196]

@@oliviawilliams6204 Never said the lower classes were living in extreme poverty, just said that the middle class isn't exactly growing in the United States and that almost certainly is not attributed to upward mobility with more and more people beginning to live paycheck to paycheck and barely anyone in this country even able to financially survive a $1000 dollar emergency while the Bobby Koticks of the world continue to vacuum up every dollar they find even if they have to layoff 800 people to pocket a few more. I only even mentioned that to draw a disparity between today's Bobby Koticks and the CEOs of the 50s and 60s (during a somewhat prosperous economic period for the American middle class) when they were actually people who came from within the industries they were now a CEO in, not just finance guys. There is literally no end to corporate greed, their job is to maximize profit and that end will be achieved through any means allowable by law, and if its disallowed by law then the corporations will do all they can to change the law as they have been proven to do time and time again until people actually stop letting them do it. This Activision story is essentially the modern corporate culture of "socializing losses while privatizing profit" in a condensed nutshell and it happens throughout the corporate world in this way or that, never ceasing to be sickening.

[@themetalone7739]

I heard this somewhere, maybe it's just a rarely-used saying, but "the measure of a man is how he treats those he has power over." If you are the one in charge, and you treat your subordinates like shit...that is the truest reflection of who you are as a person. If you're in charge, and you view you and your subordinates as a unified team that must be treated with respect...you're most certainly NOT Bobby Kotick

[@Lorekeeper72]

Rowling paraphrased that in Order of the Phoenix but there's another quote to go with it, "Everyone can handle adversity, if you want to know the true character of a man, give him power," think Teddy Roosevelt said that.

[@JustCallMeCeles]

@@Lorekeeper72 "Lol , true".- The internet.

[@sol8454]

Yeah, the easiest way to put that into practice is look at how a person treats the people working in customer service and retail.

[@ValensBellator]

Man he must be seriously unpleasant in person if he's having trouble getting dates as a billionaire lol

[@2000Doriyas]

Unimpressive is what I imagine, difficult to find things to relate to people about or impress them over that isn’t about business

[@ohnoitschris]

And to whine about it publicly like a teenager on social media. Hahahahahahaha, Kotick is a bratty child in a suit with a 10-figure bank account.

[@TealWolf26]

Seems like poetic justice to me. I hope his empty jade palace echoes hollow at night as he realized he'll die alone. You can't buy love. Only "escorts."

[@nevarran]

The guy is probably sleeping with super models every week. Don't get me wrong, it would feel good to know such douche has troubles dating, like a little consolidation prize. But it's just not happening, not in our world.

[@TealWolf26]

@@nevarran I hope they at least have the human decency to vomit afterwards.

[@andrewd084]

Unfortunately, there's no one to fire him. He probably owns more shares in the company than anyone, so he's basically self-employed. (edit: he owns about 1/4 of Activision's total shares, no idea who owns the rest)

[@Jechto1999]

You are correct. The other parts of the stock is owned likely by the public and investment fonds, since Acti-bliz is a public traded company

[@angelscross9026]

I'm betting Bobby Kotick and other executives are pissed at Iwata. His genuine act of altruism and kindness reveal how greedy and self-centered the rest of them really are.

[@StrikeWarlock]

Pretty much video game Jesus God bless that man's soul.

[@Zoza15]

Satoru Iwata sure has my greatest respect on how to treat their consumers.. Too bad the man passed away, he would have showed another example on how to be a real CEO and show real leadership so that other publishers can learn from the God Satoru Iwata..

[@booketoiles1600]

Arrested for crimes against the working class.

[@TheMangaWasBetter]

C'mon Jim you can't be a billionaire with that millionaire talk.

[@davevd9944]

You have currently 123 likes...And I don't want to be the cunt that ruins it.

[@groundbreaker91]

I am absolutely sick of hearing these stories; Not in the sense that I don't like hearing Jim talk about them, or that I don't want to hear actual facts about the slimy underbelly of the gaming industry. No, its more the simple fact that it just sickens me to see these overpaid, egotistical CEO's continually try to justify their draconian practice of hoarding all the wealth for themselves. Its even worse when you see their pictures, and they all have the same disgustingly proud smile on their fat faces. This is why the gaming industry, in its current state, needs unions and needs regulation, because without either, the unchecked avarice of these CEO's is eventually going to ruin the industry.

[@inevitabledeath]

Talking about such stories is important. You can't solve a problem if you don't know that the problem exists.

[@ihateexcessivelylongandpoi4490]

Then stop buying anything they make. Simple.

[@leevaughngraves1069]

Yes if all gamers get new hobbies and crash the industry it will create change, and yes that is the only surefire way, but kicking Kotick out on his ass, or limiting CEO earnings in America would solve the problem as well, while letting us all still play videogames. It sucks that we have to give up our hobby for a few years so the assholes will quit ruining it. There just needs to be no money in ruining it. Especially because (Spoiler Alert) most hobbies are being ruined this way. Movies suck nowadays for the same reasons games do. Same with most TV, and even non-electronic gaming. Even if you stop supporting gaming you are support this same bullshit when you buy food. Its frustrating.

