Ex-Activision Exec Disses Warcraft Movie

Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick slammed the 2016 Warcraft film adaptation as "one of the worst movies I've ever seen" in a recent interview with Grit. Kotick, who helmed Activision Blizzard for 32 years before his departure in December 2023, attributed the film's negative impact to resource diversion and creative disruption within Blizzard.

He cited the film as a significant factor contributing to the departure of veteran designer Chris Metzen in 2016, calling Metzen "the heart and soul of creativity" at the company. Kotick explained that the film, a pre-existing deal Activision inherited, demanded considerable resources, pulling developers away from their core game development responsibilities. This resulted in delays to World of Warcraft expansions and patches.

"They made World of Warcraft the movie, which I thought was a terrible idea," Kotick stated. "It took a lot of resources and distracted [developers]. Our expansions were late. Patches weren't getting done on time."

While the Warcraft movie failed to resonate with North American audiences, grossing only $47 million domestically, its international success, particularly in China, resulted in a global total of $439 million. However, this wasn't enough to offset its substantial budget, leading Legendary Pictures to consider it a financial failure.

Kotick revealed that Metzen, deeply affected by the film's production, left to establish a board game company. Kotick subsequently attempted to persuade Metzen to return as a consultant, but Metzen expressed dissatisfaction with the planned expansions, advocating for a complete overhaul. Despite Metzen's brief return, their subsequent interactions were minimal. Kotick concluded by expressing his confidence in the quality of the latest World of Warcraft expansion, stating it was "excellent," with the next one poised to be equally impressive. This sentiment is echoed by our own 9/10 review of World of Warcraft: The War Within, which praised the expansion for revitalizing the long-running MMO.