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"On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." Satoru Iwata (December 6, 1959 - July 11, 2015), former president of Nintendo
Here lies the difference between Satoru Iwata and Bobby Kotick. Iwata was a game developer and worked his way up the corporate ladder. He proved he was an effective leader because he understood both sides of the game industry, business and actual game development. Long after he was a developer he still assisted in programming games even after he was named as CEO of Nintendo.
He also took a massive pay cut when Nintendo was struggling from 2009 to 2012 and even got some of the other executives to do the same so they could lessen the impact on the employees pay checks during that time.
@@MegaRazorback True, because he knew what it was like to be in the trenches. Not to mention they did not want to lose their big game development talent to other studios. I feel like Gunpei Yokoi was probably the only developer that left Nintendo and went on to do other things. If he had lived I am sure his hand held wonder swan would have been a huge competitor for Nintendo's gameboy.
Activision: “Wow, we made hundreds of millions on this game. We should reinvest most of this for future development” Also Activision: *stuffs millions into their own pockets* And they wonder why they are doing so poorly.
it didn't used to be what capitalism looked like, really. before neoliberals got into power, even conservatives would indeed reinvest much of their profits back into a company, or into general infrastructure that made things easier for new companies to operate. now? most profits go into someone's personal pocket (read: offshore tax free account), and actual investment is left to starve. this is why the recovery after 2008 was soo slow. federal banks shoved a ton of money into the system, which for over 100 years worked to stem recession because most of it would be invested into new businesses, both large and small. this time? most of it was simply pocketed. it's not capitalism that is destroying us. it's pure narcissistic greed, and NO economic system can support that.
guess they are not doing poorly enough if they can make such huge welcoming packages for ONE single person while their biggest Studios are downsizing. RIP Blizzard with Mikes departure in April :( We need Activison to do even more poorly. Of course they will take it out on their employes and jump ship those fat rats, but other Videogame Companies have crashed and burned to death before. No one is immortal
ORO323 Activision : Who cares about being investigated by your own shareholders ?! *ends hots, announces mobile games to pc players, loses 40$ on its stock price, loses both its cfos*.... *stuffs millions in the pockets of the guy who used to be cfo in 2017 "
Whenever something like this happens I like to bring up one particular name: *Saturo Iwata* (may he rest in peace), who, when Nintendo struggled between 2009 and 2012, took his ~10 Mil. $ salary *and cut it in half* voluntarily, all the while encouraging his fellow executives to do the same in order to make sure his workes would suffer no or minimal impact.
This also creates an atmosphere for success. If the execs make more money when their company succeeds; they're more likely to do things that help their company succeed instead of bleeding it dry.
@Alvare Gomez Atari age, the market got flooded with watered down games from companies trying to make a quick buck by tricking customers into buying shitty products. Millions disappeared from the companies and most closed down. Nintendo revived the market in 85, now history is repeating.
There won't be a market crash like one in 1983, because the market landscape is totally different. Also the crash only happened in the States where Atari was on top. At most there will be some trimming among AAA game publishers, but not anywhere near the total wipeout of the market centered around just one company.
The fact that a guy who probably never played a video game in his entire life, is making financial decisions and analysis for a gaming company is just absurd. All those cooperate suits are just a waste of life.
Sigh I wish more executives were more like the late Satoru Iwata. He grew up playing video games and was extremely passionate about the games and his employees.
Yea, Reggie at Nintendo should be fired because he doesn't play Smash and is bad at it. He can't run a company if he can't play Smash, you need those skills, you have to be proficient at the products your company makes if you're doing business work!
The entire industry has lost value stock-wise. It doesn't matter if it's EA, Activision, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, CD Projekt RED or Nintendo - all of them have felt the downward trend in the past months and years. Some lost a huge percentage, others lost less; but all of them did lose value.
Nintendo = President publicly apologizes for big time flop, cuts his salary to avoid firing people, single-handledy rescues company revenue Literally Everyone else = Says development of games is costly, has deals with junk food companies, overwork their developers, force them to implement mxts at the risk of crunching, losing jobs and studio merging.
@@ruifigueiredo5486 Yup it happened twice. First, when the 3ds was not selling well during it's first few months, then again when the wii u flopped hard.
Yes, but from what has been said before, lots of Japanese companies do this on the regular. It's not just a Nintendo thing. However, given that they *are* a Japanese game development company, I wouldn't be surprised if they're overworking their employees too. Let's not overlook Nintendo Switch Online either.
*Activision announces Diablo immortal* Wow really go wrong *Activision dismisses employees to reduce costs.* They are really falling apart *Bungie abandons Activision* HOLLY SHI- THEY LOST A LUNG
yep activision is falling hard and our money is making them lose business and that is really great that theyre losing business cause alot of people are quitting the company really fast
I think the higher ups know activision is going down the drain so they are just milking the shit out of it and other business it has under its belt before it goes under.
Well, for contracted rewards if I understand it. This is why if corporation does not have proper checks and balances, people will kill the golden goose for their own share of the golden eggs.
@@BrunoAnton ffs corruption doesnt have anything to do wtih capitalism, its called unchecked greed. capitalism is what keeps companies like cd project red and obsidian in business and successful because they supply a good product and make money off it. If you inject greed in literally anything it will be a detriment. capitalism is literally what made the games industry a thing. capitalism isnt the problem, its human corruption.
@@normaaliihminen722 Like what? Push papers and do meetings? Boss people around? I can do that job. It's like those douche bags that get all the women, despite not earning it, yet claiming to "work so hard" for it. Chad earned his 6.2ft and square jaw? More like inherited it.
@@normaaliihminen722 Do not waste your time trying to convince these guys that a person in any sort of management works. A lot of people like to sit and bitch about their boss or say stupid shit like "I could do their job, they don't do anything other than sit in an office and boss people around". I wish being responsible for everyone and everything's fuck ups was just "sitting in an office and bossing people around." The truth is that if you put one of them in charge of shitty gas station, let alone a multi million dollar corporation, and it will go under in the blink of an eye.
Nintendo CEOs took a cut while staying in the same position, bringing in new employees who make massive decisions that dictate profits for the company when the company is in a dire spot, that always brings good incentives. You are ignorant and angry.
@@Archetype77 You didn't get his comment. He is making a joke comparing what Yong values in leadership (morality) vs what Activision and EA value (profits). It has nothing about him being ignorant and angry.
@@Archetype77 I am 99.995% convinced you are an undercover Activision CEO trying to douse the fire during your free time, because I can't believe you are fine with the state the company is at rn
You know, I remember Jim sterling once saying something along the lines of if developers need to cut costs, lets start at the top. Sounds like a good plan to me.
Well Sterling also did say that the objective of the corporate brass is to earn ALL THE MONEY IN THE UNIVERSE! They're basically braindead dragons building a stash for no real purpose.
There is nothing a CFO could possibly do that would justify a $15 million paycheck. Also, I like how QA is often viewed as a "non-essential" area by executives, and then they wonder why their buggy games don't score and sell well and come up with bullshit reason like "people don't want single player games anymore".
Being responsible for a multi billon company finances isnt worth 15 millons? A good CFO could potentially save the company from losing hundreds of millons on the long run. He isnt paid for what he "does" but for what he is responsible.
@@chettonex And a surgeon is paid to save lives and fix the broken bits of people while working crazy hours with crazy conditions, and none of them get a $15 million "sweetener" package when they join a hospital on top of a $900,000 a year salary with the chance of a $1.35 million bonus at the end of the year! This guy is looking at getting $17.25 million after the company apparently had a bad year and everyone else under the Activision Umbrella is being wrung out like a wet towel for every extra penny, and he gets this "sweetener" for changing the little sign on his door from CCO BACK to CFO. That's it. He's an über-glorified accountant, nothing more. Money is going to all the wrong people and being hoarded by them while the rest of us are struggling to cover the basics, and to the very poorest these executive fucks screw up their nose and ask why they don't try pulling themselves up by the fucking bootstraps (a saying which, when you actually stop to think about it, is fucking stupid for how often it's used!)
@Nintendo Station, you’re mistaking disgust for jealousy. People want wealthy executives who already have more money than they’ll ever need to take a slight pay cut so developers can have the means to create better products and live more comfortably. No one in this comment section is asking for a handout.
I no longer support Bethesda, Activision or Blizzard. (never supported EA to begin with) As such, I will no longer purchase any more of their products. I'm sure more feel the same way, not like it's a big deal anyways, with piracy.
Blizzard games used to be great, until Activision infected them like a cancer. There are a lot of people still loyal to the old Blizzard, not realizing that the old Blizzard is gone.
I’ve attended events where high up executives went to network with each other. Trust me when i say that they all have each other’s backs, they’re only interested in making each other richer. The level of ego stroking was off the charts these type of people really do believe they’re above the average joe. I remember one such exec almost had a temper tantrum bc the venue ran out of seats and he didn’t wanna sit on the floor.
There was also a questionnaire at hearthstone asking players if canceling hearthstone tournaments would affect the amount of time they devote to the game...
Remember how the old CEO of Nintendo Japan, Satoru Iwata, took a pay cut because of the Wii U console? Now look at Activision Blizzard where they give themselves big paychecks but cut off their employees and their projects. Lol, this got mentioned in the video.
Its because is true, Iwata cared, was a gamer, wanted to inovate EA/Activision CEO dont care, we are the herd, the consumer, the idiot paying for red dots and horse armor, cut content...all in yearly relases, why should they care? They arent people they are above us they in their minds, we serve them, Iwata served us
That's mainly because of the japanese mindset. Iwata was responsible for the WiiU, not his employees. So he took the punishment, not his employees. Japanese (specially old people) have a mentality like this
@@MaxinRudy You do see this in businesses in the Western world too. A good example are family run businesses or even some companies where the employees also have shares in the company. But you still have companies that make these decisions to keep the company afloat a keep their employees.
I don't own a console atm but I'm so sick of micro transactions these days I'll just pick up a Nintendo switch and play Mario kart and super smash bros instead
People have been saying that about EA since 2004. Yet they are more successful than ever. Keep dreaming. Big business thrives because consumers have no integrity of their own and will spend money on pointless crap with no self control.
I hste the fact blizzard entertainment and king are getting dragged down with activision blizzard; so glad destiny left their hands in time, they escaped just before the ship crashed. I remember a blizzard before activision bought them and changed their parent name to "activision blizzard" ; they made games, good games. Games so great everyone knows their games, just look at diablo, warcraft 3, wow wotlk and starcraft. Then activision came along and dragged them down.