[@ihateexcessivelylongandpoi4490]

@@leevaughngraves1069 Your actions speak louder than words. It's totally up to you, nobody is forcing you to buy their crap. Humans really are so short sighted. Your whinging means nothing but your actions mean everything.

[@leevaughngraves1069]

@@ihateexcessivelylongandpoi4490 Heres the catch, humans are easily broken. We need to be better to each other (because you are low-key at the mercy of every single person you meet), the whining is a response the idea that we shouldn't just hurt CEOs personally and badly. We don't want to hurt people (even though it is fastest) and we like videogames, ergo, the whining. You are the shortsighted one if you dont realize the tragedy of the situation is worth despairing over, because the cleanest alternative is to just teach the rich to be better, and violence is how you do that unfortunately. Actions speak loudly and cannot be undone, this is why we are a society of words. You understand this...yes?

[@jonathanbigler2873]

We all need to thank God for James Stephanie Sterling for calling this over 2 years BEFORE all the bad stuff we already knew about. Fire Bobby Kotick

[@0ld1eye]

Marital status: divorced. I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

[@HC-qc5rp]

Shocked like Norin the Wary there.

[@Reddsoldier]

Imagine being married to that thing though...

[@___IG]

What's the point of the personal attacks?

[@MasouShizuka]

It's funny and fun. I mean if we can't legally kill the *thing*, at least let us make fun of it.@@___IG

[@Beoslasher]

Arctopus probably tried to pawn off his wife’s wedding ring to reduce costs

[@Keln02]

In France we used to have Guillotines and sharpened pitchforks for those situations :')

[@shadow3675]

About time us Americans got on board with that tradition.

[@paperbackwriter1111]

@Gen Eric Canada's doing fine, though, isn't it? Worst thing the dude has done is be a shithead to Native Americans despite woke posturing and also selling weapons to Yemen-slaying Saudis. So not much different than any Canadian head of state, right?

[@Flatcetera]

Y’all moved on to burning buses tho

[@fishbonito]

hey chief, can you please tell me where'd you find that icon :)

[@Blunderbussy]

Well, americans have a lot of guns. Just no balls to use them against the injustices that they suffer and they bring to the rest of the planet...

[@lance134679]

Unionize, brothers and sisters.

[@tomfrascina5846]

Which side are you on boys, which side are you on?

[@torrb420]

I will never work a no-union job...ever.

[@Xetelian]

@@torrb420 I was a pharmacy tech for many years, and the union stores start a few miles south of where I worked and all the retail pharmacy North starting with my store up to the Canadian border were non-union. I found out that I was the lowest paid employee in my position of any of the stores North of the union and made way way less than the techs at the union stores. I know unions can be shit, and power corrupts but at the very least they wouldn't have screwed me so hard because our union wasn't a monstrous bastard that sucked up money for the fuck of it.

[@goliver9991]

.... and lose your jobs

[@torrb420]

@@Xetelian unions protect against this very thing. There is no way in hell I'd ever work non union again....its the best weapon you have to put your fascist wannabe "boss" in their place when they want to coerce you through intimidation and harassment. I live in the states....labor relations are much dicier here and employers get away with murder.

[@akaimizu1]

This keeps on aging really well. Now the employees are planning a walkout in attempts to make this happen. If only Activision took James Stephanie Sterling’s advice.

[@nickochioneantony9288]

the content aged well, although Jim's personality don't, their persona distortion is too great for me to bear

[@burnheart2965]

Stephanie?

[@ClemmyGames]

Someone had to say it!

[@Cheezer3089]

Thank God for jim

[@shanegrayson7068]

Screw AAA support indi-devs!

[@cartmann94]

First I'd remove whatever Golden Parachute Booby has in his contract. Then #FireBobbyKotick and watch him metaphorically freefall.

[@phantomkrieger2744]

What if he was given a literal solid gold parachute and thrown off a building🤔

[@MichaelSmith-sp5qb]

That's what class action lawsuits are for

[@adressatinbaut5334]

@@phantomkrieger2744 But he will just bring out all of his money in front of the building and idk fall 0,7 inches before landing on the 100 dollar bills

[@soulgazer014]

He has a net worth of 7 billion. Even if all of that is in stock that deprecates to 1% overnight, he would still have 70 million dollars in assets. He has wings of gold with a platinum jet pack and chrome hoverboots. He don’t need no damn golden parachute.

[@samwatson-tayler2805]

Can we rename harvest runs of Bioshock to Kotick runs? After all, who is more likely to murder little girls for short term profit?

[@Scorpius165]

I don't know about the US but in most EU countries, companies basically cannot fire someone outside the probation period unless: 1) s/he's repeatedly not up to the job (this has to be officially recorded and some time for skill development must be allowed), 2) is convicted of a crime, 3) comes drunk/high to work. Any other reason has to be with the employee's consent and if it's not, people can sue the company and they will win.

