Thread for Gamers IX: God Howard Anniversary Edition

[Alvecia]

Mergers like this shouldn't even be legally allowed, Jesus fuck.

I think it still technically needs to be approved by regulatory boards and the like, but I suspect it will pass without issue.

[Ifreann]

Apparently if he were to leave his job now, with control of the company changing, he'd be due a $290 million golden parachute.

I mean the man built activision into what it is today. He bought all his stock when activision was undergoing a crisis, took over, and basically made it into todays powerhouse. He even was the guy who bought blizzard and merged the two companies. Like him or hate him.

Gonna go with hate.

He is basically the symbol of modern activision. Successful, popular, and holds the some of the most valuable IPs in the industry.

With who exactly is Bobby Kotick popular?

[Holy Tedalonia]

I mean the man built activision into what it is today. He bought all his stock when activision was undergoing a crisis, took over, and basically made it into todays powerhouse. He even was the guy who bought blizzard and merged the two companies. Like him or hate him.

Gonna go with hate.

He is basically the symbol of modern activision. Successful, popular, and holds the some of the most valuable IPs in the industry.

With who exactly is Bobby Kotick popular?

Popular as in well known. Not well liked. IPs like CoD have proven no matter the controversy, CoD is on top. Same with Overwatch, Diablo, and their other ips. Even if given a a bad light, these titles always seem to sell like crazy.

[Hispida]

Gonna go with hate.

With who exactly is Bobby Kotick popular?

Popular as in well known. Not well liked. IPs like CoD have proven no matter the controversy, CoD is on top. Same with Overwatch, Diablo, and their other ips. Even if given a a bad light, these titles always seem to sell like crazy.

>overwatch
>always on top

[Ifreann]

Gonna go with hate.

With who exactly is Bobby Kotick popular?

Popular as in well known. Not well liked.

Popular means well liked.

IPs like CoD have proven no matter the controversy, CoD is on top. Same with Overwatch, Diablo, and their other ips. Even if given a a bad light, these titles always seem to sell like crazy.

And yet Activision always seemed to need to fire loads of devs before posting record profits. Curious. Almost like Bobby Kotick is some kind of disgusting parasite, engorging himself on the blood of his employees.

[Herador]

Gonna go with hate.

With who exactly is Bobby Kotick popular?

Popular as in well known. Not well liked. IPs like CoD have proven no matter the controversy, CoD is on top. Same with Overwatch, Diablo, and their other ips. Even if given a a bad light, these titles always seem to sell like crazy.

I'm still going to say "Fuck Bobby", I'm cool with a world where Activision-Blizzard never happened and they didn't rise like they did.

[Holy Tedalonia]

Popular as in well known. Not well liked.

Popular means well liked.

IPs like CoD have proven no matter the controversy, CoD is on top. Same with Overwatch, Diablo, and their other ips. Even if given a a bad light, these titles always seem to sell like crazy.

And yet Activision always seemed to need to fire loads of devs before posting record profits. Curious. Almost like Bobby Kotick is some kind of disgusting parasite, engorging himself on the blood of his employees.

I mainly discussing the games selling well. Not profits, but yeah those tend to be quite high too.

If I'm not mistaken, Activision tends to hire a lot of contract workers when they want a project done, and let them go when the project completes. Only keeping the good ones around, if they tend to be exceptional.

[Ifreann]

Popular means well liked.

And yet Activision always seemed to need to fire loads of devs before posting record profits. Curious. Almost like Bobby Kotick is some kind of disgusting parasite, engorging himself on the blood of his employees.

I mainly discussing the games selling well. Not profits, but yeah those tend to be quite high too.

If I'm not mistaken, Activision tends to hire a lot of contract workers when they want a project done, and let them go when the project completes. Only keeping the good ones around, if they tend to be exceptional.

And that's bad. People who are clearly good at their jobs, as you said the games always sell very well, only get precarious contractor positions.

[Holy Tedalonia]

I mainly discussing the games selling well. Not profits, but yeah those tend to be quite high too.

If I'm not mistaken, Activision tends to hire a lot of contract workers when they want a project done, and let them go when the project completes. Only keeping the good ones around, if they tend to be exceptional.

And that's bad. People who are clearly good at their jobs, as you said the games always sell very well, only get precarious contractor positions.

They're willing to risk giving that up, to save a bit of money between projects. If you know what's going to happen, then you should be looking for the next job before your contract ends and not look at your job at Activision as a permanent job. From a corporate perspective, they aren't in the business of paying workers they don't need work for.