What’s infuriating is that the people who are *really* making the anti-consumer decisions at these big corporations aren’t the devs or community managers. They aren’t people you’ll find on Twitter or forums talking about their games. Those are just the people these executives throw to the wolves to face the brunt of the backlash. It’s shareholders and executives that are running things. Those are the people gamers should be outraged at. Yes, this is a problem that extends far beyond the gaming industry.
"Game development costs much more now..." yet these CEO suits have salaries that rival superstar athletes (NBA, NFL, Tennis, Soccer), while the folks doing the real hard work get the bare minimum. Save for the air conditioned room and CPUs to make games, that's almost no different from a "sweatshop" filled with illegal immigrant labor.
This is totally illogical. The reality is that a superstar athelete or CEO generate more revenue than a low-level computer programmer, who might be a small part of the profit chain every three to four years. People at the bottom are replaceable, people at the top are not. You wouldn't have the integrity to fire people in order to ensure the future success of a business, which is exactly why this person gets paid so much and you do not.
@@alphaclam yet if all the developers would be fired the company would go under almost immediately. the guys at the top are important sure, but there's also a reason why there's many more developers on staff
How to fix this terrible industry for 2019: 1) Never buy anything from Activision, EA, Konami, Ubisoft, nor Warner Bros (if there is any other publisher you don’t like, add them to this list). Any game from them now will have ruined potential and will always be badly designed on purpose to sell microtransactions, lootboxes, and cheat codes. Create the stigma that anything with these publisher’s name on it is a lesser product because it’s true. If you absolutely NEED to have one of their games but still want to get it legally, wait about a year until the game is on sale with included DLC or (preferably) buy a used copy. 2) Never pre-order any game. Waiting until the game comes out to give them money will force them to make sure it’s a functioning, bug-free (as possible), complete game. 3) Wait until said publishers are downscaled/bankrupt from lack of sales. Even if they change their ways after suffering financial struggles, they’ll just go back to their current agenda once they’re back on top again. Let them burn in bankruptcy. They never cared about you. Don’t give them the satisfaction. 4) Wait until they’re forced to sell IPs and franchises to better publishers in order to cut costs from going under. Developers let go from this should also be given employment opportunities from said publishers. This is, unfortunately, the only drawback to this plan as there’s no telling what will happen to said franchises and developers. 5) Support indie creators and lesser known studios who might not be creating the most visually impressive games but clearly have passion for the product they put on shelves rather than creating games for the sake of earning money. 6) Spread. This. Message. Feel free to copy/paste this comment anywhere it’s relevant! Anyone who says “this won’t work” is doing EXACTLY what these publishers want. The moment you give up and think uniting against exploitative and terrible business practices is fruitless is the moment you lose. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. This has worked before and it will work again.
i like this idea but i do kinda like ubisoft..i dont think their all that bad of a company. sure they have in game stuff you can buy but hey at least its not as bad as EA and Activision
@@prashanthb4565 Nope. Bethesda messed up with fallout 76, which was a pretty big fuk up, however I still have faith that they will learn from there mistakes. If they make TES 6, Ill definately buy it. HOWEVER, if they manage the screw up that game too, boycott time starts
Isn’t there a Japanese airline company whose CEO is paid a decent wage (nothing over the top), rides a bike to work, and lives pretty humbly? As far as leadership and role models go, I can respect that a lot more. I get the whole capitalism thing, but this pay hierarchy and corporate/investor relationship is so often bad for both consumers and smaller dev employees.
Ever notice how most of these companies engaging in anti-consumer and other shady financial practices are also companies whose ownership is traded publicly? It's no coincidence. Ownership affects a business's incentives, priorities and the business model it adopts. It shifts the business model away from long-run growth, innovation and design toward a short-run profit maximization model. It prioritizes shareholder value over consumer demand. And it incentivizes the foregoing of talented developers, writers and artists in exchange for talented executives, financial engineers and other corporate bureaucrats. In short-- goodbye, gamers; hello, Wallstreet.
It's no coincidence at all. Just Capitalism working as intended. What's even sadder, is that when another solution is offered it is immediately shut down for no good reason. Society actively fights to keep themselves trapped in a system that does not benefit them because the alternatives are unknown and scary (because the Capitalists said so). Seems a lot like Stockholm Syndrome to me...
Capitalism is what has gotten us to this point, where you can even devote time to worry about something frivolous like entertainment. The poor of today live better than the kings and billionaires of the past. Don't blame the obvious mismanagement of companies like Bethesda and EA on capitalism, because such is the same system that will swallow them whole incase they don't learn how to treat their source of income (their costumers) better.
@@GonePh1shing This is exactly correct. In our modern society, there are *many* ways we could better ourselves but like you said, they're unknown and the corporate elites like it that way. In fact, they rely on our fear and complacency to keep themselves where they are. I'm not allowed to give any specific details, but my brother and I worked on a local community initiative several years back that would have benefited many, many people. Unfortunately, a handful of wealthy companies blocked our formal plans (presented to the city council) because they were profiting from the current status quo. They threw a TON of money into lawyers to paint a picture that, in the end, kept them doing what they had been doing all along. It still makes me want to throw up in absolute disgust.
@@primosdesegundograu1204 the same can be said of Slavery, and then Feudalism. But, we moved past those systems, and we will also similarly move beyond Capitalism. It's true, capitalism sky-rocketed society to the point we're at now, but we're also now beyond the point where it is holding society back from developing further. These companies are not being 'mismanaged'. They are simply being run to the rules of the system, and the system demands wealth above all else. If you feel they are being mismanaged you must ask yourself why that is, and if the answer is that these companies care only about profit then you've just proven yourself wrong.
You're ignorant. He received incentives, not cash, to improve the company for millions and millions of dollars, that's why he got paid. If he does good work, everyone, including himself, gets wealthier.
@@Archetype77 HAHAHAHA of wow. The true ignorant one here is you. The pure unironic thing you just said proves you actually believe in "wealth trickles down". What next? You gonna open your ignorant mouth and say that the earth is flat?
Exactly. These executives are completely expendable. They can be replaced with just about *anyone* without it negatively affecting the quality of their products. In fact, it would be better to pay someone a normal $250k with no bonuses and instead re-invest the $15 million given to 1 man into current and future projects. There's thousands of people that can do this guy's 'job' for considerably less. I can't guarantee they have the same connections, though, which is what this game of thrones seems to be all about.
@@RyuzakiReaper Well... he's not wrong. The guy got 15mil in stock options, which will be worthless if he doesn't turn the company around, potentially worth significantly less than 15mil, and they can't be sold until after a certain amount of time has passed. And if you're working for a company making hundreds of millions to billions of dollars off your leadership, it is only fair to expect a proportionate slice... just playing devils advocate here. A lot of people don't actually understand the world of CEO's and big business execs, they just hear 15mil and see red.
There is a reason I refuse to buy games from EA and Activision even if they look mildly interesting. I care alot about the game industry and I can't stand to see these practices put in place. Iwata was a man among men and as you said a true leader.
All what those gaming companies do these days is sit around in meetings with dildos shoved up their butt crack.. Discussing more ways to scam money from their consumers... They should ALL be ashamed of themselves.
Sadly you are one of the few people who reflect before buying new products. Most consumers are mindless zombies which is why this industry is going down the shitter.
i agree with your post. If EA or Activision are involved, they won't get my money. Unfortunately we are the extreme minority, so nothing will change. All you can do as an individual is decide which developer you wish to support. Also notice how few upvotes your post received in comparison to all these other "complaint" posts. Just proves a lot of these "angry comments" are still handing their money over to these developers they hate on...
@Deez Nutz so avengers infinity war cost just as much and a ticket price (even IMAX) is about 20 bucks. We are paying 60 bucks at the minimum only to have to pay even more through microtransactions.
@Deez Nutz If you want to make an example, perhaps don't make an ass out of yourself by spouting BS and going for a company that is sort of infamous for expensive titles. (which they recoup in hours)
Well, not like it blew up in Bethesda's face, wasting all the PR and goodwill of a decade. I mean, consumers aren't more and more active in online forums to spread information and pressure companies. Bugs aren't even bugs anymore, I am sure of it! /s
that didnt take the pay cuts to help the company save money, it was a self-imposed punishment for failing at their jobs. Nintendo was more wealthy than all of Sony for the entire life cycle of the Wii U a massive failure. Think about dwarfing PlayStation's parent company during a down period.
Reminds me of when we had companies that were "too big to fail" being handed massive government handouts, and we later found out that the executives of these companies were giving themselves massive bonuses from these handouts. I'm talking millions upon millions of dollars. "Congratulations Bob, we've been given free money so our business won't go under, because we're not good enough at our jobs to do that on our own! How does a 20 million dollar bonus sound?"
@Manannan anam How? Ah yes when "Leftists" aren't really leftist (except on gender/sexuality issues) and have the same policies as the right and the entire spectrum of the political consensus has fled to somewhere near Ghengis Khan in the last 30 years on the economy and welfare state. Your house has trebled in value, be quiet and vote for me. EA is just a symptom of the general malaise. This shit is what happened when the war generation got too old and their spoilt kids got in. And it's back to the pre-war society, but with gays.
Execs from Sony and Square Enix have taken self-imposed pay-cuts in the past. I'm sure you can find dozens of examples of this in Japan. Their Business culture is quite different than the festering shit pile that the western world promotes.
@@AlteraLin thats BS... I am sure there are many people capable of doing this job who r willing to do it for 300k. Whats so tough ? Its just a company and there are companies all around the world
@@otakusenpai3737 What a stupid comment. I guess you think professors at Harvard cost the same to hire as those found at a city community college? I mean there are colleges "all around the world", right?
i know I'm still "new to the industry", and thus I "know nothing about how it really works"... But holy shit. You could fund a AAA game with that bonus alone. How the hell can a company say "We need to cut costs and downscale our staff and implement super shady and predatory mictrotransactions, and push out games as fast as possible! It's the only way we can afford to make games! It's so expensive!" with a straight face only to then go "Oh, we're hiring a new Chief Financial Officer? Here's 15 million!" or "Our Ceo makes almost 30 mil a year"?!
They probably did so because they know that any sensible CFO would look at their current financial state and abandon ship immediately, so they gave him a "sweetener" so that he doesn't leave and make Activision look bad for the investors. That's my take on it. Looking at the insane amount they gave him just to keep him on board, they must be in a really bad state.
