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Activision's competitors aren't doing enough to ship quality games, which is hurting the industry and challenging the marketplace, according to the company's CEO, Bobby Kotick.
Speaking during an investors call following Activision Blizzard's earnings announcement, Mr Kotick addressed questions about the industry and the challenges it faces going forward, sourcing a "stream of products that are less than adequate" for the change in demand.
"You have a very difficult macroeconomic environment," he explained, "when you look at the things that can generally have an impact on the consumption of entertainment - unemployment data is very concerning, and when you look at the challenges in Europe there are a lot of things that are going to affect the macroeconomic outlook. We are also at the late end of the cycle, and the late end of a console cycle is always going to have its share of difficulties."
My Kotick believes the marketplace demands "great quality products", and that competitors haven't been offering that.
"If you look at the success we're having it validates that there is an opportunity for great quality products but I think at this stage in the cycle, it's challenging for anything other than great quality products," he said.
The growth of the mobile sector, a market reliant on affordable games, has impacted how consumers spend their money, but that hasn't changed how long people are willing to play online games and buy new products.
"I also think that a lot of the games we make, like Call of Duty, that are multiplayer games offer a lot of replayability, and when you have the opportunity for replayabiity in an economic environment like this, you're going to spend more time playing the games that you have."
The next few years are going to be a challenge for the industry, Mr Kotick concluded, but acknowledged that over the next five years, "there's a lot of reason to be hopeful and enthusiastic."
Source: Games Industry
By Gaetano Prestia