←back to thread

Ex-World of Warcraft developer's thread about China and the gaming industry

(twitter.com)
408 points seapunk | 1 comments | 09 Oct 19 10:27 UTC | HN request time: 1.206s | source
Show context
0xDEFC0DE ◴[09 Oct 19 12:39 UTC] No.21202561[source]▶
>I was removed from a company I founded (after Blizzard) for refusing to take a 2 million dollar kickback bribe to take an investment from China

Resisting that takes strength. $2m to take more money and keep quiet? I'd probably quit in shame or be fired eventually, but that's life-changing money.

I do wonder if we could take some amount of money from China and simply not give them what they ask for though when they start making demands, or giving them the run-around.

replies(2): >>21202617 #>>21203956 #
faet ◴[09 Oct 19 15:10 UTC] No.21203956[source]▶
Well, from people who worked with him they said he was frequently absent and a bad leader. He is also blamed for much of their financial troubles for wanting to frequently change direction.

https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130737-Updated-Red...

Additionally, the company took Chinese money 3 years prior to him being fired. Red 5 Studios was majority owned by The9 (a Chinese company) early 2010. Prior to being bought out they closed one office and fired about 30 people. So, I kinda doubt he was removed solely "for refusing to take an investment from china". Especially, when they were already owned by a Chinese company.

replies(2): >>21204053 #>>21204813 #
1. blue11 ◴[09 Oct 19 16:31 UTC] No.21204813[source]▶
I was disappointed to find out that the ex-WOW developer in the title was Mark Kern. Sometimes the messenger can undermine the message. Reading his Twitter thread seemed like he is rewriting history. He took The9's money after spending the VC money (Benchmark, Sierra) he had raised originally and not being even close to releasing the game. I'm not sure who he refused a bribe from later (or maybe he meant that he refused to give a bribe to someone?), but he brought The9 to begin with.