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[Draugoth]

Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime left Blizzard because he was reportedly tired of fighting with former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, according to those who worked closely with him, the two leaders having butted heads for years regarding the future of Blizzard.

New details about Morhaime's 2018 departure and Blizzard's contentious relationship with Activision come via an excerpt from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier's upcoming book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment , which releases on October 8 (the same day Blizzard's first expansion for Diablo 4, Vessel of Hatred, launches).

For years, Morhaime attempted to keep Activision, which acquired Blizzard in 2007, at bay. That goal of keeping Blizzard insulated from outside Activision pressure became harder in 2013 when Blizzard canceled project Titan, an FPS MMO that had been intended to be the next World of Warcraft, according to Schreier.

Source

 

[AJUMP23]

When you are purchased the culture will change, you can slow it down but the parent company will inject everything into your company over time. It is the price for accepting the money.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Nothingburger.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Kotick made that place truck loads of money so get along with him and keep cashing checks

 

[Spukc]

Nothingburger.

 

[bender]

If only they wouldn't have sold out to Activision.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Maybe Bob was tired of dealing with him.

 

[solecon64]

Thank god we have Jason to report on these things, years after the fact, when everyone involved has moved on and is sure to be unaffected by this, so that his bootlicking relationship to the corporations can remain solid.

Thank you, Jason!

 

[Embearded]

When you are purchased the culture will change, you can slow it down but the parent company will inject everything into your company over time. It is the price for accepting the money.

That is what i've been saying since the day MS announced the acquisition of Activision/Blizzard.
I was banned in the acquisition thread of Era for saying that.

When a publisher with multiple studios purchases another Publisher or studio, they have to fully intergrade them or they will lose the trust of their existing studios. You cannot have double standards, it will backfire in one way or another.

 

[StereoVsn]

Considering terrible pace of game sans quality of game dev at Blizzard, all the other shenanigans, maybe Bobby got tired of the BS as well.

 

[AJUMP23]

That is what i've been saying since the day MS announced the acquisition of Activision/Blizzard.
I was banned in the acquisition thread of Era for saying that.

When a publisher with multiple studios purchases another Publisher or studio, they have to fully intergrade them or they will lose the trust of their existing studios. You cannot have double standards, it will backfire in one way or another.

I said it with elegance.

 

[Hypereides]

Can't say I'm surprised. Kotick always appeared as a "money first, ingenuity second" kind of CEO. He doesn't exhibit a single creative bone in his body nor did he care. He got extremely lucky that Infinity ward made CoD for him. Same goes for Guitar hero, which he never had much faith in until it went the way it did.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Yes I will sell you my company but now also I will tell you what to do rather than the other way around. Weird how that didn't work.

 

[adamsapple]

I've got great news for you Morhaime.

 

[BattleScar]

Kotick made that place truck loads of money so get along with him and keep cashing checks

Once you've made enough money you don't need to suffer the insufferable just for a little more. Life is too short for that kind of misery.

 

[Boralf]

Wonder when we can expect some game reveals from his new company.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I've got great news for you Morhaime.

He would have been let go after 18 months if still there?

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Get your arse over to Ubisoft, Jason and get us some real gossip

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Get your arse over to Ubisoft, Jason and get us some real gossip

I hear Yves likes to snort cocaine out of a hooker’s buttcrack.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

I hear Yves likes to snort cocaine out of a hooker’s buttcrack.

Business as usual in the world of CEOs I’d imagine!

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Can't say I'm surprised. Kotick always appeared as a "money first, ingenuity second" kind of CEO. He doesn't exhibit a single creative bone in his body nor did he care. He got extremely lucky that Infinity ward made CoD for him. Same goes for Guitar hero, which he never had much faith in until it went the way it did.

Yep

Just a lucky ass dude that had little to do with their success

 

[clarky]

Yep

Just a lucky ass dude that had little to do with their success

I'd hardly call taking Activision from basically Zero to selling it for billions of dollars "lucky"

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Yep

Just a lucky ass dude that had little to do with their success

You are kidding, right?

In 1987, Kotick tried to acquire Commodore International. He planned to remove the keyboard and disk drive from the Amiga 500 and turn it into a video game system. He was unsuccessful in persuading Commodore's then-Chairman Irving Gould to sell control of the company.[6]

The guy was 24 years old at that time.

In December 1990, Kotick sold his stake in Leisure Concepts and purchased a 25% stake in the almost-bankrupt Activision, then known as Mediagenic, with business partner Brian Kelly. In 1991, Kotick changed the name back to Activision, performed a full restructuring of the company, and refocused the company on making and marketing video games.[6][9][5] Kotick became CEO of Activision in February 1991.[10][11] From 1997 to 2003, Activision acquired nine development studios and released its first hit game in 1995.[5]

He is probably the most successful executive ever in a videogame industry. The guy knows how to do business.

 

[Herbspiceguy]

I want to say it's hard to have sympathy for higher ups that sell out and complain afterwards, but in the case of Blizzard it's a bit more nuanced as they made their first deal that goes back to 1994 for the release of Warcraft, which was followed by several acquisitions by different companies eventually leading to the current Activision Blizzard. I don't think the Blizz OG's had much deciding power in this string of acquisitions. Also, without these acquisitions we probably wouldn't have the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo entries as good and popular as they were.

Blizzard Entertainment - WE Computers Museum

wecmuseum.org

 

[Ogbert]

Or, alternatively, retired early on the hundreds of millions Kotick helped him make.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I want to say it's hard to have sympathy for higher ups that sell out and complain afterwards, but in the case of Blizzard it's a bit more nuanced as they made their first deal that goes back to 1994 for the release of Warcraft, which was followed by several acquisitions by different companies eventually leading to the current Activision Blizzard. I don't think the Blizz OG's had much deciding power in this string of acquisitions. Also, without these acquisitions we probably wouldn't have the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo entries as good and popular as they were.

Blizzard Entertainment - WE Computers Museum

wecmuseum.org

Thank you for this, it looks like they sold in 1994 probably just on the curb of making it big with Warcraft.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

The guy was 24 years old at that time.

it’s good to run in the same circles as Steve Jobs at an early age

 

[lh032]

Thought Microsoft is going to fix the issues according to the acquisition beggars?