[@KomamuraSajin]

Most companies in the U.S. have employees sign off on "at will" employment. This makes it a legal contract that if you work for a given company you will give up many of your rights to contest or otherwise fight for your job should the company you signed on with decide to terminate said employment. They usually have a line in there about the company reserving the right to fire for any reason, stated or otherwise. In short, if you want to work for these companies you need to live with the fact that they can fire you for whatever reason they make up, whether reasonable or not, and there isn't a damned thing you could do about it because you effectively agreed to those terms in order to get the job. It's very hard to pursue legal recourse against large companies anyway, since they'll likely tie you up in court until you're broke and can't continue any lawsuit. America was founded on capitalist ideals starting with forefathers of which many were land owners with profitable plantations and slaves working them. You look at the robber barons and tycoons of the 1800's and the trend of squashing the weak and using them as cheap expendable labor continued up through the 1920's. What's happening now with Activision and many other large corporate entities are just modern day versions of this, with less worker death. Since many of the politicians in charge of the laws in this country are also wealthy and often shareholders, they're never going to vote for laws and conditions that favor the worker because that'll cut into their own wealth. Watching the news makes me sad because while the rest of the first world moves forward, the U.S. has begun to regress.

[@ionbing2884]

That's most of the reason why those countries have such high unemployment rates and are so damn poor. The latest recession cycle was FAR worse in France, Spain, and the other Mediterranean countries than here. The next cycle might break them.

[@iwiffitthitotonacc4673]

@@ionbing2884 Calling most EU countries "poor" is kinda stretching it. Poverty is also rampant in the US despite not having the same protections, so I'm honestly not sure what your point is.

[@spybird5870]

@@iwiffitthitotonacc4673 he just really wants to say we're socialists who hate capitalism.. because who ever heard of mixing.

[@Enigma2K99]

12:39 And that's why, despite what others will say about them, Nintendo always gets more respect from me.

[@nobodyinparticular9640]

Yet since that man passed away, what happened? Nintendo now makes ya pay for a shitty online service (when Iwata himself was against this sort of things), DMCAs fan games left and right now, takes down ROM sites (gotta protect those sweet, precious NES game you played a billion of times, but games that are almost impossible to find/play nowadays? Even more rarer now) and more bs from their part. I give them another few years before they become as shitty as western companies.

[@keybladesrus]

Agreed. Nintendo has its problems, no doubt about that. But compared to much of the rest of the industry, they're goddamned saints. Compared to companies like Activision and EA, Nintendo damn near looks like Jesus himself come to offer salvation.

[@Enigma2K99]

@@nobodyinparticular9640 How does that change what Iwata did? Or are you just bitter that anyone gives them credit for anything?

[@RemixedVoice]

@@Enigma2K99 they meant that since Iwata died, Nintendo has made a lot of shitty anticonsumer decisions

[@Enigma2K99]

@@RemixedVoice And I meant that I respect them for what Iwata did, not their shitty decisions.

[@Xifihas]

Fire all executives...out of cannons...into volcanoes.

[@everythingissogreen6748]

Or into the lower atmosphere. Just high enough to suffocate and freeze them. But not too high, they need to fall back down and burn on reentry.

[@jacobkleinsasser5658]

I would say black holes

[@lyianx]

Except the Nintendo ones. Exec's who actually give a shit about their employees dont deserve the same fate as asshats like Bobby Kotick

[@Megaspartan23]

the sun would be a better option.

[@zipperman6045]

I don't understand why people are literally liking a call for murder

[@AbbreviatedReviews]

If Bobby Kotick gets fired he'll just be replaced by some other soulless bottom line stroking CEO that has no experience in the game development industry and does the same thing without getting caught up in news cycles saying how terrible they are.

[@DrownedInExile]

One soulless bottom line stroking CEO at a time...

[@skepticalpickle5258]

That's the wide spread corruption that is the American economy

[@invalidatemyass]

dunno what video you were watching. Can't have been the same one the rest of us were watching. that attitude will get you nowhere in life.

[@emceeunderdogrising]

That's the thing about a system. You could destroy every single one of them. They will all be replaced as the same machine turns its gears over and over again. You have to destroy the system not the people being run by that system.

[@differentlyabledmuslimjewi4475]

@@emceeunderdogrising yes because that is productive...

[@Anxel00]

This video was ahead of its time, now is 2021 and well well, how have the mighty fell...

[@edmundblackadder2741]

Remember when Bobby Kotick was sued for sexual harassment

[@JoshSweetvale]

No. #Honesty

[@peanuts974]

Because he fired a flight attendant that he and his rich asshole friends were sexually harassing IIRC. God he is is such a piece of shit.

[@edmundblackadder2741]

Joshua Sweetvale well the women won the lawsuit so she would of only won if she was actually touched up by Bobby XD

[@bcsb]

I shudder to think of the day where we lose Miyamoto, as well.

[@TheRCScotsman]

Oh, geez...

