Look, Activision, do you want to make Facebook games or not?
Seriously, it's not a hard question. And yet, the omnipotent games publisher continues to flip-flop on the subject of social games. In October, Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty ring a bell?) CEO Bobby Kotick told Los Angeles Magazine that, while the company is at a point where it's ready to invest in Facebook games, it doesn't expect much to come of it. Here's an excerpt from Kotick's conversation:
As of October Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick still wasn't ready. "If we can't put a creative foot forward, it's not interesting to us," he told me at the company's headquarters, which is tucked in an office complex on Ocean Park Avenue. In assessing Facebook, Kotick says he's been "trying to figure out what we could do that's different from what's being done. So now that they've gotten a large enough audience and we've done enough analysis of the opportunity, we can commit capital." He adds, however, "We don't have huge expectations."
Um, just curious ... what's the point then? Since then, Kotick spoke with Bloomberg, seeming refreshingly bullish on the prospect of Facebook games. Over the summer--before either interview--the Activision chief admitted that the company was into social games. But shortly after, other executives within the company made points to denounce Facebook gaming. What gives?
Here's the thing: If you're not going to go full bore into the social games space, then you're not going to get anywhere. Just look at EA, for instance. It's cost the company upwards of $2 billion in acquisitions to hit second place on the charts with 56.9 million monthly players, and that's not even close to the industry leader Zynga's 218 million. If Activision doesn't have "huge expectations" of its efforts in Facebook games, why even spend the cash? Hell, the publisher's own former game creators may beat it to the punch.
[Via LA Observed]
Is it even worth it for Activision Blizzard to get into Facebook games at this point? If so, what types of games would you like to see from the games publisher? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
