Overly Positive Thoughts: Designing Video Games Is Not Fun!

Today I had to save myself from commenting until Overly Positive Thoughts on Thursday for an interesting little newsbit that came from Destructoid via Gamespot about Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick’s comments about the kind of working environment he likes to inspire. Sure, he was talking to investors – the kind of cheerful people who would appreciate a zero-dollar expense report for Christmas more than an actual gift – but  I’ll just let these quotes stand on their own:

When he wasn’t promoting the company’s games or technology, Kotick was celebrating its laserlike focus on the bottom line. He pointed to changes he implemented in the past as being particularly beneficial, such as designing the employee incentive program so it “really rewards profit and nothing else.”

“You have studio heads who five years ago didn’t know the difference between a balance sheet and a bed sheet who are now arguing allocations in our CFO’s office pretty regularly,” Kotick said.

He later added, “We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games.”

If that sounds like it would create a corporate culture that isn’t all sunshine and hugs, then it’s mission accomplished for Kotick. The executive said that he has tried to instill into the company culture “skepticism, pessimism, and fear” of the global economic downturn, adding, “We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression.”

Now I have to say – I’m actually pretty pleased to hear some of these comments from a CEO. I mean, let’s be honest, the “evil” CEO model that we’ve seen in countless feel-good after-school specials, in movies like Office Space, and in the Simpsons as the immorally-inclined Mr. Burns is not something we typically see – it’s a caricature. But I have to thank Mr. Kotick for finally creating the embodiment of this little exaggeration, revealing that even in the worst of stereotypes, there’s a little bit of truth. Great job on breathing new life into that little comedic element, my friend Mr. Kotick – I know it was just getting around to being passe.

And what about his comments about the working environment? Take the fun out of making video games? Keep people pessimistic and afraid to produce results? Why, I think these things are just the paragon of thoughtfulness, despite what people might think at face value. I mean, working at a job that you might consider a dream job should totally be shattered from the very beginning. We can’t have these lofty things like idealism and passion, and love interfering with how many plastic guitars or Mountain Dew-endorsed sodas we sell, right? It takes years for someone in the games industry to become jaded, fearful, and paranoid about their job. Kotick’s just shortcutting all that, ensuring that developers under his umbrella are sure to be molded into the office and cubicle drones you see in, well, our jobs, or in a cubicle in Dilbert’s office. Bravo for cutting to the quick, Kotick.

And let’s not forget what’s important here – it’s not anything unimportant like making sure your workers want to come to work every day or advancing the industry through innovation and improvement borne of genuine love for the games community. Nah, it’s all about the Benjamins, baby – as in the ones that Mr. Kotick is stuffing into his pants pockets by the thousands. The richness of enjoying and getting fulfillment from what you do surely pales in comparison to the richness of buying 5 houses, 4 cars, and having more unfulfilling, empty romances than you can count on your hands, toes, and other appendages, right? Surely the kinds of changes that focus on the “bottom line” are the ones responsible for why Activision and Blizzard products sell so well.

We’ve got some real insight here, guys and gals, and something that you should pay attention to – it’s not the fact that you have a ready-made IP that people recognize or games with wide-ranging appeal that practically sell themselves sequel after unnecessary sequel. It’s totally because your workers are too afraid to quit for other jobs or they work for 20 hours a day toiling on their very “un-fun” games in an effort to maybe grab onto the CEO’s shoelaces during the next company executive yacht cruise (because coattails would be being pretentious, you see).

This totally makes me want to sign up for a games job. Sign me up, Bobby!

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