Since this is on topic, if you think Bobby was bad. This merger will be a nightmare for most of the blizzard workers. The whole point of a merger is to synergize and cut out the excess costs. Say goodbye to the Activision HR and PR departments. Since Xbox will likely take over those roles. It'll make what Bobby did regularly look like child's play.

[Ifreann]

And that's bad. People who are clearly good at their jobs, as you said the games always sell very well, only get precarious contractor positions.

They're willing to risk giving that up, to save a bit of money between projects. If you know what's going to happen, then you should be looking for the next job before your contract ends and not look at your job at Activision as a permanent job.

What a strange comment. I say that people are in a precarious position, you say that they should be looking for a new job. What?

From a corporate perspective, they aren't in the business of paying workers they don't need work for.

But they do need those workers. It isn't Bobby Kotick who makes the video games.

Since this is on topic, if you think Bobby was bad. This merger will be a nightmare for most of the blizzard workers. The whole point of a merger is to synergize and cut out the excess costs. Say goodbye to the Activision HR and PR departments. Since Xbox will likely take over those roles. It'll make what Bobby did regularly look like child's play.

Yeah, I don't expect this to improve conditions at Activision or any of their studios.

[GENSOC]

Popular as in well known. Not well liked. IPs like CoD have proven no matter the controversy, CoD is on top. Same with Overwatch, Diablo, and their other ips. Even if given a a bad light, these titles always seem to sell like crazy.

I'm still going to say "Fuck Bobby", I'm cool with a world where Activision-Blizzard never happened and they didn't rise like they did.

Based

[Holy Tedalonia]

They're willing to risk giving that up, to save a bit of money between projects. If you know what's going to happen, then you should be looking for the next job before your contract ends and not look at your job at Activision as a permanent job.

What a strange comment. I say that people are in a precarious position, you say that they should be looking for a new job. What?

If your hired for that project, and you finish that project. It's expected that they will no longer need you. You should be prepare to move on, if you understand the shortlived longevity of the position.

From a corporate perspective, they aren't in the business of paying workers they don't need work for.

But they do need those workers. It isn't Bobby Kotick who makes the video games.

The folks they keep around are more than capable of maintaining things until the next big project. Atleast that how Activision sees it. Other than CoD, most Activision games don't get frequent sequels, and CoD already has 3 studios dedicated to that game alone.

Since this is on topic, if you think Bobby was bad. This merger will be a nightmare for most of the blizzard workers. The whole point of a merger is to synergize and cut out the excess costs. Say goodbye to the Activision HR and PR departments. Since Xbox will likely take over those roles. It'll make what Bobby did regularly look like child's play.

Yeah, I don't expect this to improve conditions at Activision or any of their studios.

Most of those folks are probably in deep trouble. HR and PR has been Activision's weakest assets in recent months. Failing to control public perception. They'll likely struggle finding a job, let alone a good one.

[Herador]

That's the thing that I am really curious about: what exactly is Microsoft going to do? They seemingly have to do something, it would be a huge PR win for them.

E: my working theory is there was no obvious replacement for Bobby, so they gave him a time limit and an ultimatum: we're shopping for your replacement, solve your shit or lose it.

[Holy Tedalonia]

That's the thing that I am really curious about: what exactly is Microsoft going to do? They seemingly have to do something, it would be a huge PR win for them.

E: my working theory is there was no obvious replacement for Bobby, so they gave him a time limit and an ultimatum: we're shopping for your replacement, solve your shit or lose it.

Phil Spencer refused to comment on this stuff. Its just not professional to shit on your fellow business partner- it makes you look like a shitty person in the business world. They aren't going to make it a spectacle.

What'll prob happen is either Kotick leaves after the merge completes, or he retires. CEO of the mergee, don't tend to stick around after merges anyways. Man will be probably ready to jump ship with the millions he made after the deal. Looking for another company to take over, or simply enjoy his retirement.

[Ifreann]

What a strange comment. I say that people are in a precarious position, you say that they should be looking for a new job. What?

If your hired for that project, and you finish that project. It's expected that they will no longer need you. You should be prepare to move on, if you understand the shortlived longevity of the position.

You're just describing a precarious position in response to me saying that people are in a precarious position.

But they do need those workers. It isn't Bobby Kotick who makes the video games.

The folks they keep around are more than capable of maintaining things until the next big project. Atleast that how Activision sees it. Other than CoD, most Activision games don't get frequent sequels, and CoD already has 3 studios dedicated to that game alone.

More than three. Sledgehammer just made Vanguard, Infinity Ward is due to release a new Modern Warfare in November, Treyarch will probably be releasing a Black Ops game next year and are also doing the zombies mode in Vanguard, Raven are working on Warzone along with Beenox and Toys For Bob, and obviously Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch are also involved in that.