That was my take on this too. It's no secret that Activision is in a horrible spot right now, it seems like an incentive for someone to even take the job.
That kind of greedy avarice can be said for any corporate giant not just in the games industry. One of CEO’s of the world that I have respect for is the ceo of Toyota in Japan. He takes the bus and train to work everyday. Works for a salary that is just slightly higher than the rest of his workers and he also has a desk on the same floor as his office staff and in the same room. He doesn’t have this fancy huge room on the top floor with the best view no he works with his fellow co workers in the same room. That is what I call humble and I would work for a guy like that in a heartbeat. American corporate executives would never be as humble or respectable like that. They all want slave labor while extorting everyone that works below them and never share the profits because those with power will never share.
Shame it will never be funded. No private company is going to spend billions on an altruistic Mars colonization effort, and no government has any incentive to take on the project. The only reason we reached the moon to begin with was because of America's irrational fear of the Soviet Union. The moment the USSR disbanded, NASA was doomed.
"Please Understand" Gamers said to the publishers, guided by their passion and love for games and gaming. Little did they know that Satoru Iwata was overlooking them all with a smile across his face.
To be frank, I'm surprised that no companies are taking ideas from the big three. They're clearly making the most money, even ignoring hardware sales, so why aren't they taking a few notes? Maybe don't make shit to make money, make good games.
@@M1NDR34D3R I'm not against execs of a company being rewarded for good leadership, but these guys at the top of EA and ATVI are straight up abusing the people and the business for their own gains, and then throwing them away the second their massive revenue streams even slightly slow down.
Yeah, gonna have to second 0. Now give 15 million to say, CorneredApe or the guys who made Enter the Gungeon.... Actually, never mind. I'm worried an indie studio would all develop coke habits or something with that kinda money. XD
While it's true for a vast majority of executives, It's well-known that a few execs at Sony and Nintendo have taken steep paycuts at several times through their respective companies' lifetimes. Please don't wash over all execs with the same tarp.
@@GigglingStoners I know that you're just poking fun with your reply but I am still flabberghasted by the big gaming companies these days. I would think 1st off, don't give anyone a 15 million dollar bonus. I mean $15 million could pay an entire team to produce a whole new game. Secondly if you were to do this it would only be sensible if your business was doing extremely well and they were a contributor to that success. This new CEO is a nobody as far as their contributions to Activision Blizzard's success, and after all of the layoffs, staff changes, budget cuts, dropping HoTS, and a lackluster BFA, I would think the money would best be used either investing it back into the company or at the very least sitting on it to ride out the potential tough time ahead.
Activision is just showing now that they care less about actually using money to make their products better and more about using next to no resources to make things that they can sell for exorbitant amounts of money that they're stupid fucking fanbase will buy into. trust me, I wish just as much as anyone else that one day people will wise the fuck up, and stop buying all this garbage. But realistically speaking, there will always be more idiots. it's sad that we've gotten to a point, where when things happen like this, it doesn't surprise us... We're not shocked when they're crooked these days, we're shocked when they're not.
@@PrettyGuardian You aren't making any sense. He got $11 million dollars in stock options. You can not fund a game with stock options. He was given stock options tied to his performance as an incentive to make fiscally responsible decisions, like firing large numbers of people. The reason he makes $900,000 a year and the people in these comment sections do not is because he has the integrity to make tough, unpopular decisions that are to the benefit of his company and its shareholders. You can not fund a game with $15 million dollars lmao. Try ~$100 million, which is the estimated average cost to ship Overwatch. Over the course of ten years, the total cost of this CFO is under $13 million, even if we include his sign on bonus, and under $22 million if we include his stock options. That is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of developing a AAA release. It is an even smaller drop in the bucket in comparison to the revenue he brings to the company via his financial decisions, such as instituting micro-transactions, which bring in $4 BILLION dollars annually alone. Seems like they get a good deal on their executives to me.
@Kent Arnold So are they trying to incentivize him to take on a role he doesn't want? That's not going to work. He's going to take the big payout, won't be motivated to breath new life into the position, and will be out of there again in under 2 years. Then they will be moving assets around to pay the next person. I almost wonder if this is part of some sort of inside deal.
And here we thought that just maybe they could do the right thing. When Nintendo faced financial hardship during 2013/14/15, Satoru Iwata decided to cut his salary by half because he didn’t want to lay off staff or cut costs. It’s nice to see the Triple A industry is still using him as an inspiration in their own hardships...
Those guys were responsible and in the same position, this is a new hire to the position with benefits and incentives to match what they feel the potential success is. You're an idiot.
Nintendo was lucky to have an actual gamer as a CEO. Iwata was passionate about Nintendo and even more so about gaming in general. Cutting his own salary to make sure nobody needs to be fired AND using his spare time to work on the first Super Smash Bros. AND coming up with a new compression method to force the Kanto region onto the Gold/Silver/Crystal Pokémon games... what a legend.
@assassins creed pug edition Died of cancer in 2015, man : ( last he did was apologize over a backlash regarding some disappointing game announcement at that time. showed up only as a muppet in E3 that year cuz he was so ill. and never saw the success of Splatoon. RIP, Iwata-san (T_T
@Paul Stewart its not about my money. I have more than i need. But to a dev, to a father of two children, who also struggled maybe with the Christmaspresents and bills, to hear that a CFO gets 15 Million dollar in value as a starting gift... Their feeling must be horrible. No one is bitching here expect you, but give empathy were empathy is due.
@@KonohasEdge empathy is due where it is due but take into consideration the time and place, being all whiny in a TH-cam comment section like this is unnecessary
@@bluecollarcommentator7772 this has nothing to do with beeing whiny. Call out what needs to be called out. This money could have given many people a possibility to live. To him its just something to jerk off. Think about how many people in the idiot country that is the usa are heavily in debt because their Gouverment spits on them, especially in medical Healthcare. But no giving it to someone who has more than enough is the right choise. If one cant stand up in youtube, something that is the most easy thing to do since its anonymous on the internet and proclaim and defend his opinion in a good and civilized manner, than one cant raise his opinion elsewhere
Stop canonising the man, it's pretty common in Japan for the CEOs to cut their own pay if the company is performing badly. I agree it's a class act, but in no way unique to Nintendo.
@chunkycake101 you are right man i just wanted to inject some positivity but you need only to look at politicians to undrstand how big greed can be. Without reason too because they are already rich... (I don't know where are you from but I guess politics doesn't differ in most countries unfortunately.)
Another great piece of journalism, Yong. I've become a huge fan over the past few weeks, and have gotten caught up on your impressive library. Your channel covers the multifaceted gaming industry incredibly well, from it's corporate and financial mechanics of a global scale right down to an individual's joy of a simple unboxing. I've particularly enjoyed your research and analysis of all things related to the genius of Mr. Kojima and Death Stranding. Thank you for providing an unbiased source of information, for your professional scripting and presentation, and for sharing your passion for gaming.
There is no amount of good in this world that could ever make up for the tsunami of suffering and intentional evil. To choose to live is to choose ignorance and suffering.
Here we see Activision in their natural habitat. Take a look as this company fights to survive the money drought by cutting costs. A valid option, but one that requires precision and restraint. Now we observe the company trying to lure consumers with their games especifically made to attract players with promises of fun and replayability, only, it contains an abnormal ammount of microtransactions to drain the most money from their prey before discarting them. Oh, look, it managed to grab a few players. But the market is a dangerous territory, and the loss of one player can cause a huge uproar with the rest of the herd. Oh no! A huge herd of players are charging towards the company with videos and threads in hand. The company must hurry back to its HQ where it can recover from the financial loss and attempt another game. But it seems that the investors, its main supports in this competitive ecosystem, are not happy with the performance and are now leaving and selling their stocks. It seems it will be a harsh winter for Activsion. *Rolls Credits*
Activision might die out but those in charge and the shareholders are going to just jump ship to the next big gaming publisher or other media entertainment like Netflix for example.
@@psychotictrait3757 You're likely right, but it is possible, no matter how unlikely, that Activision could sale Blizzard to someone else that wants to old Blizzard back. However at that point it might be too little, too late.
davekaza Activision will never sale Blizzard. You realize how much money they made off of Diablo 3, Overwatch, & Starcraft? Mergers are much harder to separate, I don’t know how hard in a legal sort of sense, but I know it isn’t as simple as some company buying a studio (acquisition)
The part of this story that got missed, and really troubles me, is that upon taking the position the new CFO told Blizzard to cut expenses. We just heard about Blizzard being told to cut expenses under the old CFO and as a result, Heroes of the Storm got sent to the chopping block. What this tells me is that the new CFO's bonuses are tied into expenditure goals. Much of the shortcomings surrounding BFA are due to cost cutting measures as it is and now we are going to see even less money given to fix problems that arose from not having enough time and money allocated to them from the start. We all know that the new CFO isn't going to leave $15 million sitting on the table so these cost cutting goals will be met. This is how large corporations self cannibalize. By this time next year, when the CFO is counting his money, Blizzard will be in a worse situation than it is this year. Activision will be forced to give it a go with another round of cost cuts and see if that can put the profit margins within their acceptable limits (And it won't) or Activision will just move Blizzard onto mobile IP's and have them abandon everything that made Blizzard great. All projects have a critical mass to where they can no longer function in a profitable state. What I mean by this is that there is a minimum amount of money, time, and marketing that goes into making a game successful, and therefore profitable. WOW has fallen below this point already, and we can see the results. With the upcoming cost cutting measures being implemented by the new CFO we have to worry about WOW Classic being shipped out in a poor state and the future development of the Diablo franchise which is already struggling internally with it's next PC project. I hate to say it, but by this time next year (Unless WOW Classic saves the day and boosts subs by a few million players) I really don't see a future for Blizzard entertainment that doesn't involve strictly mobile game development of their intellectual properties.
These guys need to trim the fat from the top, not the bottom. And i think a lot of these companies should buy themselves out from under the investors clutches. If they had no one to answer to, then they'd have more freedom to operate how they want. A big problem I see is they continually keep asking for bigger and bigger investments to fund their projects, which is detrimental in the long term as they have to pay all that back. Similar to amassing huge loans or credit card debt. They should be funded by the profits from releasing a successful product, not from the investors lining their pockets.
@@BattleBladeWarrior but what really grinds my gears is that the developers and employees KNOW they're getting fucked by these pompous arrogant pricks, yet continue slaving away and ruining their rep for these clowns, instead of protesting and going on strike.