[@PsychoDiesel48]

Bro don't ;-; I'm surecthere's people there that can take over with his same vision and stuff

[@timothymckane6362]

We already lost Iwata... Losing another gaming developer legend would be worse.

[@BadGrief]

I'd be upset because he's an awesome person who created awesome things. But I would not worry about the gaming industry as a whole. It will keep going on and great games will still be made. Grow up.

[@Blueshiftone]

@@BadGrief 0.03 cents have been added to your deposit. Keep shilling, and you may get a bonus for all your hard work! ;)

[@JonahUniverse]

I know campaigns like this never actually end with their intended goal met, but it is still VERY important to at least make our voices heard so they know where we stand. Even though he won't be fired we can still make an impact.

[@littleman6950]

It wont. This is the kind of situation only congress or a united, angry mob taking aggressive action can fix.

[@Deathkill06]

I love how radical Jim is becoming, dude is one sentence away from calling for the overthrow of class society.

[@greatlyreducedgameplay9939]

nah he isnt stupid enough to be a socialist... i hope

[@nicholaswhite7056]

mountains my dude he's been one the whole time, big lol if you haven't noticed

[@greatlyreducedgameplay9939]

@@nicholaswhite7056 i try to live in hope even if the situation is hopeless

[@jojbenedoot7459]

My hope is that Jim will wake up the consumers in the video game industry to the hard reality that capitalism is the thing that's been ruining video games the whole time

[@ionbing2884]

@@jojbenedoot7459 Capitalism is why we have video games. Don't see many hard-hitting titles coming out of Venezuela or North Korea or Eritrea.

[@thomasvaldez8566]

Comparing Bobby Kotick to the Devil is a gross insult to ol' Lucifer.

[@Goodpecker123]

Lucy betrayed his people and the humanity only once.

[@LimeyLassen]

At least the Devil can get a hot date

[@funkyweapon1981]

Hail Satan!

[@MalakianM2S]

@@LimeyLassen Yeah, even with a lot of pictures with horns on him, lol.

[@CoffinClouds420]

it's Privatizing the gains and socializing the loses.

[@delusionnnnn]

This and the fact that executives are highly paid as long as the numbers are high. Whether those are losses or gains seems to be irrelevant. Paid to succeed, paid to fail.

[@kazaddum2448]

Capitalism ho!

[@CoffinClouds420]

@@delusionnnnn very good point my dude!

[@phaolo6]

@Coffin Clouds You butchered the phrase, but it's sadly true.

[@torrb420]

Activision proves Karl Marx all along.

[@OctopusDropkick]

UNIONIZE, UNIONIZE, UNIONIZE. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE ON THIS EARTH, BETTER TO FIGHT THAN TO DIE COWERING.

[@Matt-df3zm]

@Agent 005 unionize anyway, just don't call it a union

[@TheKiroshi]

@Agent 005 -- there is no such thing, and its not legally enforcable. Its mentally exploitable. You have rights to disregard your agreement at anytime. Should you need it, all your saying is that, yes. they can fire you. but that doesnt make it legally protected to attack employees, even if youre fired. it doesnt change exploitation

[@Traumglanz]

@Agent 005 I think you don't get the point about the power of unions. You and everyone else don't show up for work. People are easily to replace, sure, but not fast and not without bleeding money for years. Especially the guys working for blizzard were not that short on money. All it requires is to stand together and if nessesary burn that corperation to the ground (not literally, figuratively) Are you aware that unions work just fine for hollywood? Actors and writers guilds do protect their members and the writers guild strikes are legendary.

[@mrb3nz]

@@Traumglanz Unions are easy to form in well paying jobs, like hollywood, because you have some savings on your account that allow you to just not show up at work. Unfortunately, game studios pay shit. And game developers are very easily replaceable, because all the fan bois still want to work on Overwatch, even for free.

[@poisondamage2182]

unionize even if the tell you, you can't. if they want to shut you down, seize the means of production. the indie game industrie shows us, that we don't need AAA publishers/studios

[@Reverberon]

Fire was meant literally, apply gasoline and matches.

[@hylianechoes]

i wish i could fucking like this video a million times and literally "smash" that god damn like button. Sure lately we have been talking about the same or similar topics very frequently in the game industry but for a good damn reason. Bless you Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto. There is a reason i always keep coming back to Nintendo when they release genuine quality games. They may not always be the most innovative (even tho they often are) or "new thinking" but then again the fans keep wanting follow ups of their most popular franchises (myself included, especially Zelda and smash bros/mario kart) and they almost always deliver and then some. And being the huge company they are i almost always feel they put their money where their mouth is and put GAMEPLAY FIRST, and that similar mentality is clearly reflected in the way Iwata etc acted whenever they struggled financially. Peace!

