David Brevik : Activision taking over Blizzard

[bluspacecow]

Another Nail in the point of view presented by Brevik -

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/d...-36341_18k.htm

"For the period in which he remains employed through the end of the year, Mr. Morhaime’s annual base salary will remain unchanged. Thereafter, Mr. Morhaime will receive a reduced base salary. He will receive a bonus of no less than 3.5% of the profit sharing pool created pursuant to the Blizzard Profit Sharing Plan, if any, for 2018 and will be eligible to receive a bonus under the Company’s Corporate Annual Incentive Plan for 2018, subject to his continued employment. While he remains an employee, Mr. Morhaime’s significant outstanding equity awards will continue to vest in accordance with their existing terms."

AKA He's still getting paid salary. He's still getting bonuses. His equity awards will continue to vest. Him leaving had 0% to do with getting less money.

[Huntingbear_grimbatol]

I’ve been thinking the same for a couple years already, Activision are pushing development and publications faster than what the ‘old timers’ want to do because it affects the quality of the games Blizzard makes. Metzen and the others probably found it easier to retire and enjoy the fruits of their labour than to fight Activision.

Do I blame them? No.

Greg Street left years ago and I suspect he was the first one to ‘jump ship’ when Blizzard were rushed to get content out by Activision.
Activision is cancer!

[Deficineiron]

The notion that Bobby Kotick is a majority shareholder is false.

SEC filings are public. Whenever there is movement of stocks in the company how many shares they have at end of the transaction is always listed. IIRC the form you would be looking for on SEC's EDGAR system are Form 3 & Form 4. His share is less then 1%. Kelly is less then 1%. ASAC II LLC 's share is less then 1%. In total individual shareholders of Blizzard make up about 6-7% of ATVI's total shares.

The rest is in institutional holdings which in total make up most of ATVI's shares. The largest of which is FMR, LLC at around 12% of total shares. You can very easily very this by googling for what ATVI's shareholder are. They'll all tell you the same thing - FMR not Bobby Kotick has the largest. Kotick has 4,100,379 of about 769,345,142 shares. Kelly's is 8,101 shares. ASAC II LLC has 1,324,721 shares. Do the math.

Kotick's recent form 4 - https://investor.activision.com/node/31071/html
Kelly's https://investor.activision.com/node/31136/html

i actually corrected this in another post - I think he sold most of his shares some time back and instead leads the investment group that bought the chunk of the vivendi stake which he made a condition of vivendi deal with atvi, and that group is the largest 13g or other atvi shareholder.

[sam86]

Saying that MMO Champion community speaks for the majority of WoW players is honestly pretty laughable, don't you think? It's a vocal minority at best.

Ok, see... i see effort gating as a colossal time sync, and it still fits into time gating of sorts. It's just an alternate way of staving people off. But, do you not remember the time spacing on the wings in ICC? Additionally, while it's not the same as now, any rep that demands you grind and grind for additional benefits, rewards or access is a time gate. They may have changed how they have done it and the reasons, but it's still a concept that has existed.

And I am not saying anyone is right or wrong. I am saying that opinion is subjective, and saying BfA is crap is opinion, not fact. That's it.

Saying that MMO Champion community speaks for the majority of WoW players is honestly pretty laughable, don't you think? It's a vocal minority at best.

so in democracy u count votes of ppl who don't vote at all ? since u'll play the 'wild guess game' then i say that most ppl who don't talk also hate bfa, my proof ? literally same as urs
And since u count the 90% vote as opinion not fact, that also means that earth being sphere is an opinion not fact since there are many ppl around the 'globe' who also believe that earth is flat
regarding timegate, ICC was after activision era, not before it, and reputation to enter a dungeon is again not time constrain as much as effort constrain since some ppl can grind reputation faster than others, a time constrain is what we literally have now, raid won't open with patch launch, but 3 weeks later, no effort u can do to reduce that time

[Deleted]

If that's what's happening then it seems to be for the better. Legion and BfA are both great expansions on par with WotLK. I just want to see more of that direction in the game.

[tratra]

He helped develop Diablo 1. He didn't solely create it himself. Every single game he's tried to lead and produce since has failed miserably in a dumpster fire. That should be a clue as to how successful he is. He rode on the back of Blizzard's success and people continue to listen to him.

What are you talking about? He also created diablo2 and he was in the top role during that, quite successful! What have you achieved btw ?

[bluspacecow]

i actually corrected this in another post - I think he sold most of his shares some time back and instead leads the investment group that bought the chunk of the vivendi stake which he made a condition of vivendi deal with atvi, and that group is the largest 13g or other atvi shareholder.

Incorrect he has not sold most of his shares - Form 3 and Forms 4 submitted to the SEC have the total number of shares he has at the end of all transactions.