SirCreepsAlott The biggest problem with Destiny was Time. Time is what Activision offered and that ultimately screwed over bungie forcing them to scramble and fumble around which in turn caused a myriad of mistakes that manifested in many different ways.
We will just have to wait and see with the Bungie leaving Activision situation. This is the best opportunity they will ever get to regain trust from their fans, lets hope they take advantage of it. But even if they don't, Warframe is better anyway. And theres probably a 4% chance that EA won't ruin Anthem.
@@raijin2950 They will not, they also stated that making new content is hard, yet you have games like Warframe where devs output so much unique content, no reskins. Sadly EA has been using youtubers are publicity to brainwash people into thinking the game is good. You gotta wait like a month or so until someone makes a review after the first patch now, there is a stupid tactic now that they make a decent game without mtx or anything bad, later to patch the game with them.
@@iktanmiztonton3477 Digital Extreme took almost a fucking year to deliver the last content while giving next to nothing but skins and two poor excuses for "end game" that were not even a re-skin but plain re use of the same exact assets that already existed so you're lying.
Actually, if the CFO does a good job, he gets richer and so do the others. Capitalism is the rich get richer and the poor get richer, you're just a fool.
@@Archetype77 Not even close. All those employees at the bottom who are being fired/paid off are the poor, and they aren't getting richer by being made jobless. Know who is getting richer though? The guy who made enough to fund nearly the entire production of a game out of his pocket just by accepting a job. Capitalism is the rich getting richer off of the work of the poor, while never giving the poor a single penny over what the law forces them too. The poor very rarely get any richer just because the person they work for does.
Yeah but Bungie and the Destiny community took a beating for years because of them. I really am looking forward to D3 and seeing kinderguardians at the tower when Bungie gets to make the game they want (please....for the love of god.....be good at release) and screaming about how they don't know about The Dark Below or D2Y1. THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE DARK TIMES!
@@CrownOfThorns13 Corporate greed facilitates that. Lol That's how communism is: those at the top convince the people (whom they don't actually care about) that they have it good while hoarding all the money for themselves while the nation crumbles. Nothing different going on here, except instead of starving us, they feed us poison. They're upping the ante through deception, par for the course.
Clearly, egregious microtransactions are an absolute necessity because game publishers don't have money to burn and games are too expensive to make...
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Its like the bailout all over again lol
It's called a signing bonus. It is a perfectly normal thing and occurs whenever someone signs a long term corporate contract.
I think they were talking about free to play games made by Indi companies not ativison and greedy companies that gust want to fill there pockets
You can buy 15million red dots with that kind of money.
That was genuinely the first thing that came to my mind when I read the fucking title of the video holy shit
Bazinga
ARC-77 Fordo 30,000,000
@@maxb5063 they probably get a discount since they work there. so half price ? that's 30 million red dots.
You can buy 250,000 copies of BLOPS4 with that kind of money
*Then the CFO leaves not too long after, getting paid $30 million and saying how he wasn't paid enough for his time in Activision*
Itll never be enough for them. Grasping at straws just to get more.
What can he say he needed that money for his big iron
Bungie will pick him up afterwards 😂😂😂😂
Now that either says a lot about him or VERY little about Activision
TheForgery big iron on his hip
"On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." Satoru Iwata (December 6, 1959 - July 11, 2015), former president of Nintendo
They don't make them like him anymore. I feel sad now.
After him everything went to shit....
God damn this is sad, what has happened?
It's always the good ones that go and the assholes that stay
Here lies the difference between Satoru Iwata and Bobby Kotick. Iwata was a game developer and worked his way up the corporate ladder. He proved he was an effective leader because he understood both sides of the game industry, business and actual game development. Long after he was a developer he still assisted in programming games even after he was named as CEO of Nintendo.
RIP
RIP
He also took a massive pay cut when Nintendo was struggling from 2009 to 2012 and even got some of the other executives to do the same so they could lessen the impact on the employees pay checks during that time.
@@MegaRazorback True, because he knew what it was like to be in the trenches. Not to mention they did not want to lose their big game development talent to other studios. I feel like Gunpei Yokoi was probably the only developer that left Nintendo and went on to do other things. If he had lived I am sure his hand held wonder swan would have been a huge competitor for Nintendo's gameboy.
Iwata was an absolutely incredible man. This is an indisputable fact.
Tomorrow’s news:
“Activision burns down multiple studios for insurance money.”
"It's not illegal if you don't get caught!"
"Activision spikes employees' food with cyanide to collect life insurance money."
Only if the loot box they open contains the legendary matches... Fingers crossed :)
"Activision crashes Employees cars into each other to collect car insurance money"
Ah, the Al Capone Business plan.
Activision:
“Wow, we made hundreds of millions on this game. We should reinvest most of this for future development”
Also Activision:
*stuffs millions into their own pockets*
And they wonder why they are doing so poorly.
it didn't used to be what capitalism looked like, really.
before neoliberals got into power, even conservatives would indeed reinvest much of their profits back into a company, or into general infrastructure that made things easier for new companies to operate.
now?
most profits go into someone's personal pocket (read: offshore tax free account), and actual investment is left to starve.
this is why the recovery after 2008 was soo slow. federal banks shoved a ton of money into the system, which for over 100 years worked to stem recession because most of it would be invested into new businesses, both large and small.
this time? most of it was simply pocketed.
it's not capitalism that is destroying us. it's pure narcissistic greed, and NO economic system can support that.
guess they are not doing poorly enough if they can make such huge welcoming packages for ONE single person while their biggest Studios are downsizing. RIP Blizzard with Mikes departure in April :(
We need Activison to do even more poorly. Of course they will take it out on their employes and jump ship those fat rats, but other Videogame Companies have crashed and burned to death before.
No one is immortal
They aren't really stuffing millions into their own pockets by hiring and paying for a better qualified CFO. Actually, literally that's an investment.
ORO323 Activision : Who cares about being investigated by your own shareholders ?! *ends hots, announces mobile games to pc players, loses 40$ on its stock price, loses both its cfos*.... *stuffs millions in the pockets of the guy who used to be cfo in 2017 "
@slothkingn1 mmhm i agree look at luxottica
Whenever something like this happens I like to bring up one particular name:
*Saturo Iwata* (may he rest in peace), who, when Nintendo struggled between 2009 and 2012, took his ~10 Mil. $ salary *and cut it in half* voluntarily, all the while encouraging his fellow executives to do the same in order to make sure his workes would suffer no or minimal impact.
Wish we had more like him.
That is japanese culture for you, your reputation is always the number one priority
Eh he was a gamer and had passion for his work, no wonder everybody loved him, we need more executives like Iwata
bless him, may he rest in peace
This also creates an atmosphere for success. If the execs make more money when their company succeeds; they're more likely to do things that help their company succeed instead of bleeding it dry.
This is exactly what caused the first game crash!
@Alvare Gomez in like 80s with old consoles and shit
@Alvare Gomez en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_crash_of_1983
@Alvare Gomez Atari age, the market got flooded with watered down games from companies trying to make a quick buck by tricking customers into buying shitty products. Millions disappeared from the companies and most closed down. Nintendo revived the market in 85, now history is repeating.
@Agent 005 Agreed, I have seen this coming for this for a long time, I am not as prepared as I should be, hopefully something changes soon.
There won't be a market crash like one in 1983, because the market landscape is totally different. Also the crash only happened in the States where Atari was on top. At most there will be some trimming among AAA game publishers, but not anywhere near the total wipeout of the market centered around just one company.
The fact that a guy who probably never played a video game in his entire life, is making financial decisions and analysis for a gaming company is just absurd.
All those cooperate suits are just a waste of life.
Sigh I wish more executives were more like the late Satoru Iwata. He grew up playing video games and was extremely passionate about the games and his employees.
RPGaming ig people who don’t play games could say you’re a waste of life also cause you’re just a dollar sign to them right. Chill out
Yea, Reggie at Nintendo should be fired because he doesn't play Smash and is bad at it. He can't run a company if he can't play Smash, you need those skills, you have to be proficient at the products your company makes if you're doing business work!
Archetype77 lmao
The entire industry has lost value stock-wise. It doesn't matter if it's EA, Activision, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, CD Projekt RED or Nintendo - all of them have felt the downward trend in the past months and years. Some lost a huge percentage, others lost less; but all of them did lose value.
They should have payed him in loot boxes...
tominatorxx no red dots
Sooooo that is what 15 million red dots in COD??..........
@@AC-pw2xv That would have been another valid option.
Nintendo = President publicly apologizes for big time flop, cuts his salary to avoid firing people, single-handledy rescues company revenue
Literally Everyone else = Says development of games is costly, has deals with junk food companies, overwork their developers, force them to implement mxts at the risk of crunching, losing jobs and studio merging.
wait did that really happen with nintendo
@@ruifigueiredo5486 Yup it happened twice. First, when the 3ds was not selling well during it's first few months, then again when the wii u flopped hard.
Is studio merging actually bad?
You forgot "gives self massive bonuses while firing people that do the fakin' work!"
Yes, but from what has been said before, lots of Japanese companies do this on the regular. It's not just a Nintendo thing. However, given that they *are* a Japanese game development company, I wouldn't be surprised if they're overworking their employees too. Let's not overlook Nintendo Switch Online either.
Did they gave him a red dot with that tho?
"We'll give you 14,999,999$ bonus and a red dot on top."
No bro that ll be 1 dollar...
Oh lad, do you think the executives actually play their companies games?
No just a days profit from loot boxes
And a butt plug for free
*Activision announces Diablo immortal*
Wow really go wrong
*Activision dismisses employees to reduce costs.*
They are really falling apart
*Bungie abandons Activision*
HOLLY SHI- THEY LOST A LUNG
a kidney too
@@sparkz6381 No that happened after the started drinking accessibly after all the shit they're going through.
Now they need to lose the other lung so they can finally die off...
yep activision is falling hard and our money is making them lose business and that is really great that theyre losing business cause alot of people are quitting the company really fast
*$15 million bribe*
They apparently had insurance on that lung.
I think the higher ups know activision is going down the drain so they are just milking the shit out of it and other business it has under its belt before it goes under.
Hence why they are being investigated.
Money laundering 101
Get in, get rich, get out.
yep blizzard will be sacrificed into a mobile platform gaming company before tanking entirely
As they should lol fuck it at this point.
Execs cost too much to make.
to "mantain"
"We have no money, now excuse me while our CEO gets $15m (that we don't have) for no reason"
Welcome to capitalism 101. Don't expect this ever to change unless people literally go to prison for what is clearly theft.