[@tribalstyle138]

we've been saying this since AT LEAST Occupy Wall Street.... non-stop progress is unsustainable and the greed of the 1% is literally killing and starving people. BUT ITS LITERALLY GOTTEN WORST and my fellow Americans somehow think a super rich guy "gets" and even "cares" about their lives. THEY DON"T. We are so fucked, I want to die. No pensions, no retirement, I have so much debt and Ive put off having children ONLY because of money. It'll never happen and rich fucks like this guy FIRE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to give up. (i agree with you- im just so depressed by this, not directed at you, Im sure youre a nice person)

[@hylianechoes]

I feel you, gotta vent sometimes haha and i didnt take it as directed towards me so no worries! And even if these kind of problems exist all over the world and no country is really even close to perfect, i still feel like i got lucky living in Sweden. So i try to find a healthy balance between "complaining" about the many problems that do exist but also being thankful that we overall have such good quality of life over here.

[@hylianechoes]

i meant it more as way of saying that the video really resonated with me and i agree with him. I am fully aware that just liking a video won't do very much in terms of trying to change something or make an impact.@

[@edg4rallanbro753]

broke: smash the like button woke: smash the capitalist system

[@williamwrobel4928]

7 billion dollars couldn't buy half an ounce of the heart put into any Zelda release.

[@TaekwondoVsCokeNinjas]

Bobby boy shoulda been fired 10 years ago bare minimum. Now he needs to be arrested.

[@od1401]

What exactly has he done, that you have proof of, to suggest he should be arrested? Let go yes, but arrested? You need to actually break the law to be arrested, being a raving capitalist is not illegal.

[@SuperChocMuffins]

In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Gaming Industry, you are under arrest, CEO

[@jondoe2318]

Thats some arrested development youve got there.

[@thestwinner680]

Nah, Robby needs to be *Robbed* to even BEGIN to understand.

[@multilad816]

How long it would take when Bobby Kotick would sue Jimquisition for defamation and inflammatory comments? P.S. To set the record straight, I'm not an Activision fanboy

[@inevitableveganfuture3915]

I love that I don't recall knowing who Bobby Kotick was before today, but now Jim is giving him the Kony 2012 treatment and I know exactly what I associate with the name Bobby Kotick: Failure, cowardice, greed, betrayal, an enemy of games and the people who love them. Make. Him. Famous.

[@theholk]

Kodick was already famous ages ago, he basically told investors that his job was spreading fear and despair in his workforce, so they are more motivated to work hard.

[@VaSoapman]

He already was famous for being a dirtbag my man. Welcome to the party, I guess.

[@yakubthecavebeast6444]

@@theholk Whoa. Sauce? I'm learning so much about this dude from the comment section.

[@inevitableveganfuture3915]

"Already famous" only to people who have a significant background knowledge of game industry management personnel....I've played Blizzard games since the 90's and didn't know the guy, I imagine 99.9% of COD players are equally oblivious. It would be nice for them to have a face to associate with their frustrations and disappointments.

[@thomasknapp6434]

He's increased shareholder value, which is the only metric he'll ever really be judged for by the people who actually matter. Until gamers stop buying Activision/Blizzard's games, he's not going anywhere. But since gamers are what's wrong with gaming, they won't do that, because gamers are entitled brats who refuse to sacrifice anything about their beloved games. Hell, gamers would beat developers themselves if they thought it would reduce dev time by a week.

[@BigBeakEntertainment]

There seems to be a very toxic culture in a lot of development offices where developers are treated as expendable and disposable. Telltale Games, Rockstar, Activision, there's definitely a culture of unethical management. I wonder how long this will go on before developers decide to unionize.

[@BMoser-bv6kn]

For those still confused about why CEO's get paid huge sums even if they're failures, I'll explain it to you. If everyone was broke as hell, robbed blind by their employer and by the rents necessary to stay alive, we'd have seized the means of production in an instant. For this to be avoided, it is necessary to bribe at least some of the people into supporting our system. This begins at the management level - famously big box store managers make near 100k a year. This is where the income tax matters more to a person's bank account than rents do. So even if these managers don't think they can get promoted, they still align with Mr.Burns on policy, instead of Mr.Wagie. And so it goes, up the chain. Bobby isn't paid the big bucks for Bobby - it's to give the greedy piranha below him on the pyramid something to desire. A carrot on a stick. TLDR - An elite minority is paid a lot of money in order to BUY LOYALTY TO CAPITALISM. That's all. A pyramid scheme without even the illusion of hope wouldn't be able to stand. For more on understanding how systems of power work from the perspective of those occupying those spaces, see The Rules For Rulers video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qITXfWqknrdqndU It applies to every hierarchy, for every thing.

[@defeqel6537]

It's also the rather simple fact that there needs to be an incentive to take more responsibility and work, to get people into those jobs.

[@amaridesu1141]

@@defeqel6537 yes, but the incentive is clearly growing far beyond just increased responsibility.

[@sirazazeloflowkey6424]

Well I hope it soon comes to a crashing end when hopefully the mayority will no longer feel inscentivised by big cash. Who the fuck needs a billion? I just want to not have to live wage to wage and count every goddamn penny. I am not inscentivised by massive cash. But this explains my wonder of why CEO's get paid so much.