And Warzone is perpetually plagued with bugs and glitches. Some console players can barely play the game at all, apparently. Problems that were in the game before and were fixed keep showing up again and again. Probably something to do with the fact that Raven pretty much doesn't have a QA team right now. Their much hyped Ricochet anti-cheat hasn't been paying off yet, judging by the cars that are flying around the maps.

Yeah, I don't expect this to improve conditions at Activision or any of their studios.

Most of those folks are probably in deep trouble. HR and PR has been Activision's weakest assets in recent months. Failing to control public perception. They'll likely struggle finding a job, let alone a good one.

Not to mention all the striking workers who probably aren't going to find the new bosses any more responsive than the old bosses.

[Juristonia]

I genuinely could not give less of a fuck about how much money Bobby the shitweasel Kotick made Activision, considering the amount of mass layoffs, grind culture, and rampant sexual abuse that happened under his well-funded watch, and with his knowledge.

[Holy Tedalonia]

If your hired for that project, and you finish that project. It's expected that they will no longer need you. You should be prepare to move on, if you understand the shortlived longevity of the position.

You're just describing a precarious position in response to me saying that people are in a precarious position.

The difference is your saying, a precarious position is bad. I'm saying, the practice is fine as long as all party's involved understand that it is in fact a temporary arrangement (not something that is meant to last) and both have an idea when it will end.

The folks they keep around are more than capable of maintaining things until the next big project. Atleast that how Activision sees it. Other than CoD, most Activision games don't get frequent sequels, and CoD already has 3 studios dedicated to that game alone.

More than three. Sledgehammer just made Vanguard, Infinity Ward is due to release a new Modern Warfare in November, Treyarch will probably be releasing a Black Ops game next year and are also doing the zombies mode in Vanguard, Raven are working on Warzone along with Beenox and Toys For Bob, and obviously Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch are also involved in that.

And Warzone is perpetually plagued with bugs and glitches. Some console players can barely play the game at all, apparently. Problems that were in the game before and were fixed keep showing up again and again. Probably something to do with the fact that Raven pretty much doesn't have a QA team right now. Their much hyped Ricochet anti-cheat hasn't been paying off yet, judging by the cars that are flying around the maps.

Right, they did lay off a large portion of their QA team. Something they probably do for all CoD games launch, only this time it probably bit them in the ass because of how different battle royale is compared to regular CoD and not being familiar with the concept of a long term live service.

Most of those folks are probably in deep trouble. HR and PR has been Activision's weakest assets in recent months. Failing to control public perception. They'll likely struggle finding a job, let alone a good one.

Not to mention all the striking workers who probably aren't going to find the new bosses any more responsive than the old bosses.

You mean the walkouts, where they take a break from work for an hour or two and return to work?

[New haven america]

Funny, I'm actually doing a report on Activision Blizzard at the moment.

~3,000 employees quit because the execs at AB aren't particularly interested in dealing with or cooperating with investigators about that whole sexual assault mess.

[Corrian]

Funny, I'm actually doing a report on Activision Blizzard at the moment.

~3,000 employees quit because the execs at AB aren't particularly interested in dealing with or cooperating with investigators about that whole sexual assault mess.

Which makes it seem like the smart thing for Microsoft to do is to clean house completely

[Herador]

Funny, I'm actually doing a report on Activision Blizzard at the moment.

~3,000 employees quit because the execs at AB aren't particularly interested in dealing with or cooperating with investigators about that whole sexual assault mess.

Which makes it seem like the smart thing for Microsoft to do is to clean house completely

Once the ink dries on the paperwork, a lot of dudes are going to be retiring with very lucrative pensions.

Microsoft gets a clean studio, bad men get paid a kings ransom to go away, and I keep hating the AAA games industry. Status Quo Antebellum.

[Hirota]

Mergers like this shouldn't even be legally allowed, Jesus fuck.

Basically. Between Activision-Blizzard and Zenimax, I wonder how much of AAA/AA Market Microsoft flat out owns.

Less than Tencent and Sony, apparently

[Ifreann]

You're just describing a precarious position in response to me saying that people are in a precarious position.

The difference is your saying, a precarious position is bad. I'm saying, the practice is fine as long as all party's involved understand that it is in fact a temporary arrangement (not something that is meant to last) and both have an idea when it will end.

Yeah, I think it's bad for people to have to live with financial insecurity.

More than three. Sledgehammer just made Vanguard, Infinity Ward is due to release a new Modern Warfare in November, Treyarch will probably be releasing a Black Ops game next year and are also doing the zombies mode in Vanguard, Raven are working on Warzone along with Beenox and Toys For Bob, and obviously Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch are also involved in that.