As a consequence of being part of the ASAC II LLC the total shares the ASAC II LLC group are also listed on his Form 3/4 forms as well as on Brian Kellys. Trust me it's not that large (or not - go do the google research yourself)

FMR is still the largest ATVI shareholder. What ASAC II LLC have doesn't even compare to how many shares FMR have. If you do some basic google research on who ATVI's shareholders you should see corroborating evidence on quite a few sites saying this - institutional holders are over 80% of ATVI shares while individual shareholders only account for at most maybe 9% of ATVI shareholdings.

Unless of course you have some proof to your statement that Bobby Kotick has a lot more shares then on his submissions to the SEC ?

[Deficineiron]

Incorrect he has not sold most of his shares - Form 3 and Forms 4 submitted to the SEC have the total number of shares he has at the end of all transactions.

As a consequence of being part of the ASAC II LLC the total shares the ASAC II LLC group are also listed on his Form 3/4 forms as well as on Brian Kellys. Trust me it's not that large (or not - go do the google research yourself)

FMR is still the largest ATVI shareholder. What ASAC II LLC have doesn't even compare to how many shares FMR have. If you do some basic google research on who ATVI's shareholders you should see corroborating evidence on quite a few sites saying this - institutional holders are over 80% of ATVI shares while individual shareholders only account for at most maybe 9% of ATVI shareholdings.

Unless of course you have some proof to your statement that Bobby Kotick has a lot more shares then on his submissions to the SEC ?

If the filings are there then I am wrong within the date range specified. How far back did you look at kotick's holdings?

I wonder if asac has been selling shares. my recollection of the asacII stake being huge come from this.

ASAC II LP, an investment vehicle spearheaded by Kotick and Kelly to which they've contributed $100 million of their own money, will purchase another 172 million shares for $2.34 billion. All told, the group will own just under 25% of the company. Kotick will remain CEO while Kelly will be Chairman.

my information is 5 years old? oh my.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/d...5X03/edgar.xml

this is only 3 years ago, asac II still had their entire stake


https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/d...45X03/doc4.xml

he sold most of his direct holdings (non-derivative) here in the above link - 80% of them. am I wrong? Interestingly, the asac stake is reported as about 90% gone. mkt opens soon no time to dig more! the footnotes make some unusual notes on asac stake and disclaiming interest in them thereof.

[Tharkkun]

What are you talking about? He also created diablo2 and he was in the top role during that, quite successful! What have you achieved btw ?

The company he worked for created it. He isn't the sole designer of the game.

[Oakshana]

so in democracy u count votes of ppl who don't vote at all ? since u'll play the 'wild guess game' then i say that most ppl who don't talk also hate bfa, my proof ? literally same as urs
And since u count the 90% vote as opinion not fact, that also means that earth being sphere is an opinion not fact since there are many ppl around the 'globe' who also believe that earth is flat

Seriously? THAT'S your comparison for your argument.

Millions of players of WoW, and the few hundred that bitch and moan vocally on MMO-Champions represents the bulk of them. That's your litmus test?

You are as thick as a slab of bedrock if you think the MMO-C circlejerk represents the common average player.

[Synros]

So how come a Blizzard employee just took over Morhaime's job?

Uhm, Activision can still be expanding their influence, even with Brack as CEO. For all we know, Activision could have very well played a role in making him CEO. Many features in Legion, included the new PVP Prestige system, are lifted directly from CoD...

Just because Activision hasn't 'Red Wedding'd' Blizzard HQ, doesn't mean they aren't taking over...

[chrisnumbers]

notmydeveloper

[Sentynel]

This entire announcement of Morhaime stepping down is shady because there was no context for it. Blizzard has been doing great and there was no reason for the management shuffle. It seems like a power coup where Activision wants more control in Blizzard and inner power struggles within tightly-guarded corporation PR is often an indicative sign that something is going on in the background. Morhaime hasn't retired nor did he plan to: so why did he give up his power? You don't give up what you've worked so hard to obtain, especially when it comes to power. Something is going on and it wouldn't surprise me if the practices of loot boxes and shady MTx that Activision stands for will be in all Blizzard games at the same levels of rapacity and shamelessness.

This is some next level science fiction.

[bluspacecow]

If the filings are there then I am wrong within the date range specified. How far back did you look at kotick's holdings?

I'm sorry but I think I might of confused you through my posts. I'm sorry but I haven't made this clear - I'm arguing that Bobby Kotick doesn't have enough shares to currently be a major stockholder of Blizzard. Not that he used to have enough shares to be a controlling % of ATVI shares. Just that he currently doesn't.

Sorry if I didn't make this clear to you.

Interestingly, the asac stake is reported as about 90% gone. mkt opens soon no time to dig more! the footnotes make some unusual notes on asac stake and disclaiming interest in them thereof.

I've discovered you can actually search the SEC for their documents - search under ASAC II LP

You'll find this page ASAC II LP SEC filings

The latest of which is - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/d...231dsc13da.htm which shows a significant reduction in ASAC II LP shares - an almost 90% reduction between June 3rd 2016 and June 9th 2016. So yes you are correct - there has been a quite significant reduction in ASAC's shares.

