Will Kassoy: Activision differs from Electronic Arts

In a not-so-recent interview with GameDaily, Activision‘s senior vice president of Global Brand Management, Will Kassoy, casually drew a line that separated top publisher Activision from former publishing king Electronic Arts. But for two big names in the business, there were a slew of similarities that were absolutely uncanny.

“We’re both cross-platform, we both value strong franchises, but I think there are a lot of things that make us different,” said Kassoy. Though many would offer the idea that EA and Activision seem to go at it toe-to-toe in models and in operation, the brand management VP wishes to declare otherwise.

“I think Activision and EA take two very different approaches,” said Kassoy. EA and Activision may be bringing their A-game when it comes to delivering “high powered brands,” but Activision drops the similarities there. According to Kassoy, Activision keeps a network of independent developers in their care, but preserves each developer’s “independent spirit”.

Infinity Ward, one such developer, took its own reins to modernize Activision’s Call of Duty series with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. To Activision, keeping the developers independent “encourages different cultures of creativity and innovation”.

Activision took an early lead against Electronic Arts in the first half of 2007, but with a healthy line-up of video games taking flight at the second half of the year, including the release of Crytek’s Crysis, there’s no telling if Activision can keep the top position.

In a not-so-recent interview with GameDaily, Activision‘s senior vice president of Global Brand Management, Will Kassoy, casually drew a line that separated top publisher Activision from former publishing king Electronic Arts. But for two big names in the business, there were a slew of similarities that were absolutely uncanny.

“We’re both cross-platform, we both value strong franchises, but I think there are a lot of things that make us different,” said Kassoy. Though many would offer the idea that EA and Activision seem to go at it toe-to-toe in models and in operation, the brand management VP wishes to declare otherwise.

“I think Activision and EA take two very different approaches,” said Kassoy. EA and Activision may be bringing their A-game when it comes to delivering “high powered brands,” but Activision drops the similarities there. According to Kassoy, Activision keeps a network of independent developers in their care, but preserves each developer’s “independent spirit”.

Infinity Ward, one such developer, took its own reins to modernize Activision’s Call of Duty series with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. To Activision, keeping the developers independent “encourages different cultures of creativity and innovation”.

Activision took an early lead against Electronic Arts in the first half of 2007, but with a healthy line-up of video games taking flight at the second half of the year, including the release of Crytek’s Crysis, there’s no telling if Activision can keep the top position.