Activision: We’re not the evil empire

A faceless and compassion free corporation whose only interest is separating you from your cash. If that’s your perception of Activision, you’re one of the people that Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg wants to win over.

"Who would be wished to be cast as the bad guy in your own industry or as the villain or the evil empire?" he told Gamasutra.

"I think that the case is drastically overstated in terms of the reality that I see. I see a very creative company that gives its developers the tools and the resources they need to do great things, that isn’t afraid to [delay] games if that’s what it takes to get them right.

"It’s about putting a human face on the company. It’s about being transparent and honest and human in our dealings with our community."

Hirshberg also notes the company’s reaction to May’s Modern Warfare 3 info leak, and the fallout from its Call of Duty Elite announcement.

"We got a lot of props and a lot of pleasantly surprised people in our reaction to that," he added. "People assumed that we would go silverback gorilla crazy, and we didn’t.

"I’m not sure that there was any way we could have messaged it any better and not gotten that response from that portion of the audience. I think we made the right choice."