Bobby, Bobby, Bobby...

[bcbully]

I'll delete myself

[mvaliz]

Nothing much to say about this hasn't already been said before...

...it's the calm before the storm really. I'm just watching and waiting to see how the tsunami is going to hit and observe the damage from my condo deep in another state. :P

[Caiada]

Why the heck would he not be confident? He pretty much heads the business aspect of Acti-Blizz, and he's shown time and time again that he's pretty darn cocky.

I'm not sure what about this is even a big deal. What's the headline? "Cocky businessman acts like a cocky businessman?"

[Linzo]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertco...-old-republic/

From forbes.com by way of the Reuters Media Summit

Bobby Kotick may not be the most well-liked executive in the industry, drawing fan ire as the head of Activision Blizzard for years now, but it’s always fun to hear him trash talk his rivals.

His recent jab at EA questions whether or not the company will end up making money from their upcoming Star Wars MMO The Old Republic.

“Lucas is going to be the principal beneficiary of the success of Star Wars. We’ve been in business with Lucas for a long time and the economics will always accrue to the benefit of Lucas, so I don’t really understand how the economics work for Electronic Arts.”

While I don’t doubt Lucas’s propensity to secure himself a good deal, I think he’s underestimating the property’s value. He adds that The Old Republic will not steal users from WoW, “If you look at the history of the people investing in an MMO and achieving success, it’s a small number.”

EA’s CEO John Riccitiello has previously said that TOR will be “substantially profitable” if it reaches half a million subscribers. A relatively low bar considering Activision’s World of Warcraft has about 10 million. It’s worth noting that recently WoW has seen a big subscriber drop-off of close to 10%, which might have Kotick testy.

Kotick is right about it being tough to compete in the MMO game, as no competitor has come close to WoW’s success with a subscription model. But with the Star Wars brand name, Bioware at the helm and a hundred million in EA cash, it seems like it might be a perfect storm to unseat the king down the road, or at the very least, be considered a win for EA if a million or two sign up.

It’s unclear whether The Old Republic will be one the biggest hits in years or one of the biggest failures. If the game does actually deliver, Kotick might be eating his words.

Opinions?

there's barely anything interesting about this article...

[vizzle]

The fat cats at the top are the worst trolls of all, it seems.

[Deleted]

Bobby "Satan" Kotick as we know him

[Zyzzyx]

I don't like him, but I have to basically agree with him. There's no way it will be the giant that WoW has become, and I doubt it will keep too many subscribers for the long haul.

[Yohassakura]

All I can say is that a couple of guildies seem to love it - not tried it out myself though.

I think it's going to be the same as usual - a bunch will try it out, a couple will stay, a couple will flock back, people from other games will also do the same, and people from no mmo-rpg gaming background at all will try it out.

[bcbully]

lmfao moved to swtor forum?? really?

It's about WoW's CEO, WoW and swtor.

[Karteli]

Sounds like damage control so he keeps his investors faith (or tries to), even though Activision-Blizzard continues to lose stock value.

Taking jabs at other games seems to work, as seen by Rift's tactics. It is a shame though, but I guess Bobby is worried about future loses.

Having played the latest build for the TOR beta It's no wonder why Bobby is so defensive. The industry is starting to show that solid competition can exist to challenge WoW. In a sense, it is the perfect storm - players are quitting WoW, playing less, watching trailers for other games, playing other games, and talking about WoW's shortcomings more than ever.

[Deleted]

His opinion doesn't really carry much weight in my world, I'm afraid. To be blunt, I consider him as alarmingly similar to a parasite - one that latches on to successful franchises and sucks them dry by milking them as a cash cow in whatever manner he can get away with before leaving them to rot. He has also proven in the past to have very little empathy or a realistic idea as to how exactly the average MMORPG gamer ticks.

WoW is doing a pretty decent job of shooting itself in the foot on a patch to patch basis these days, so there's really no need for ToR to try and topple it. Contrary to popular belief, more than one MMORPG can exist and be successful at the same time. WoW is unlikely to die anytime soon but it is definitely winding down after seven years. I have faith that ToR will succeed, though only time will tell for sure.

I'm sure Bobby will convince Blizzard to pump out a few more recoloured mounts and pets on the official store to reclaim some of the lost cash though.

[nazrakin]

For the record WOW has 5 million subs and 10 million players. Over half of their players are in Asia where people don't pay for monthly subscriptions. As a result, the 5 million in US/Europe rakes in far more revenue than the 5 million in Asia. We're talking 3-4times the amount.

[Kryos]

EA is writing red numbers for 4 years in a row - Since John Riccitiello is leading them...

[Loaf Lord]

Bobby sounds mad.

[Daarksoul]

CEO's of companies don't do stuff like this, unless their scared to death on an emotional roller coaster.
After playing the beta, I think his fears are well placed.

Ever since Activision bought Blizzard, Wow has went downhill.... just look at the end of Wrath, Cata, and Pandas.
Compare that to the beginning of Wrath, BC and Vanilla.

The thing is he knows it, and I bet internal to the company he's thrown his weight around like a dictator - and now he looks stupid.
Just compare the fans reaction to SWTOR versus that to the pandas and pokemon.

[Jamber]

I like the passing comments on how "people are going to try it for a month or two, then come back; just like all the other competitors". I wish I could ask each and every one of those people how they think WoW would fare before it launched.

[Blznsmri]

For the record WOW has 5 million subs and 10 million players. Over half of their players are in Asia where people don't pay for monthly subscriptions. As a result, the 5 million in US/Europe rakes in far more revenue than the 5 million in Asia. We're talking 3-4times the amount.

Can I see this cited?

[DaGhostDS]

Big mouth of Kotick at it again, like with MW3 vs BF3 before.

[nazrakin]

Can I see this cited?

Well, you can read that Chinas is more than half of their playerbase:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/act...nch-2011-11-08

As far as the Chinese half being worth far less money, thats just something I estimated based on what I've heard about the chinese model. They only pay for the time they spend on the game, at a rate of 6 cents per hour. If the average WOW player plays for ~20 hours a week, thats 80hrs for the month. That means the average Chinese players is coughing up ~$5 a month.

So, 14.99x5m = ~$75m in US/EU monthly vs 5x5.5m =~$27m in China. Also consider that Blizz is partnered with Netease in China, meaning that 27m is further split.

[anewok]

As far as the Chinese half being worth far less money, thats just something I estimated based on what I've heard about the chinese model. They only pay for the time they spend on the game, at a rate of 6 cents per hour. If the average WOW player plays for ~20 hours a week, thats 80hrs for the month. That means the average Chinese players is coughing up ~$5 a month.

Aren't Chinese players limited to a couple hours a day max by law? So they would legally only be putting in 14 hours a week. You also have to figure that Blizzard doesn't get all the money from China, the company that hosts the game over there gets a cut.