Activision: EA "mud-slinging" bad for industry

Activision's CEO of publishing Eric Hirschberg criticised EA's "mud-slinging" tactics over the rivalry between Modern Warfare and Battlefield 3.

According to a report on Eurogamer, Hirschberg used his Gamescom keynote as a platform to encourage Activision's "competitors" to focus on development, rather than making negative comments in the press.

"Competition is of course a good thing. It keeps us all on our toes and ultimately makes the games better. It's healthy," Hirschberg said.

"But it's one thing to want your game to succeed and another thing to actively, publicly say you want other games to fail."

Hirschberg cited a recent interview published on IndustryGamers, in which EA's John Riccitiello said he wanted the Call of Duty franchise to "rot from the core."

"Can you imagine the head of Dreamworks animation coming out with a new movie and going to the press and saying that he wants Toy Story to 'rot from the core'," he asked. "It's kind of hard to imagine, right?"

Hirschberg stated the belief that more successful games ultimately lead to growth for the industry, which benefits all of the companies involved.

"This isn't politics," he continued. "In order for one to win, the other doesn't have to lose."

"We all still have a lot to prove in our position in the pop cultural landscape. We still need to stand the test of time. We need to show we can withstand the kind of disruptive change and new competition that we're facing now."

"The only way to do that is to continue to make great games. We shouldn't be tearing each other apart fighting for a bigger piece of the pie – we should all be focused on trying to grow a bigger pie. If we as an industry act like there's a finite number of games in the world, then there will be."