Cfo
Well, for contracted rewards if I understand it. This is why if corporation does not have proper checks and balances, people will kill the golden goose for their own share of the golden eggs.
But making a game is too expensive *gives $15,000,000 to CEO
@@BrunoAnton ffs corruption doesnt have anything to do wtih capitalism, its called unchecked greed. capitalism is what keeps companies like cd project red and obsidian in business and successful because they supply a good product and make money off it. If you inject greed in literally anything it will be a detriment. capitalism is literally what made the games industry a thing. capitalism isnt the problem, its human corruption.
Man, 15mil for doing literally nothing. I sure wish _I_ could be a shitty game publisher.
"literally nothing" No, He had to get out of bed
CFOs have alot of work and responsibilities I'm sure your comment is just bs
@@normaaliihminen722 it's a lot of delegating jobs down to the people lower in your branch. He does nearly nothing
@@normaaliihminen722 Like what? Push papers and do meetings? Boss people around? I can do that job. It's like those douche bags that get all the women, despite not earning it, yet claiming to "work so hard" for it. Chad earned his 6.2ft and square jaw? More like inherited it.
@@normaaliihminen722 Do not waste your time trying to convince these guys that a person in any sort of management works. A lot of people like to sit and bitch about their boss or say stupid shit like "I could do their job, they don't do anything other than sit in an office and boss people around". I wish being responsible for everyone and everything's fuck ups was just "sitting in an office and bossing people around." The truth is that if you put one of them in charge of shitty gas station, let alone a multi million dollar corporation, and it will go under in the blink of an eye.
Lol the development budget for Witcher 3 was $30 million
1 game development cost vs the salary of a CFO of a multi billon company that owns multiple studios and franchises.
$30 million dollars goes a lot farther in Poland than it does Los Angeles...
@@alphaclam - Which is why I think some studios should move here ;)
Diegoshadow Exactly
@SmashStomp Inc hey! They have multiple projects © in work actually!
Yong: Speaking of morales and leadership qualities of Nintendo's CEO.
Activision and EA: How much does that cost and is it profitable?
Nintendo CEOs took a cut while staying in the same position, bringing in new employees who make massive decisions that dictate profits for the company when the company is in a dire spot, that always brings good incentives. You are ignorant and angry.
@@Archetype77 You didn't get his comment. He is making a joke comparing what Yong values in leadership (morality) vs what Activision and EA value (profits). It has nothing about him being ignorant and angry.
@@Archetype77 and your a corporate shill.
@Archetype77 Wow... Just wow. IB4 you delete your post. XD
@@Archetype77 I am 99.995% convinced you are an undercover Activision CEO trying to douse the fire during your free time, because I can't believe you are fine with the state the company is at rn
You know, I remember Jim sterling once saying something along the lines of if developers need to cut costs, lets start at the top. Sounds like a good plan to me.
Rational Fucking Thinking, Son
like their heads?
R.I.P. Iwata, you were too good for this world and this industry. o7
Well Sterling also did say that the objective of the corporate brass is to earn ALL THE MONEY IN THE UNIVERSE! They're basically braindead dragons building a stash for no real purpose.
Thank God for Jim Sterling!
There is nothing a CFO could possibly do that would justify a $15 million paycheck.
Also, I like how QA is often viewed as a "non-essential" area by executives, and then they wonder why their buggy games don't score and sell well and come up with bullshit reason like "people don't want single player games anymore".
QA, hated by all execs and a "waste" of money. Executives, QA is what keeps the application from being a pile of fecal matter.
Being responsible for a multi billon company finances isnt worth 15 millons? A good CFO could potentially save the company from losing hundreds of millons on the long run.
He isnt paid for what he "does" but for what he is responsible.
@@chettonex
Which responsibility? With all those golden parachutes as I read another comment?
They don't get hold responsible for anything!
@@chettonex And a surgeon is paid to save lives and fix the broken bits of people while working crazy hours with crazy conditions, and none of them get a $15 million "sweetener" package when they join a hospital on top of a $900,000 a year salary with the chance of a $1.35 million bonus at the end of the year! This guy is looking at getting $17.25 million after the company apparently had a bad year and everyone else under the Activision Umbrella is being wrung out like a wet towel for every extra penny, and he gets this "sweetener" for changing the little sign on his door from CCO BACK to CFO. That's it. He's an über-glorified accountant, nothing more.
Money is going to all the wrong people and being hoarded by them while the rest of us are struggling to cover the basics, and to the very poorest these executive fucks screw up their nose and ask why they don't try pulling themselves up by the fucking bootstraps (a saying which, when you actually stop to think about it, is fucking stupid for how often it's used!)
@Nintendo Station, you’re mistaking disgust for jealousy. People want wealthy executives who already have more money than they’ll ever need to take a slight pay cut so developers can have the means to create better products and live more comfortably. No one in this comment section is asking for a handout.
Expensive games and costs cutting my arse.
Edit: The Nintendo part is something to respect.
How the hell are people still buying anything coming from Activision?
Ignorance isn't bliss.
I no longer support Bethesda, Activision or Blizzard. (never supported EA to begin with)
As such, I will no longer purchase any more of their products.
I'm sure more feel the same way, not like it's a big deal anyways, with piracy.
@Leviticus_805 exactly
Blizzard games used to be great, until Activision infected them like a cancer. There are a lot of people still loyal to the old Blizzard, not realizing that the old Blizzard is gone.
@@OmegaBoost1 is*
"EA's the worst game company in the world? Not for long, they're not!" - Activision
Like the saying goes, no publicity is bad publicity to some people.
Hold my beer- Bethesda
@@nocomprendo1409 Dark rum*
All tripple A game publishers are like this. ALL OF THEM.
Why not? EA has enough to bribe them into that!
I bet that CEO has one hell of a kickass phone.
All the better to sit with on his golden toilet. :P
Laminated in ivory from actual African children teeth he picked up last time he went safari hunting.
@OreillyORLY it can run Diablo Immortal
"but muh game is expensive to make"
@Agent 005 Poor Bobby! His peers have 50 yahts. What a pleasure it! 😜
Its not about money, its about THEIR money
"with _Friends_ like these, who needs Communist propaganda?" -Capitalism in 2019
just google video game budgets, you'll have your answers..
they cost as much as blockbuster movies.
Gam3B0y and they make billions while the game cost a couple hundred million . Sorry but learn something then come back and talk with the adults .
I’ve attended events where high up executives went to network with each other. Trust me when i say that they all have each other’s backs, they’re only interested in making each other richer. The level of ego stroking was off the charts these type of people really do believe they’re above the average joe. I remember one such exec almost had a temper tantrum bc the venue ran out of seats and he didn’t wanna sit on the floor.
I will hold onto this, okay?
There was also a questionnaire at hearthstone asking players if canceling hearthstone tournaments would affect the amount of time they devote to the game...
Remember how the old CEO of Nintendo Japan, Satoru Iwata, took a pay cut because of the Wii U console? Now look at Activision Blizzard where they give themselves big paychecks but cut off their employees and their projects.
Lol, this got mentioned in the video.
Its because is true, Iwata cared, was a gamer, wanted to inovate
EA/Activision CEO dont care, we are the herd, the consumer, the idiot paying for red dots and horse armor, cut content...all in yearly relases, why should they care? They arent people they are above us they in their minds, we serve them, Iwata served us
That's mainly because of the japanese mindset. Iwata was responsible for the WiiU, not his employees. So he took the punishment, not his employees. Japanese (specially old people) have a mentality like this
@@MaxinRudy You do see this in businesses in the Western world too. A good example are family run businesses or even some companies where the employees also have shares in the company. But you still have companies that make these decisions to keep the company afloat a keep their employees.
I don't own a console atm but I'm so sick of micro transactions these days I'll just pick up a Nintendo switch and play Mario kart and super smash bros instead
He did it because of the 3DS selling very poor when it launched, not because of the WiiU failing overall
Activision, one day your time will come to die and you'll be right next to EA
the EA time to pay will indeed come too
One day, perhaps. But not this year, despite projections and expectations.
People have been saying that about EA since 2004. Yet they are more successful than ever.
Keep dreaming. Big business thrives because consumers have no integrity of their own and will spend money on pointless crap with no self control.
Activision won't just die, they may get crucified at this rate.
I hste the fact blizzard entertainment and king are getting dragged down with activision blizzard; so glad destiny left their hands in time, they escaped just before the ship crashed.
I remember a blizzard before activision bought them and changed their parent name to "activision blizzard" ; they made games, good games. Games so great everyone knows their games, just look at diablo, warcraft 3, wow wotlk and starcraft.
Then activision came along and dragged them down.
What’s infuriating is that the people who are *really* making the anti-consumer decisions at these big corporations aren’t the devs or community managers. They aren’t people you’ll find on Twitter or forums talking about their games. Those are just the people these executives throw to the wolves to face the brunt of the backlash. It’s shareholders and executives that are running things. Those are the people gamers should be outraged at.
Yes, this is a problem that extends far beyond the gaming industry.
"Game development costs much more now..." yet these CEO suits have salaries that rival superstar athletes (NBA, NFL, Tennis, Soccer), while the folks doing the real hard work get the bare minimum. Save for the air conditioned room and CPUs to make games, that's almost no different from a "sweatshop" filled with illegal immigrant labor.
This is totally illogical. The reality is that a superstar athelete or CEO generate more revenue than a low-level computer programmer, who might be a small part of the profit chain every three to four years. People at the bottom are replaceable, people at the top are not. You wouldn't have the integrity to fire people in order to ensure the future success of a business, which is exactly why this person gets paid so much and you do not.
@@alphaclam yet if all the developers would be fired the company would go under almost immediately. the guys at the top are important sure, but there's also a reason why there's many more developers on staff
AlphaClam “Not replaceable”, literal video about CFO being replaced
Lmao those CEO's do almost nothing. The further up the ladder you go the more you make and the less work you do.
AlphaClam yea you’re a dumbass . Smdh
How to fix this terrible industry for 2019:
1) Never buy anything from Activision, EA, Konami, Ubisoft, nor Warner Bros (if there is any other publisher you don’t like, add them to this list). Any game from them now will have ruined potential and will always be badly designed on purpose to sell microtransactions, lootboxes, and cheat codes. Create the stigma that anything with these publisher’s name on it is a lesser product because it’s true. If you absolutely NEED to have one of their games but still want to get it legally, wait about a year until the game is on sale with included DLC or (preferably) buy a used copy.
