6 ms·

I met Bobby Kotick (Activision CEO) as an Intern at Activision in 2008 and I asked him specifically if they were considering getting into "casual games" which w

I met Bobby Kotick (Activision CEO) as an Intern at Activision in 2008 and I asked him specifically if they were considering getting into "casual games" which were just starting to come into their own. I'll never forget his answer: "No one has figured out how to really make money with casual games yet, but once someone does, we'll just buy them."

Steko 11y ago
Shame he didn't move a little faster, he could have had Supercell for half what he ended up paying for King.
- pavs 11y ago
  Dang, I always thought COC was bigger money maker than Candy Crush.
  - Steko 11y ago
    Oh it is, but they sold half the company for $1.5 billion in 2013. Seems like a steal today, the other big mobile studios must be chomping at the bit seeing King go for $6 billion and knowing they are all that's left.
    - baldfat 11y ago
      Well here we go with another few days of news with the word "Bubble" in it. I can't imagine that this deal will be profitable, but with profits at $604.5 million it is hard to argue that this deal should have been cheaper.
- hkmurakami 11y ago
  Gotta hand it to SoftBank and Gung-ho for buying half of Supercell for what is now a cheap price.
yelnatz 11y ago
Smart guy.
CyberDildonics 11y ago
He shot straight, got to give him that.
joosters 11y ago
Luckily they didn't buy Zynga...
exelius 11y ago
Companies like Activision are too big to innovate and they know it. They exist to provide stable cash flows to investors, and big payouts (exits) to the companies that do innovate. There's nothing wrong with that; but growth by acquisition is a double edged sword: a few bad purchases can sink your company. The video game industry is largely moving toward the studio model used by Hollywood as a result.
- Igglyboo 11y ago
  > Companies like Activision are too big to innovate and they know it. Apple is far larger than Activision and are basically the kings of innovation.
  - chii 11y ago
    what was their last innovation?
  - exelius 11y ago
    Apple is not a company like Activision :) And really, most of Apple's "innovations" are taking innovations created elsewhere and applying them to mass-produced consumer products. Not that what Apple does isn't innovative; but it's industrial-scale innovation. Activision is a media marketing and investment company. Why bother being innovative when the mass-market AAA games they churn out earn $1-2 billion each in global sales? They're not trying to be innovative; they're trying to make mainstream video games.
- slantaclaus 11y ago
  Activision's cash flows aren't actually very stable though... Revenue: https://ycharts.com/companies/ATVI/revenues_ttm https://ycharts.com/companies/ATVI/revenues_ttm net income: https://ycharts.com/companies/ATVI/net_income_ttm https://ycharts.com/companies/ATVI/net_income_ttm combine that was a screaming market cap and I easily came to the decision not to get on the $ATVI bandwagon just yet
  - Retric 11y ago

Steko 11y ago

Shame he didn't move a little faster, he could have had Supercell for half what he ended up paying for King.

pavs 11y ago
Dang, I always thought COC was bigger money maker than Candy Crush.
- Steko 11y ago
  Oh it is, but they sold half the company for $1.5 billion in 2013. Seems like a steal today, the other big mobile studios must be chomping at the bit seeing King go for $6 billion and knowing they are all that's left.
  - baldfat 11y ago
    Well here we go with another few days of news with the word "Bubble" in it. I can't imagine that this deal will be profitable, but with profits at $604.5 million it is hard to argue that this deal should have been cheaper.
hkmurakami 11y ago
Gotta hand it to SoftBank and Gung-ho for buying half of Supercell for what is now a cheap price.

yelnatz 11y ago

Smart guy.

CyberDildonics 11y ago

He shot straight, got to give him that.

joosters 11y ago

Luckily they didn't buy Zynga...

exelius 11y ago

Companies like Activision are too big to innovate and they know it. They exist to provide stable cash flows to investors, and big payouts (exits) to the companies that do innovate. There's nothing wrong with that; but growth by acquisition is a double edged sword: a few bad purchases can sink your company. The video game industry is largely moving toward the studio model used by Hollywood as a result.

Igglyboo 11y ago
> Companies like Activision are too big to innovate and they know it. Apple is far larger than Activision and are basically the kings of innovation.
- chii 11y ago
  what was their last innovation?
- exelius 11y ago
  Apple is not a company like Activision :) And really, most of Apple's "innovations" are taking innovations created elsewhere and applying them to mass-produced consumer products. Not that what Apple does isn't innovative; but it's industrial-scale innovation. Activision is a media marketing and investment company. Why bother being innovative when the mass-market AAA games they churn out earn $1-2 billion each in global sales? They're not trying to be innovative; they're trying to make mainstream video games.
slantaclaus 11y ago
Activision's cash flows aren't actually very stable though... Revenue: https://ycharts.com/companies/ATVI/revenues_ttm https://ycharts.com/companies/ATVI/revenues_ttm net income: https://ycharts.com/companies/ATVI/net_income_ttm https://ycharts.com/companies/ATVI/net_income_ttm combine that was a screaming market cap and I easily came to the decision not to get on the $ATVI bandwagon just yet
- Retric 11y ago