Brutal Legend and Grim Fandango creator Tim Schafer labeled Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick a "dick," "total prick" and, most damning, a ball bearing enthusiast. Fair enough. Just don't accuse Mr. Kotick of not liking video games, Activision says.
Activision has responded from the video game industry's playground today, firing back at Schafer (sort of) with a defense of Kotick's passion for games.
"Tim Schafer's comment that Bobby Kotick 'makes a big deal about not liking games' just isn't true," Maryanne Lataif, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Activision Blizzard said in a (honest to god) statement. "Bobby has always been passionate about games, and loves the video game industry. But as CEO of a company that makes games enjoyed by millions of people worldwide, the demands on his time now make it difficult to play games as often as he'd like to or as much as he once did."
Lataif added, "As Schafer himself notes, he has never actually met Bobby Kotick." Yeah. Major ice burn.
I guess that's Activision taking the higher ground here, which is classy, but we wouldn't have minded seeing a few expletives volleyed back or some, you know, sales figures comparing Guitar Hero V's performance against that of Brutal Legend's—a game that Activision opted not to publish when it merged with Vivendi many moons ago then legally tried to prevent from being released—to really keep this verbal slapfight going.
Tim? A little help, please? This hornet's nest isn't going to rattle itself.