2) Never pre-order any game. Waiting until the game comes out to give them money will force them to make sure it’s a functioning, bug-free (as possible), complete game.
3) Wait until said publishers are downscaled/bankrupt from lack of sales. Even if they change their ways after suffering financial struggles, they’ll just go back to their current agenda once they’re back on top again. Let them burn in bankruptcy. They never cared about you. Don’t give them the satisfaction.
4) Wait until they’re forced to sell IPs and franchises to better publishers in order to cut costs from going under. Developers let go from this should also be given employment opportunities from said publishers. This is, unfortunately, the only drawback to this plan as there’s no telling what will happen to said franchises and developers.
5) Support indie creators and lesser known studios who might not be creating the most visually impressive games but clearly have passion for the product they put on shelves rather than creating games for the sake of earning money.
6) Spread. This. Message. Feel free to copy/paste this comment anywhere it’s relevant! Anyone who says “this won’t work” is doing EXACTLY what these publishers want. The moment you give up and think uniting against exploitative and terrible business practices is fruitless is the moment you lose. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. This has worked before and it will work again.
Add Bethesda too
i like this idea but i do kinda like ubisoft..i dont think their all that bad of a company. sure they have in game stuff you can buy but hey at least its not as bad as EA and Activision
@@prashanthb4565 Nope. Bethesda messed up with fallout 76, which was a pretty big fuk up, however I still have faith that they will learn from there mistakes. If they make TES 6, Ill definately buy it. HOWEVER, if they manage the screw up that game too, boycott time starts
KittCat did u mean bugisoft
If we do this, many people might lost their job.....
War,War never change
Who make a game company succeed - Game developers
Who reap the most profit - Those who don't make the game at all
Who suffers the most - devs and players
Who is going to die soon - those execs
Those execs can probably afford to bribe death to look elsewhere. Which may explain why they're so greedy (it's a steep bribe).
Tbh the devs put themselves in this shit situation too often. Theres plenty of indie companies surviving with just steam fine enough
Isn’t there a Japanese airline company whose CEO is paid a decent wage (nothing over the top), rides a bike to work, and lives pretty humbly? As far as leadership and role models go, I can respect that a lot more. I get the whole capitalism thing, but this pay hierarchy and corporate/investor relationship is so often bad for both consumers and smaller dev employees.
RedBeard
Nothing has changed from the past. Kings are still kings, peasants are still peasants.
The “corporate personhood” and “inverted totalitarianism” didn’t destroy capitalism, it’s the inevitable result of it.
It a joke, do the maths and divide their pay to others.
Also Uruguays ex president gave 90% of his salary to poor and lived in a house without electricity and drove old car.
@@DisemboweII yep, disgusting.
Ever notice how most of these companies engaging in anti-consumer and other shady financial practices are also companies whose ownership is traded publicly? It's no coincidence. Ownership affects a business's incentives, priorities and the business model it adopts. It shifts the business model away from long-run growth, innovation and design toward a short-run profit maximization model. It prioritizes shareholder value over consumer demand. And it incentivizes the foregoing of talented developers, writers and artists in exchange for talented executives, financial engineers and other corporate bureaucrats.
In short-- goodbye, gamers; hello, Wallstreet.
It's no coincidence at all. Just Capitalism working as intended.
What's even sadder, is that when another solution is offered it is immediately shut down for no good reason. Society actively fights to keep themselves trapped in a system that does not benefit them because the alternatives are unknown and scary (because the Capitalists said so). Seems a lot like Stockholm Syndrome to me...
Capitalism is what has gotten us to this point, where you can even devote time to worry about something frivolous like entertainment. The poor of today live better than the kings and billionaires of the past. Don't blame the obvious mismanagement of companies like Bethesda and EA on capitalism, because such is the same system that will swallow them whole incase they don't learn how to treat their source of income (their costumers) better.
@@GonePh1shing This is exactly correct. In our modern society, there are *many* ways we could better ourselves but like you said, they're unknown and the corporate elites like it that way. In fact, they rely on our fear and complacency to keep themselves where they are. I'm not allowed to give any specific details, but my brother and I worked on a local community initiative several years back that would have benefited many, many people. Unfortunately, a handful of wealthy companies blocked our formal plans (presented to the city council) because they were profiting from the current status quo. They threw a TON of money into lawyers to paint a picture that, in the end, kept them doing what they had been doing all along. It still makes me want to throw up in absolute disgust.
@Dave It's sad but money talks.
@@primosdesegundograu1204 the same can be said of Slavery, and then Feudalism. But, we moved past those systems, and we will also similarly move beyond Capitalism. It's true, capitalism sky-rocketed society to the point we're at now, but we're also now beyond the point where it is holding society back from developing further.
These companies are not being 'mismanaged'. They are simply being run to the rules of the system, and the system demands wealth above all else. If you feel they are being mismanaged you must ask yourself why that is, and if the answer is that these companies care only about profit then you've just proven yourself wrong.
I'm sure that guy writes 15 Million more lines of code, with 15 Million times better quality, per month than everyone else... oh wait....
You're ignorant. He received incentives, not cash, to improve the company for millions and millions of dollars, that's why he got paid. If he does good work, everyone, including himself, gets wealthier.
@@Archetype77 HAHAHAHA of wow. The true ignorant one here is you. The pure unironic thing you just said proves you actually believe in "wealth trickles down". What next? You gonna open your ignorant mouth and say that the earth is flat?
Exactly. These executives are completely expendable. They can be replaced with just about *anyone* without it negatively affecting the quality of their products. In fact, it would be better to pay someone a normal $250k with no bonuses and instead re-invest the $15 million given to 1 man into current and future projects. There's thousands of people that can do this guy's 'job' for considerably less. I can't guarantee they have the same connections, though, which is what this game of thrones seems to be all about.
@@RyuzakiReaper Well... he's not wrong. The guy got 15mil in stock options, which will be worthless if he doesn't turn the company around, potentially worth significantly less than 15mil, and they can't be sold until after a certain amount of time has passed.
And if you're working for a company making hundreds of millions to billions of dollars off your leadership, it is only fair to expect a proportionate slice... just playing devils advocate here. A lot of people don't actually understand the world of CEO's and big business execs, they just hear 15mil and see red.
@@Archetype77 But what is that "good" work? Making better games for long term growth or making as much profit as possible?
There is a reason I refuse to buy games from EA and Activision even if they look mildly interesting. I care alot about the game industry and I can't stand to see these practices put in place. Iwata was a man among men and as you said a true leader.
All what those gaming companies do these days is sit around in meetings with dildos shoved up their butt crack.. Discussing more ways to scam money from their consumers... They should ALL be ashamed of themselves.
What about kingdom hearts?
Sadly you are one of the few people who reflect before buying new products. Most consumers are mindless zombies which is why this industry is going down the shitter.
@@Rebel3000 Kingdom Hearts is from Square Enix
i agree with your post. If EA or Activision are involved, they won't get my money.
Unfortunately we are the extreme minority, so nothing will change.
All you can do as an individual is decide which developer you wish to support.
Also notice how few upvotes your post received in comparison to all these other "complaint" posts.
Just proves a lot of these "angry comments" are still handing their money over to these developers they hate on...
Not a single penny from me
$15 million and he can't even afford decent eyebrows
Say it with me now: "Video games are not too expensive to make. It's the executives that cost too much."
@Deez Nutz so avengers infinity war cost just as much and a ticket price (even IMAX) is about 20 bucks. We are paying 60 bucks at the minimum only to have to pay even more through microtransactions.
Deez Nutz costs that much and doesn’t have that much content? Not sure what they were going for
@Deez Nutz it is, cuz it made billions in profits for executives while dev's are overworked and making shit
@Deez Nutz ...Yes, yes that's pocket change to Rockstar.
@Deez Nutz If you want to make an example, perhaps don't make an ass out of yourself by spouting BS and going for a company that is sort of infamous for expensive titles. (which they recoup in hours)
Activision trimmed Blizzard's Quality Assurance? Well folks, looks like all games from blizzard are gonna be as glitchy and buggy as 76 from now on.
Played WoW lately? Six months after its latest expansion release and there's still bugs and glitches people were flagging in the beta.
Well, not like it blew up in Bethesda's face, wasting all the PR and goodwill of a decade. I mean, consumers aren't more and more active in online forums to spread information and pressure companies. Bugs aren't even bugs anymore, I am sure of it! /s
Y'all are spelling "features" funny.
Why does the new CEO look like the vault-tec representative from fallout 4?
Because he is wearing the same style of suit, and has that "You can trust me" bullshit grin
He's gonna stop you right there.
He's a ghoul actually
I honestly didn't think that was a real person when I first saw the picture
It looked like some character in a detailed story game
looks like a discount LA Noire
Nintendo is literally the only publisher I’ve ever heard of executives taking paycuts to help get through tough timed
that didnt take the pay cuts to help the company save money, it was a self-imposed punishment for failing at their jobs. Nintendo was more wealthy than all of Sony for the entire life cycle of the Wii U a massive failure. Think about dwarfing PlayStation's parent company during a down period.
Reminds me of when we had companies that were "too big to fail" being handed massive government handouts, and we later found out that the executives of these companies were giving themselves massive bonuses from these handouts. I'm talking millions upon millions of dollars. "Congratulations Bob, we've been given free money so our business won't go under, because we're not good enough at our jobs to do that on our own! How does a 20 million dollar bonus sound?"
@Manannan anam How? Ah yes when "Leftists" aren't really leftist (except on gender/sexuality issues) and have the same policies as the right and the entire spectrum of the political consensus has fled to somewhere near Ghengis Khan in the last 30 years on the economy and welfare state. Your house has trebled in value, be quiet and vote for me. EA is just a symptom of the general malaise. This shit is what happened when the war generation got too old and their spoilt kids got in. And it's back to the pre-war society, but with gays.
Execs from Sony and Square Enix have taken self-imposed pay-cuts in the past. I'm sure you can find dozens of examples of this in Japan. Their Business culture is quite different than the festering shit pile that the western world promotes.
Whats the big deal with $15M salary? Cant someone do this job with 300k salary? Is the job that hard?
Apparently they felt he's worth that and has the potential to generate much more for the company with financial work.
No one capable of managing billions in sales will take a CFO job for 300k.