And Warzone is perpetually plagued with bugs and glitches. Some console players can barely play the game at all, apparently. Problems that were in the game before and were fixed keep showing up again and again. Probably something to do with the fact that Raven pretty much doesn't have a QA team right now. Their much hyped Ricochet anti-cheat hasn't been paying off yet, judging by the cars that are flying around the maps.

Right, they did lay off a large portion of their QA team. Something they probably do for all CoD games launch, only this time it probably bit them in the ass because of how different battle royale is compared to regular CoD and not being familiar with the concept of a long term live service.

Laid off a large portion of the QA team despite promising them pay increases.

Not to mention all the striking workers who probably aren't going to find the new bosses any more responsive than the old bosses.

You mean the walkouts, where they take a break from work for an hour or two and return to work?

Well I said "the striking workers", so I probably mean "the striking workers".

[Corrian]

Basically. Between Activision-Blizzard and Zenimax, I wonder how much of AAA/AA Market Microsoft flat out owns.

Less than Tencent and Sony, apparently

I'm honestly surprised they're still behind Sony at this point.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Another Developer, another series of horror stories about crunch and work environments in the game industry

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has led to extensive crunch at TT Games

The longtime Lego game studio has spent almost five years on its latest project. In late 2017, development studio TT Games began work on Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga at a time when dozens inside the company were at odds with management. Citing frustration over tight development schedules, the company’s crunch culture, and outdated development tools, more than 20 current and former TT Games employees tell Polygon that calls for change over the years had largely been ignored.

Multiple people who worked at the studio remember breaking down outside of work hours because of the workload and some of the stresses they were under.

“It was a very soft-spoken blackmail,” one former employee says. “‘If people don’t start doing overtime, there’s going to be problems,’” although the problems were never specified.

Some former staff even came up with a term to describe their experiences at the studio, referring to them as “PTTSD.”

With The Skywalker Saga — an adaptation of all nine main films in the Star Wars series — management promised employees a longer development timeline and a new engine. Unfortunately, this did little to improve the situation, according to employees. Multiple staffers say that management ignored warnings about switching to NTT, a new engine being developed internally, and say that the longer time frame was unsuccessful in alleviating crunch.

Over the past few months, Polygon has spoken to more than 30 current and former TT Games employees, all of whom spoke anonymously due to nondisclosure agreements and a desire to avoid negative repercussions. They opened up about the studio’s challenging work culture over the last decade and a half and The Skywalker Saga’s difficult development cycle. Two years have passed since TT Games and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced The Skywalker Saga, and the game has been through three delays. Meanwhile, TT Games, which employs hundreds, has seen high staff turnover and has undergone a change in management since development on The Skywalker Saga began.

=CONTINUES=

Article is much longer but worth a read, they talk to a number of current and former developers who talk about the state of the company, its upper management, the lies and overall state of the company culture since its early days in the mid 2000s to modern day. Verbal abuse at the hands of the bosses, ignoring worker feedback, pay issues, unrealistic expectations, the poor working conditions for QA staff etc etc

[Holy Tedalonia]

The difference is your saying, a precarious position is bad. I'm saying, the practice is fine as long as all party's involved understand that it is in fact a temporary arrangement (not something that is meant to last) and both have an idea when it will end.

Yeah, I think it's bad for people to have to live with financial insecurity.

You let yourself be financially insecure if you don't properly prepare to switch jobs when the due date of your job is coming up. Until you can get the company to mutually agree with you being a full time employee, you shouldn't expect to be one. Employment is a mutual arrangement, when one party is satisfied or dissatisfied, they can end that arrangement.

Right, they did lay off a large portion of their QA team. Something they probably do for all CoD games launch, only this time it probably bit them in the ass because of how different battle royale is compared to regular CoD and not being familiar with the concept of a long term live service.

Laid off a large portion of the QA team despite promising them pay increases.

Makes sense if your aiming to downsize. You fire the deadweight, and give the ones you want to stay a raise. Especially if you were to drop a game like let's say Overwatch 2, you mainly need QA testers in the development and launch phases, less so after launch. You can expect Activision Blizzard does this on the regular for most of their titles. They aren't to enticed keeping workers who in their eyes, "they don't need anymore". Companies think in terms of business, not morals.

You mean the walkouts, where they take a break from work for an hour or two and return to work?

Well I said "the striking workers", so I probably mean "the striking workers".

I mean in all seriousness, they got themselves a nice arrangement assuming they don't get fired or let go because of it. With the strike fund, they get money without doing any work. The downside is it usually kills any chance of climbing up the corporate ladder, assuming if any of them had that ambition in the first place.