Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick needs to tone down rhetoric

The comments were not friendly. We all know that Kotick wants Sony to cut the price on the PlayStation 3. But did you know that Kotick now implies that if Sony doesn't do something to increase the user base he may end up ordering his company not to develop for the PlayStation 3 and the PSP? He says that the return on investment generated by delivering games for Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 is superior to the return seen on the Sony system.

Fair point. But I think Kotick has to settle down. Sure, he's a tough guy. He's going to say what he wants to say. As Kuchera observed, however, Kotick will need Sony's PlayStation 3 to complete the next Call of Duty's success. The Nintendo Co., Ltd. (OTC: NTDOY) Wii won't be as helpful in that respect.

Why say something like Sony may lose Activision Blizzard's support? Say what you want about the PlayStation 3, but in the end, it's a powerful showcase for the Call of Duty franchise. Simply put, Kotick isn't going to stop supporting the system. Those revenues are too important. And I just hope all of this is nothing more than talk. What shareholders don't want to see is an ego-driven tug of war that leads Kotick to make bad decisions. Let's face it: the guy is an incredible success story, but he isn't infallible. What's going to happen when Guitar Hero runs its course? And will DJ Hero gel with the market? I hope that ends up selling, but we'll have to see what happens.

If Kotick wants to be a tough guy, what he should do is continue the good fight when it comes to battling for lower development costs. One of the biggest negative factors in the industry is the high cost of development. In this way, video games are no different than the movie business (actually, video games are starting to look more and more like movies as each day goes by). That would take some bravery on his part because, while one might argue that Hollywood doesn't have to pay a lot for a movie because it could simply mix a strong concept with cheap, unknown talent, the video-game business is stuck competing for top talent because the technical look of a game is so important. This makes expertise and skill in software development a must, and it's difficult not to pay a premium for it. This is where Kotick could flex his intellectual muscles and dart forth his sharp tongue. That's not to say that he hasn't already tackled this issue, but hey, he could expand his reach on the subject and forget about wasting energy on commenting about his fake plans to possibly not support Sony.

Like I said near the beginning, I own shares of Activision Blizzard. I have a nice profit on them. But the company won't always be on top. Kotick should reign in his arrogance and focus on the compelling problem at hand: how to sell as much software as possible at the greatest margin. And then pray that Sony is able to cut the price of the PlayStation 3, of course...

Disclosure: I own Activision Blizzard; positions can change without notice.