@@AlteraLin thats BS... I am sure there are many people capable of doing this job who r willing to do it for 300k. Whats so tough ? Its just a company and there are companies all around the world
@@otakusenpai3737 What a stupid comment. I guess you think professors at Harvard cost the same to hire as those found at a city community college? I mean there are colleges "all around the world", right?
It's not a hard job at all.
Cut Cut Costs
Came to post this
He meant to emphasize that the costs are being cut, surely xD
@@cvf4ever They're cutting costs on cutting costs, that's how I read it
@@nodiamond2877 rip its gone
Cutception
"we don't make enough money" they said while they sit on their dragon hoard pile of treasures
or swimming in their Scrooge McDuck piles of golden coins.
while vigorously rubbing hands together with glee, the kinetic force of which could warm up an entire city block
i know I'm still "new to the industry", and thus I "know nothing about how it really works"...
But holy shit. You could fund a AAA game with that bonus alone.
How the hell can a company say "We need to cut costs and downscale our staff and implement super shady and predatory mictrotransactions, and push out games as fast as possible! It's the only way we can afford to make games! It's so expensive!" with a straight face only to then go "Oh, we're hiring a new Chief Financial Officer? Here's 15 million!" or "Our Ceo makes almost 30 mil a year"?!
Sadly, this has been going on for YEARS across multiple industries.
@@dashcamandy2242 Yup. Our runaway corporatized system is the bane of society right now. :s
Capitalism apologists with their "LiTeRaLLy CoMmUnIsM" bullshit inc.
They probably did so because they know that any sensible CFO would look at their current financial state and abandon ship immediately, so they gave him a "sweetener" so that he doesn't leave and make Activision look bad for the investors. That's my take on it.
Looking at the insane amount they gave him just to keep him on board, they must be in a really bad state.
look at what EA offered to Soderlund ($20 million bonus) to keep him from leaving in 2017. These companies have no problem spending money
Makes you wonder who they think their fooling... Them... Or us?
That was my take on this too. It's no secret that Activision is in a horrible spot right now, it seems like an incentive for someone to even take the job.
It's likely this was contractual.
But virtue signaling babies will act like he stole the money right out of the employees pockets. 🙄
@@blackmormon3555 There's virtue signaling, and then there's having basic sense & morals.
That kind of greedy avarice can be said for any corporate giant not just in the games industry. One of CEO’s of the world that I have respect for is the ceo of Toyota in Japan. He takes the bus and train to work everyday. Works for a salary that is just slightly higher than the rest of his workers and he also has a desk on the same floor as his office staff and in the same room. He doesn’t have this fancy huge room on the top floor with the best view no he works with his fellow co workers in the same room. That is what I call humble and I would work for a guy like that in a heartbeat. American corporate executives would never be as humble or respectable like that. They all want slave labor while extorting everyone that works below them and never share the profits because those with power will never share.
greed will be bane of west
Maybe that one way trip to mars Isn't such a bad idea
Shame it will never be funded. No private company is going to spend billions on an altruistic Mars colonization effort, and no government has any incentive to take on the project.
The only reason we reached the moon to begin with was because of America's irrational fear of the Soviet Union. The moment the USSR disbanded, NASA was doomed.
@@planescaped true they are comfortable draining and smoothering humanity's potential to death just to play king of the shit pile.
+planescaped With China's recent space efforts, I'd say we may have another space race in the near future.
these amounts of money are just obscene and absolutely perverted...
Nice Anonymous Mask *chuckles*
"Please Understand" Gamers said to the publishers, guided by their passion and love for games and gaming. Little did they know that Satoru Iwata was overlooking them all with a smile across his face.
To be frank, I'm surprised that no companies are taking ideas from the big three.
They're clearly making the most money, even ignoring hardware sales, so why aren't they taking a few notes?
Maybe don't make shit to make money, make good games.
well ea and activision made easy money with lootboxes and microtransactions and people love easy money
RIP HoTS
Too expensive :(
RIP SATORU IWATA
F
No huge loss game-wise, but sucks for the people that lost their jobs over it.
I read " thots"! 😆
Oh yeah, Black Ops 4 definitely had a budget.
*50 PESOS BUDGET*
@@shabu9ine is that confirmed? I could buy the dignity of most of Activision investors board with that much
@@shabu9ine Considering one of the zombies characters uses pesos, I think we can buy out Activision.
Devs make the games, and the execs reap the rewards.
Like all insane capitalist corporations operate. It's just plain evil.
@@M1NDR34D3R I'm not against execs of a company being rewarded for good leadership, but these guys at the top of EA and ATVI are straight up abusing the people and the business for their own gains, and then throwing them away the second their massive revenue streams even slightly slow down.
@@Krogoth04 Sadly like the other guy said, this isn't just the gaming industry, it's literally everywhere. Sucks.
That's basically all big industries...
@@M1NDR34D3R I know right. They don't even pay the developers anything at all. Not a single cent being exchanged for their labor.🙄
#Sarcasm
Excellent video. Thank you. The greed is unbelievable with these money-grubbing publishers.
Lets spend less on making our games good and more on our CFO's paycheck! No wonder activision stocks have hit the fan
Lol the Activision stocks, the last time something dropped that hard 146,000 people died.
I wonder how many great games they could make with that 15mil.
(Given enough time of course)
0 because they only make pure shit no matter the budget
Yeah, gonna have to second 0.
Now give 15 million to say, CorneredApe or the guys who made Enter the Gungeon.... Actually, never mind. I'm worried an indie studio would all develop coke habits or something with that kinda money. XD
none, Activision doesn't do low budget games.
@@planescaped or the guys that make the Witcher. Love that game
Destiny 2 cost 140 million. So the answer is 1 tenth of 1 game.
Activision doesn't have greed
IT IS *GREED!!!*
GreedIsGood
Pure fucking avarice
While it's true for a vast majority of executives, It's well-known that a few execs at Sony and Nintendo have taken steep paycuts at several times through their respective companies' lifetimes. Please don't wash over all execs with the same tarp.
Giving a new CFO a $15 million dollar bonus while asking developers to cut costs is sick.
Well how else are they gonna give the CFO fifteen mills?!
@@GigglingStoners I know that you're just poking fun with your reply but I am still flabberghasted by the big gaming companies these days. I would think 1st off, don't give anyone a 15 million dollar bonus. I mean $15 million could pay an entire team to produce a whole new game. Secondly if you were to do this it would only be sensible if your business was doing extremely well and they were a contributor to that success. This new CEO is a nobody as far as their contributions to Activision Blizzard's success, and after all of the layoffs, staff changes, budget cuts, dropping HoTS, and a lackluster BFA, I would think the money would best be used either investing it back into the company or at the very least sitting on it to ride out the potential tough time ahead.
Activision is just showing now that they care less about actually using money to make their products better and more about using next to no resources to make things that they can sell for exorbitant amounts of money that they're stupid fucking fanbase will buy into.
trust me, I wish just as much as anyone else that one day people will wise the fuck up, and stop buying all this garbage. But realistically speaking, there will always be more idiots.
it's sad that we've gotten to a point, where when things happen like this, it doesn't surprise us... We're not shocked when they're crooked these days, we're shocked when they're not.
@@PrettyGuardian You aren't making any sense. He got $11 million dollars in stock options. You can not fund a game with stock options. He was given stock options tied to his performance as an incentive to make fiscally responsible decisions, like firing large numbers of people. The reason he makes $900,000 a year and the people in these comment sections do not is because he has the integrity to make tough, unpopular decisions that are to the benefit of his company and its shareholders.
You can not fund a game with $15 million dollars lmao. Try ~$100 million, which is the estimated average cost to ship Overwatch. Over the course of ten years, the total cost of this CFO is under $13 million, even if we include his sign on bonus, and under $22 million if we include his stock options. That is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of developing a AAA release. It is an even smaller drop in the bucket in comparison to the revenue he brings to the company via his financial decisions, such as instituting micro-transactions, which bring in $4 BILLION dollars annually alone. Seems like they get a good deal on their executives to me.
@Kent Arnold So are they trying to incentivize him to take on a role he doesn't want? That's not going to work. He's going to take the big payout, won't be motivated to breath new life into the position, and will be out of there again in under 2 years. Then they will be moving assets around to pay the next person. I almost wonder if this is part of some sort of inside deal.
All the lies and exploitation of consumers yet people still buy their products.
These guys are laughing all the way to the bank.
And here we thought that just maybe they could do the right thing.
When Nintendo faced financial hardship during 2013/14/15, Satoru Iwata decided to cut his salary by half because he didn’t want to lay off staff or cut costs.
It’s nice to see the Triple A industry is still using him as an inspiration in their own hardships...
Those guys were responsible and in the same position, this is a new hire to the position with benefits and incentives to match what they feel the potential success is. You're an idiot.
@@Archetype77 Oh sure, that'll get people to agree with you.
RIP Iwata. We did not deserve you.
Nintendo was lucky to have an actual gamer as a CEO. Iwata was passionate about Nintendo and even more so about gaming in general. Cutting his own salary to make sure nobody needs to be fired AND using his spare time to work on the first Super Smash Bros. AND coming up with a new compression method to force the Kanto region onto the Gold/Silver/Crystal Pokémon games... what a legend.
Thats why he went to the next world.
He died?!?!?!?!
@@himlolo In 2015. :,(
@assassins creed pug edition Died of cancer in 2015, man : (
last he did was apologize over a backlash regarding some disappointing game announcement at that time.
showed up only as a muppet in E3 that year cuz he was so ill.
and never saw the success of Splatoon.
RIP, Iwata-san (T_T
Greed. All this greed.
I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
@Paul Stewart its not about my money. I have more than i need. But to a dev, to a father of two children, who also struggled maybe with the Christmaspresents and bills, to hear that a CFO gets 15 Million dollar in value as a starting gift... Their feeling must be horrible.
No one is bitching here expect you, but give empathy were empathy is due.
Just find a new hobby and only buy good games.
Triggered?
@@KonohasEdge empathy is due where it is due but take into consideration the time and place, being all whiny in a TH-cam comment section like this is unnecessary
@@bluecollarcommentator7772 this has nothing to do with beeing whiny. Call out what needs to be called out. This money could have given many people a possibility to live. To him its just something to jerk off.
Think about how many people in the idiot country that is the usa are heavily in debt because their Gouverment spits on them, especially in medical Healthcare. But no giving it to someone who has more than enough is the right choise.