[@felixweapon]

fucking woke

[@NeoSaturos123]

@@defeqel6537 More responsibility and work, huh. Well, as Jim explained in this video...what responsibility? Activision Blizzard's CEO fucked up greatly. He made his company lose stock value multiple times, lost multiple high-profile employees making him lots of money. Shut down several big money maker products. Made his company's reputation plummetWho is the one facing the consequences? Who is the one to ultimately take responsibility for the company's underperformance? Why, the rank and file employees living wage to wage, of course, 800 of whom were left jobless.

[@KellyK]

Jim is absolutely right. The games suffer in the end. I can already tell you the game plan for "the Sims 5". Release the same game (as Sims 4) with the same AI, same engine, a slightly different UI, BUT, completely bare bones. Then every month or two release "DLC" for the purposely stripped new game for $20-40 a pop. Include micro transactions for previously free or expected features such as $10 for another save file, or $10 for cheat codes, or maybe all textures must be "earned" from loot boxes that are incredibly hard to obtain in game, but incredibly easy to buy for $4.99 each. The guy should be fired because he makes his games incredibly frustrating to own/play. Have you tried PvZ2? It's an utterly embarrassing nightmare because he got his filthy fingers on it. PvZ1 is a national treasure because he did not.

[@thomasjenkins7506]

jim is wrong, actually. activision and EA wouldn't be making the money they are if customers didn't buy everything they release. no matter what kotick does, as long as the games still make money, he's untouchable. if you want to blame anyone for this kind of behavior, blame the gamers who keep these companies afloat.

[@GuerillaBunny]

@@thomasjenkins7506 Both can be to blame at the same time, but as consumers, we can only affect demand. And it's depressing. People who are keen on corporate bullshit in some fields of consumption, and quick to call it out, can be absolutely enamored by it when it comes to their favorite hobby.

[@thomasjenkins7506]

@@GuerillaBunny that's exactly my point, though. i'm not defending activision, EA, kotick, or any of them. i'm just pointing out that origin of this bad behavior can be traced back to the consumer, who is rewarding their current behavior with money. from the company's point of view, they aren't doing anything wrong. profits aren't down, so there is no need to change anything.

[@FlameQwert]

@@thomasjenkins7506 that attitude that since profits are up, we can do whatever shitty things we want is exactly the problem. The structuring of the economy to extract profit *is* the problem here. And with the advantages big companies have over smaller ones especially in the fickle game industry, it's not like consumers even know of alternatives when they're constantly bombarded with ads, falsehoods and literal addicting behaviour.

[@grubbybum3614]

Jim is absolutely wrong. He won't boycott Activision - which would actually teach the organisation a lesson.

[@princealigorna7468]

The games industry, in every aspect, needs to unionize. It’s unconscionable to me that a company can make this much money and lay off close to a thousand employees because, as you would say, the didn’t make ALL THE MONEY Make a hundred million dollars more than last year. Post record earnings two years in a row. Fire 800 employees because that's BELOW EXPECTATIONS. For who? What more do you want? You're MAKING MONEY! MORE MONEY THAN EVER! How about setting realistic earnings goals instead? Ever think about that? So long as you're turning a profit, isn't that all that matters? FFS, the Triple A games industry is a fucking cancer. They're driving themselves for another market crash like '83 all over again pulling shit like this

[@Texelion]

Unions would be useless, game developement is not linear, you don't need all the people all the time, studios have a core team and they hire/fire the others when they need them, or use freelancers. They can't just pay hundreds of people to do nothing because there is nothing to do at the moment. It's sad, it's unfair, but that's how game development works. I just wish all talented people would form small indie studios and make actually interesting and new games instead of working for these shitty big publishers, but that's easier said than done.

[@JonThePrettyOKGuy]

Unionizing would be a helluva good step tho. Its a check and balance that didnt exist before. Tho i gotta say, the absolute state of the industry, the momentum thats been building for years and years, the games industry is long overdue for a crash and its gonna hit WAY harder than the 70s. That would be the only way to get their shortsighted heads out of their collective asses.

[@CrossfacePanda]

Texelion 3D prints That’s just categorically false. We have strong, solid unions here in Sweden. We also have one of EA’s biggest studios over here: DICE. When was the last time you heard of big layoffs at DICE? Yeah, exactly... The only times they’ve had a lot of people leave the company at once it has been by their own volition (because they’re still an EA subsidiary, and working for EA can be stifling in and of itself). Unionization simply works, regardless of the industry. Anybody telling you otherwise is either ignorant, an idiot, or somebody who benefits from the lack of unions.

[@dio52]

@@Texelion The film industry has loads of unions that protect their members by guaranteeing wages that will carry them through the periods between projects. A dev union might guarantee that layoffs, while necessary, are conducted with transparency and advanced warning to allow members time to start looking for other work. It could certainly address crunch as a harmful practice. A steady 40 hour a week job isn't the only way to provide security.

[@KotoAzure]

The title of this video aged like the finest of wines.

