For those who have lived long enough to see the original Xbox, you may know the name Seamus Blackley. He spearheaded the original development of the original Xbox and co-designed games like System Shock and Flight Unlimited. He has a lot to say about the recent Activision Blizzard buyout by Microsoft.

Blackley said he recall Activision boss Bobby Kotick turning down a previous idea he had alongside former Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos: Guitar Hero. Kotick reportedly turned down Guitar Hero, which was picked up by rival publisher Red Octane. Years later in 2006, Activision bought RedOctane and the Guitar Hero series in the process. He claimed that Kotick didn’t believe retailers would be interested in stocking and selling Guitar Hero; he even said that about the first Xbox console. Blackley said the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft is “karma”.

“When we pitched Guitar Hero to Bobby, he told us nobody would ever stock it, and turned it down (only to buy it later!). I reminded him that he’d literally said that to me about Xbox only a few years before. He laughed. Now he’s being bought by Xbox. Karma is a bitch.”

He said that not being the boss of the whole thing will torment him; Kotick is wealthy enough as it is. For more on the next Activision Blizzard game, check out our Modern Warfare 3 coverage.