Schafer unleashes verbal attack on Kotick

Double Fine's Tim Schafer has unleashed a verbal assault on Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, calling him "a dick" and stating that his business attitude is bad for the industry.

Activision filed a suit against Double Fine over the release of Brutal Legend, which ended up in the hands of Electronic Arts after Activision dropped the title – a heavy-handed practice that Schafer is still clearly furious about.

"His obligation is to his shareholders. Well, he doesn't have to be as much of a dick about it, does he? I think there is a way he can do it without being a total prick. It seems like it would be possible. It's not something he's interested in," said Schafer in an interview with our sister site Eurogamer.net.

Schafer suggested Kotick's attitude to creating games – taking a popular form of entertainment and 'squeezing the life out of it' for profit – won't help the industry grow in the longer term.

"He makes a big deal about not liking games, and I just don't think that attitude is good for games in general," said Schafer. "I don't think we're an industry of widgets. I don't think we can approach it like we approach bars of soap, where you're just trying to make the cheapest bar of soap.

"He definitely has that that kind of widget-maker attitude. I don't think he's great for the industry, overall. You can't just latch onto something when it's popular and then squeeze the life out of it and then move on to the next one. You have to at some point create something, build something."

"He could go to an industry that makes more money. Ball bearings... Something that suits his passions more. Weapons manufacturing?" he joked.

Schafer was unapologetic in his attitude towards Kotick, stating: "You don't want to burn any bridge because you never know. But once somebody sues you... Maybe that bridge is pretty burned."