[@Yungtacosss]

Nice Russian Doll reference hehe

[@voltronik9141]

Have you seen Oatmeal? OATMEAL! OATMEAL?

[@STIR-FRIED-SUBWAY-RAT]

GOTTA GET UP

[@jomiran1000]

It's like Andrew Dice Clay and the girl from Brave had a baby.

[@Bloomingtide]

I was about to say, this looked familiar xD Good show btw, if you haven't seen it yet.

[@csr7080]

Wait, I missed that one, when was it?

[@kingoverseas9052]

R.I.P Iwata, this industry severely misses you right now.

[@asvarien]

Show's the difference between Japanese and American culture. In Japan individual responsibility is a big thing, people are expected to take responsibility for the outcome of their actions. In America people wriggle out of personal responsibility like a greased up weasel.

[@KuroNoTenno]

Americans seem to enjoy not having to take responsibility for anything.

[@burningphoenix6679]

Not Dave well sometimes Japanese and Koreans seem to take it a bit too far. Like killing themselves because of their failures.

[@cellsec7703]

In Japan they work a lot harder and would probably not complain about being fired. More likely they would feel ashamed that they think they did a bad job than demand to keep getting paid when the company no longer needs them. They would leave with some dignity and look for a new job. Not complain like entitled children. That is the difference.

[@WebsiteTourist]

@@cellsec7703 And that's supposed to be... a good thing? What kind of neo-feudal fuckery is this

[@cellsec7703]

@@WebsiteTourist I am not sure what is good or bad. I am only dismissing the original comment's argument that Americans are bad people.

[@neojimmi4552]

Talk about content that aged like fine wine.

[@OpiumSamurai]

I'm just here to memorialize what will become an often-cited video when people talk about this shit. This, this right here is the passionate argument that is needed against these spineless cowards.

[@thegameneededme5]

Even those who kept their jobs still have to live with uncertainty in the back of their minds that they could be out the door at any moment. Bobby Kotick and other executives don’t have to feel that pressure. They’re sitting pretty, regardless. That’s what really pisses me off. They don’t have to worry about finding work in time to pay their bills or feed their family. They don’t have to worry about potential for layoffs that could come without warning. They only worry about amassing _more_ wealth for themselves. Quick to take credit for the company’s success but quicker to lay blame on literally anything and anyone else when it comes to taking responsibility for its failures.

[@bilateralrope8643]

I don't know. It sounds like he's blaming those 800 fired workers for Activision-Blizzard's success to me.

[@intrepidmatter8165]

Hopefully they can find another job

[@burningphoenix6679]

Patrick I can’t feel bad for those employees. They choose which company to work for and by choosing Activision they support and endorse everything the company does. Which means every single employee there endorse unregulated gambling in games aimed at children and addicts.

[@NatrajChaturvedi]

​@@burningphoenix6679 lol are you for real? Are you are a kid who has never worked or a bum? Most of the time, you take a job just to be able to feed yourself and your family and to be able to maintain a standard of living. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to chose a company for ethical reasons or something else. Only high level artists/creatives/suites can be picky that way and they usually don't get sacked like this...

[@burningphoenix6679]

natty_the_great People should be responsible for their actions. Unless you think hired hitmen shouldn’t be punished because they’re just doing it to make money. And the executives are doing it to maintain a standard of living as well. Either everyone is responsible or nobody is.

[@yellowvest9744]

Iwata was pure class 😢

[@Nekotamer]

a true gentleman, his demise was really a hit for the game industry.

[@idioticreborn]

CAN ANYONE FUCKING LEARN

[@miguelpereira9859]

Everyone trashed Iwata in the Wii U era but now we all wishing he was here

[@frostpyr0]

Coming back to this in 2021, looking at the newest lawsuit against Activision Blizzard and still wondering why the fuck this guy has a job...

[@MoreImbaThanYou]

Thing is, Bobby Kotick didn't make a mistake. It was all according to plan: Release game, fire workers. One brings income, other reduces expences. Both increases your stock value. Marvelous, isn't it? I wonder how people 500 to 1000 years in the future will think about us.

[@desmondbrown5508]

Probably the same way, or maybe worse, than we think of feudalism now. Funny because, we always speak as though our systems are so far ahead of feudalism... but how so? We implement business like it was a monarchy or dictatorship. Then those dictatorships exploit people and manipulate governments to make democracies less effective or non-existent (if you watch U.S. foreign policy). So in reality it operates much like feudalism. Self-appointed kings and queens attempted to acquire more and more power for no reason other than they don't have anything better to do.

[@robintst]

@@desmondbrown5508 Damn... that's accurate. And saddening.

[@eewweeppkk]

I don't understand the hate that much. Release game, then let go the people who are not actively benefiting the company anymore because there is no game that needs to be worked on. I don't think its a great thing to happen but why are we faulting a company for not giving developers charity for sitting in an office not doing anything? If you don't need developers why pay 800 salaries? I seriously do not understand the hate that this move is getting. The fact that people boast about the revenue is proof enough that you cannot separate profits from revenues and probably shouldn't be criticizing a business.

