Readers, I'm sorry to report that Activision Blizzard's investment in Kotaku is not paying the dividends that we'd originally hoped and that Koticku will be ending its brief run, effectively immediately. All remaining Koticku staff has been let go.
We did not reach this decision lightly, but over the course of the past day, the staff has been unable to ship a single post about the Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk businesses. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was released for the iPhone today and nothing. Worse, Activision Blizzard is down 1.08% following the announcement. As part of our overall strategy to pay fewer employees in 2010, we are closing Koticku.
The good news is that our internally developed auto-blogging application will keep fresh content coming to the site under its previous brand, Kotaku, without the need for a dedicated staff. Activision Blizzard retains all applicable rights to the names and intellectual properties, as part of an exchange of common stock and Microsoft Points, so expect little in the way of change going forward. Posts will continue to be generated on a regular basis.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Kotick