Kotick: “Our competitor’s products are less than adequate”

Activision CEO blames competition for poor retail sales

Chris KempAugust 4, 2012

In a recent investors call for Activision Blizzard, CEO Bobby Kotick was asked why retail sales have been down.

“You have a very difficult macroeconomic environment, when you look at the things that can generally have an impact on the consumption of entertainment – unemployment data is very concerning, and when you look at the challenges in Europe there are a lot of things that are going to affect the macroeconomic outlook. We are also at the late end of the cycle, and the late end of a console cycle is always going to have its share of difficulties,” Kotick said.

Not one to mince words, he then went on to say that the games of his competitors simply aren’t very good.

“I also think you’ve had, unfortunately, a stream of products that are less than adequate from some of our competitors. The demand in the marketplace is for great quality products. If you look at the success we’re having it validates that there is an opportunity for great quality products but I think at this stage in the cycle, it’s challenging for anything other than great quality products,” he said.

Kotick also noted the influence of mobile and online gaming, which impacts how much people are willing to spend on a game, as well as how much time they’ll spend on a single title.

“There’s also a lot of competition for entertainment dollars – you look at mobile games and what’s happening there and the pricing there that’s having an impact,” he continued. “And I also think that a lot of the games we make, like Call of Duty, that are multiplayer games offer a lot of replayability, and when you have the opportunity for replayability in an economic environment like this, you’re going to spend more time playing the games that you have.”

“But I will say that if you look out at the next five years, there’s a lot of reason to be hopeful and enthusiastic, but the next few years are going to be challenging,” Kotick concluded.