If one cant stand up in youtube, something that is the most easy thing to do since its anonymous on the internet and proclaim and defend his opinion in a good and civilized manner, than one cant raise his opinion elsewhere
Expect a new store mount in WoW
Everyone remember Iwata? He took less pay rather than firing his people during Nintendo hard time. He's truly one kind of a man.
Yeah we know, he mentioned it in the video lol
Stop canonising the man, it's pretty common in Japan for the CEOs to cut their own pay if the company is performing badly. I agree it's a class act, but in no way unique to Nintendo.
Maybe the West should do that. Year after year some corporations report record losses and layoffs yet their executive bonuses go higher and higher.
Games don't need microtransactions nowadays because their customers have grown from a niche to millions worldwide over the years.
Henrick Fletcher Some people just don’t feel like they have enough, and will always crave for more money regardless.
@@Andy-hz2ef yeah, it's human nature
@@WildWand33 nah, wanting to buy yacht for your yacht while you are alone and just money around isn't "human nature" it's scumy twist on human nature
@chunkycake101 you are right man i just wanted to inject some positivity but you need only to look at politicians to undrstand how big greed can be. Without reason too because they are already rich... (I don't know where are you from but I guess politics doesn't differ in most countries unfortunately.)
Another great piece of journalism, Yong. I've become a huge fan over the past few weeks, and have gotten caught up on your impressive library. Your channel covers the multifaceted gaming industry incredibly well, from it's corporate and financial mechanics of a global scale right down to an individual's joy of a simple unboxing. I've particularly enjoyed your research and analysis of all things related to the genius of Mr. Kojima and Death Stranding.
Thank you for providing an unbiased source of information, for your professional scripting and presentation, and for sharing your passion for gaming.
A gift basket would've been nice...
A loot basket
Well how else are they gonna pay the guy if they cant do budget cuts? ;)
There is no amount of good in this world that could ever make up for the tsunami of suffering and intentional evil. To choose to live is to choose ignorance and suffering.
Here we see Activision wrongly spending their money.....
Here we see Activision in their natural habitat. Take a look as this company fights to survive the money drought by cutting costs. A valid option, but one that requires precision and restraint. Now we observe the company trying to lure consumers with their games especifically made to attract players with promises of fun and replayability, only, it contains an abnormal ammount of microtransactions to drain the most money from their prey before discarting them.
Oh, look, it managed to grab a few players. But the market is a dangerous territory, and the loss of one player can cause a huge uproar with the rest of the herd.
Oh no! A huge herd of players are charging towards the company with videos and threads in hand. The company must hurry back to its HQ where it can recover from the financial loss and attempt another game.
But it seems that the investors, its main supports in this competitive ecosystem, are not happy with the performance and are now leaving and selling their stocks.
It seems it will be a harsh winter for Activsion.
*Rolls Credits*
Stop messing with my T O O B S and my TOOB Men
Ahmad Windardi Ssshhh. Don't get him excited.
@@Blvckout247 I'm teaching them to make smarter financial decisions
The house of cards is about to collapse
thank you YongYea for getting this information out to the people !
Proudly boycotting EA since 2007, and Activision since 2018!! Will *_never_* play a game with micro transactions - period. Just doing my part....
Hope Activision collapses so we never have to hear from them again.
Activision might die out but those in charge and the shareholders are going to just jump ship to the next big gaming publisher or other media entertainment like Netflix for example.
I just hope Blizzard (the old Blizzard) gets out before that happens.
davekaza Never will happen. They had a merger with Activision, basically permanent.
@@psychotictrait3757 You're likely right, but it is possible, no matter how unlikely, that Activision could sale Blizzard to someone else that wants to old Blizzard back. However at that point it might be too little, too late.
davekaza Activision will never sale Blizzard. You realize how much money they made off of Diablo 3, Overwatch, & Starcraft? Mergers are much harder to separate, I don’t know how hard in a legal sort of sense, but I know it isn’t as simple as some company buying a studio (acquisition)
So this is where our hard earned money went looks like that SOB got his $15 million sense of pride and accomplishment
All Game Developers under Activision : *_YOU WHAT?!_*
MA! It's that weird FUCKIN CAT again!
Bart Simpson: Yes, I Want to divorce from my parents.
Yong Yeet
Aaaand you're band
@@ZombieaidZ 🤦🏾♂️
no.
Seriously?
It's simple, clean, I like it.
The part of this story that got missed, and really troubles me, is that upon taking the position the new CFO told Blizzard to cut expenses. We just heard about Blizzard being told to cut expenses under the old CFO and as a result, Heroes of the Storm got sent to the chopping block. What this tells me is that the new CFO's bonuses are tied into expenditure goals. Much of the shortcomings surrounding BFA are due to cost cutting measures as it is and now we are going to see even less money given to fix problems that arose from not having enough time and money allocated to them from the start. We all know that the new CFO isn't going to leave $15 million sitting on the table so these cost cutting goals will be met.
This is how large corporations self cannibalize. By this time next year, when the CFO is counting his money, Blizzard will be in a worse situation than it is this year. Activision will be forced to give it a go with another round of cost cuts and see if that can put the profit margins within their acceptable limits (And it won't) or Activision will just move Blizzard onto mobile IP's and have them abandon everything that made Blizzard great.
All projects have a critical mass to where they can no longer function in a profitable state. What I mean by this is that there is a minimum amount of money, time, and marketing that goes into making a game successful, and therefore profitable. WOW has fallen below this point already, and we can see the results. With the upcoming cost cutting measures being implemented by the new CFO we have to worry about WOW Classic being shipped out in a poor state and the future development of the Diablo franchise which is already struggling internally with it's next PC project. I hate to say it, but by this time next year (Unless WOW Classic saves the day and boosts subs by a few million players) I really don't see a future for Blizzard entertainment that doesn't involve strictly mobile game development of their intellectual properties.
You had me rolling at circlejerk of avarice, I love you yongyea pretty sure ill be a viewer for life
They have their priorities up their lootboxes
쯔위-ah and their lootboxes really far up their ass
Way to go Yong! Thank you for fighting the good fight.
So they don't have money to make quality games, but they have money to fill up executive's pockets.
Wow, I honestly did not see that coming. /s
Basically the mentality is we'll ride this into the ground then walk away with what we managed to steal before it did.
These guys need to trim the fat from the top, not the bottom. And i think a lot of these companies should buy themselves out from under the investors clutches. If they had no one to answer to, then they'd have more freedom to operate how they want. A big problem I see is they continually keep asking for bigger and bigger investments to fund their projects, which is detrimental in the long term as they have to pay all that back. Similar to amassing huge loans or credit card debt. They should be funded by the profits from releasing a successful product, not from the investors lining their pockets.
@@BattleBladeWarrior but what really grinds my gears is that the developers and employees KNOW they're getting fucked by these pompous arrogant pricks, yet continue slaving away and ruining their rep for these clowns, instead of protesting and going on strike.
*_Bungie is typing_*
Evariste Galois nah they left the chat and most likely blocked Activision.
SirCreepsAlott The biggest problem with Destiny was Time. Time is what Activision offered and that ultimately screwed over bungie forcing them to scramble and fumble around which in turn caused a myriad of mistakes that manifested in many different ways.
We will just have to wait and see with the Bungie leaving Activision situation. This is the best opportunity they will ever get to regain trust from their fans, lets hope they take advantage of it. But even if they don't, Warframe is better anyway. And theres probably a 4% chance that EA won't ruin Anthem.
@@raijin2950 They will not, they also stated that making new content is hard, yet you have games like Warframe where devs output so much unique content, no reskins. Sadly EA has been using youtubers are publicity to brainwash people into thinking the game is good. You gotta wait like a month or so until someone makes a review after the first patch now, there is a stupid tactic now that they make a decent game without mtx or anything bad, later to patch the game with them.
@@iktanmiztonton3477 Digital Extreme took almost a fucking year to deliver the last content while giving next to nothing but skins and two poor excuses for "end game" that were not even a re-skin but plain re use of the same exact assets that already existed so you're lying.
I just wanted to say thank you for doing this Yong. People like you are the reason why the world hasn't turned into a dystopia of exploitation yet.
Rich gets richer and the poorer get poorer.
*Poor get poorer
And Richards always remain Dicks.
Actually, if the CFO does a good job, he gets richer and so do the others. Capitalism is the rich get richer and the poor get richer, you're just a fool.
@@Archetype77 Not even close. All those employees at the bottom who are being fired/paid off are the poor, and they aren't getting richer by being made jobless. Know who is getting richer though? The guy who made enough to fund nearly the entire production of a game out of his pocket just by accepting a job.
Capitalism is the rich getting richer off of the work of the poor, while never giving the poor a single penny over what the law forces them too. The poor very rarely get any richer just because the person they work for does.
Alex Popowski my name is Richard /:
Bungie seriously dodged a bullet by spilling from Activision
Yeah but Bungie and the Destiny community took a beating for years because of them. I really am looking forward to D3 and seeing kinderguardians at the tower when Bungie gets to make the game they want (please....for the love of god.....be good at release) and screaming about how they don't know about The Dark Below or D2Y1. THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE DARK TIMES!
Keep up the brutal truth Yong, keep fighting the good fight. Well said about everything mate.
Thank god destiny is no longer in the hands of these people...
Yeah now its run by 1 idiot (Bungie) instead of 2.
Won't make it any less shit though
Level 1: Todd Howard
Level 1000: Activition Boss
That's how g̶r̶e̶e̶d̶ game industries works
pre fallout 78 Todd Howard*
Hey man the games industry might as well be a mafia now. Just say it.
That's how mafia works.
Activision's Current CEO is Robert A. Kotick. IE. The Activision Boss.
in that case
level -10000: nintendo
might not be perfect but I respect buisness
Level 10000 todd
"It just works, unless its our game. Bugs are expensive to fix ya know"
One of the best videos I've ever watched, particularly the last few minutes.
Nothing worse than corporate greed.
Sure there is, millions starving to death under Socialist regimes.
@@CrownOfThorns13 Corporate greed facilitates that. Lol
That's how communism is: those at the top convince the people (whom they don't actually care about) that they have it good while hoarding all the money for themselves while the nation crumbles. Nothing different going on here, except instead of starving us, they feed us poison. They're upping the ante through deception, par for the course.
I love how their downfall is being so publicly documented. Must sting that extra little bit.
Games are too expensive to make... 🤔
Hi, Yong
Your videos are great. Keep it up!
I honestly don't think corporations and video games mix very well.
Yea, they're only behind most of the great games ever made. No company that made good games ever had executives making tons of money! Right?