[Nuggsy]

Legion and BfA are both great expansions on par with WotLK.

I needed a good laugh. Thanks bud!

[Deficineiron]

I'm sorry but I think I might of confused you through my posts. I'm sorry but I haven't made this clear - I'm arguing that Bobby Kotick doesn't have enough shares to currently be a major stockholder of Blizzard. Not that he used to have enough shares to be a controlling % of ATVI shares. Just that he currently doesn't.

Sorry if I didn't make this clear to you.



I've discovered you can actually search the SEC for their documents - search under ASAC II LP

You'll find this page ASAC II LP SEC filings

The latest of which is - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/d...231dsc13da.htm which shows a significant reduction in ASAC II LP shares - an almost 90% reduction between June 3rd 2016 and June 9th 2016. So yes you are correct - there has been a quite significant reduction in ASAC's shares.

I was unaware of the asac reductionon that scale (and it sounds like you were too or you would have mentioned) - that is interesting and unlike so much with atvi, this got no game press. then again, the group likely nearly tripled their money depending on what they paid vivendi (I remember it was below market which was argued to be a legal problem given how it was a demand in the negotiation, though kotick prevailed in court)

it is good the sec is modernized. used to you had to email some clerk named edgar and wait for him to get to it.

at any rate, my comments were based on premise that asac ii still had nearly 1/4 of atvi, and clearly they don't.

you are grading as a A for being current in real-time, with a lower grade for ignoring previos large kotick sale (that actually got a piece somewhere because I read about it, not the actual f4) and apparently not knowing asac ii had owned 25% of atvi at one point since I was clearly referring to that)

I get an F for current info, but a higher grade for actually being correct in my general impressions of prior share holdings/movements.

you win!

[sam86]

Seriously? THAT'S your comparison for your argument.

Millions of players of WoW, and the few hundred that bitch and moan vocally on MMO-Champions represents the bulk of them. That's your litmus test?

You are as thick as a slab of bedrock if you think the MMO-C circlejerk represents the common average player.

Surprising to u, i find that my point that ppl who don't talk don't count since u have no idea what they think make more sense than u who claim most ppl who post here are jerks and vocal minority

That's how it works even in rl, u don't count ppl who don't talk willingly at least, since u have no idea what they think, and again if u claim that ppl who post here are vocal minority whose opinion is in opposition of general public (who don't talk) in large, then I say that no we talk here in name of general public, and my proof is literally as solid strong as urs, which is btw none in both cases, since i can't know what they think and u can't either unless u are capable of reading mass minds like prof X from x-men or something

[Unholyground]

I love BfA and I don't care what you think about it, sorry!

The way they implemented Azerite armor is pretty horrible though and I have a solution that fixes it, also all the specs they left out because they did not have enough time to properly balance them is really shitty and shows how poor their time management is within the team.

[baskev]

David Brevik is an American video game designer, producer and programmer who served as the co-founder and president of Blizzard

https://clips.twitch.tv/DifferentBen...rcupineGivePLZ

I would say...tin foil hat.

But the choices made by them kinda supports this.

[TheVaryag]

David Brevik is an American video game designer, producer and programmer who served as the co-founder and president of Blizzard

https://clips.twitch.tv/DifferentBen...rcupineGivePLZ

I mean, that's been obvious since Cataclysm, when we felt Activision's true Influence, the store was added to buy mounts, eventually pets and the like. Cataclysm dumbed down the game until It eventually became so bland and stale as It Is now in BfA.

It's sad people are realizing this only now, when long term fans and hardcore players of Blizzard games saw that 9 years ago. Is adding Activision Games to Battle.net not enough? Making WoW stale and boring? Loot boxes in Overwatch that are defended by Blizzard's rabid fanbase and therefore barely put under the spotlight since the controvesy with Battlefront 4 (It's actually 2, but they lost count of the first two good ones). And then Heroes of the Storm 2.0 literally the only change there Is they added loot boxes. They won't add loot boxes Into WoW only because It'd cause THAT big of a controvesy In the community, that's the only reason.

So how come a Blizzard employee just took over Morhaime's job?

Bunch of nobodies who are randomly assuming stuff.

Or are people really expecting rich CEO level Blizzard employee's to work there until they are 100+ years old and they die?

Why I'm glad you asked. Because we don't know, and you can't assume to know the truth In business. Could've been Morhaime was causing problems, so Activision replaced him and used a Blizzard Employee to make It look okay. OBVIOUSLY putting an activision employee In charge of Blizzard Is a stupid business maneuver. You clearly know nothing of how business' work.

But even that, that's my assumption, anything else could be true but seeing tons of shithead managers over the past few years I wouldn't be surprised that there was Internal turmoil. You can't think that all the blizzard employees agree on everything 100 % of the time, there will be conflict, there always Is no matter what business or manager you are.