Update - Mr. Schafer has retracted his statement about Bobby Kotick, unfortunately. It seems that having good standings in the gaming industry is much more important that freely speaking about some people you might not care for. Either way, Schafer has issued a new statement chalking his initial comments up as a lesson learned to watch how freely you speak about folks you could have lunch meetings with the following day.
"That was an accident...I was going to change the title of my talk to 'how to give interviews and remember to check the microphone is off...I need to keep my mouth shut...It is shocking how you really can't burn bridges in the industry. You start your own company and you don't have to work for that jerky boss any more. Not naming names...Then it's like Empire Strikes Back - you walk in the room and 'holy shit Darth Vader's at the table.' It's such a small industry, you see the same people over and over again. No-one ever goes away."
It's ok, Tim. You are still much loved.
Original - Tim Schafer is the man. The guy is the founder of Double Fine studios and one hell of a creative force within the video game industry, turning out such recent hits as Psychonauts and Brutal Legend. Schafer also isn’t afraid to voice his opinion, something he chose to do about Activision CEO Bobby Kotick at the recent Develop Conference.
I think Schafer says what a lot of us are thinking about Mr. Kotick. However, the difference being that Schafer is actually a man within the industry, we’re just outside observers that get fed info and formulate our opinions about certain people/ companies based around those “facts.” Let us also not forget that Schafer’s latest game, Brutal Legend, was suppose to be published by Activision after their merger with Blizzard. However, the game was dropped by the publisher and later picked up by EA Games. Therefore, Schafer’s awesomely venomous words probably have some weight, maybe a little bit of spite sprinkled in for good measure.
“His obligation is to his shareholders,” Schafer said. “Well, he doesn’t have to be as much of a dick about it, does he? I think there is a way he can do it without being a total prick. It seems like it would be possible. It’s not something he’s interested in.”
Schafer continued on by saying, “[Kotick] makes a big deal about not liking games, and I just don’t think that attitude is good for games in general. I just don’t think we’re an industry of widgets. We can approach it like we approach bars of soap, where you’re just trying to make the cheapest bar of soap. He definitely has that that kind of widget-maker attitude. I don’t think he’s great for the industry, overall. You can’t just latch onto something when it’s popular and then squeeze the life out of it and then move on to the next one. You have to at some point create something, build something.
“Hopefully he’ll go back to another industry scene. He could go to an industry that makes more money. Ball bearings… something that suits his passions more. Weapons manufacturing?”
Yeesh. But really, judging by what we know of Bobby Kotick, Schafer’s words and analogy to soap manufacturing seems pretty spot on. Kotick makes no secret of the fact “developing games should not be fun,” that’s it’s a business first and foremost. But Schafer’s right, that is 100%, most definitely bass ackwards. When everyone has a business only mentality that’s how creativity is lost. Maybe Schafer’s words will start a developer revolution against the evil, blood sucking overlords of the industry. Odds are, it won’t, but imagine a world where developers determine the ebb and flow of the industry. Ahh perfection.