[@Vivi2372]

@@desmondbrown5508 I mean at least feudalism was kind of honest compared to these days right? You may have been a serf but at least you knew it and you knew who had you under their thumb.

[@MoreImbaThanYou]

@@eewweeppkk Simple: When the next big title goes into development, wich will probably be very soon, they're gonna hire new people. So all they gained was short-term value.

[@isenokami7810]

This story is utterly reprehensible to me for one major reason. When Jim or anyone else talks about the money bubble these companies have made with their unrestricted growth, or any of their other terrible practices, a part of me is ecstatic...because that part of me is waiting for that bubble to burst, for AAA culture to finally collapse so we can just focus on making good games. What Bobby Kotick did flies right in the face of that hope, not just because of him, but because his views and actions are likely reflected in many of these other CEOs. Sure, that bubble is going to burst, but they’ll do everything in their power to make sure the fallout only affects those below them, that they remain untouched with their piles of money. That the events that should finally topple these companies does f$&@ all. So yes, #FireBobbyKotick, and then go every step further you need to tear down the walls everyone like him is building to protect themselves from the coming $&@&show. They need to feel the full force of what they’ve wrought, and they better drag their goddamn shareholders down with them for their part in this fiasco.

[@thestwinner680]

*#ROBbobbykotDICK*

[@KarlMeyer]

Thank you Jim for providing some real and powerful game journalism. We need more people like you.

[@samiraperi467]

@@wartome3196 Bullshit. Capitalism is *causing* poverty. Take a look at the US of A, where wages have stagnated during the past 40 years, where middle class is soon a thing of the past, people need to work several jobs just to be able to afford to *live*, never mind affording things like health care... Capitalism is good for a select few. Those are the rich ones.

[@greasehardbody4018]

10:03 When I heard this, my brain automatically changed it to "...he sold his mother's ashes to a friend for $3," and it took me a few seconds to realize it, because it sounded like exactly the type of thing he would do.

[@oogaftw]

You spelled 'Guillotine' wrong.

[@SamuelCatsy]

Let them eat microtransaction cake.

[@amiablereaper]

@@SamuelCatsy let them gamble in the hopes of maybe getting cake

[@iroveashe]

we got the guillotine, you better run

[@youtubefuckingsucks]

you spelled captain sexy penis wrong

[@Tearakan]

Layoffs mean the top guys plan like garbage. They have way more info and capital to be able to act, to prevent mass layoffs. They suck as execs because they require layoffs. Normally you’d think top execs would be fired and then new guys coming in would have to clean up their mess. But not in this industry. Sadly the game industry is not alone in this issue.

[@cellsec7703]

How many billion dollar companies have you managed exactly?

[@phi-0138]

It's less planning like garbage and more making layoffs part of plan. It's devaluing workers from humans into resources so that they can be dropped with no consequences to the company itself. It's monstrous, but it was always part of the plan.

[@treeaboo]

@@cellsec7703 None because I have even the barest respect for human beings.

[@cellsec7703]

@@treeaboo So you think big corporations should not exist? Then say goodbye to phones, planes, cars, and also million dollar budget video games.

[@EliasNightfire]

'The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games.' - Bobby Kotick, 2009.

[@CptApplestrudl]

CEOs do not get fired because the board of executives could do that and guess who sits there? More wealthy CEO from other companies, where Mr. Kottick sits on the executive board. It's a circlejerk of "you don't hit me, I don't hit you"

[@animelytical8354]

Unsustainable growth means their value is an inflated balloon. They should accept this fact, but they keep feeding it so they can make their millions annually. They are even taking advantage of their investors tbh. The investors are getting off on the mention of mobile. A buzzword to keep inflating value while Bobby absorbs money

[@bilateralrope8643]

I doubt the investors are fooled. They know that the push for sustained growth will kill the company. They plan to bail before that happens.

[@Txx00xic]

Edward Geeves Pretty much. Activision and EA are extremely overvalued and when their bubble pops, it’s going to be huge lmao

[@treeaboo]

@@bilateralrope8643 Exactly, that's how the cycle goes as an investor, you get in whilst it booms, and bail before it crashes, leaving the company to either die or greatly suffer.

[@svarthofde2492]

Huh... Thought the title was "Set fire to Bobby Kotick"

[@Dreznin]

That is also an acceptable solution at this point.

[@andrewlehman9335]

We can't do that, haven't you seen his horns? The smug prick would enjoy it.

[@miseryremix]

Also yes.

[@MJsPepsihair]

Preferable

[@davidthomas2870]

That too

[@frydaddy1535]

No joke, this one legitimately got me angry. Let's hope your money can buy you a colder spot in Hell Kotick

[@9UWmember]

I think I'm past getting angry about Bobby Kotick. I just have this cold antipathy towards the guy that will never change. I got really angry at him a few years back when he talked about how game developement shouldn't be fun and he wants his employees to feel fear.

[@aresorum]

Wow. Relevant even today, November 18 2021, two years later!