Kotick Slams Warcraft Film as Terrible

Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick called Universal's 2016 Warcraft film adaptation "one of the worst movies ever made" in his view.

In a frank discussion on Grit, Kotick—who helmed Activision Blizzard for 32 years until his departure in December 2023—claimed the movie negatively affected World of Warcraft's development by diverting resources and contributing to veteran designer Chris Metzen's 2016 exit.

"Chris Metzen embodied the creative spirit of this company—then and now," Kotick said.

"He left due to burnout. The Warcraft movie was already contracted before our acquisition, though I considered it disastrous from the start."

"It drained resources and diverted Blizzard's team," Kotick continued. "Imagine dedicated game developers suddenly involved in film production—casting decisions, set visits—it became a massive distraction."

"Expansions got delayed, patches missed deadlines. And the film? Absolutely terrible—among the worst I've witnessed."

Though Warcraft sequel prospects dimmed, director Duncan Jones revealed in 2020 his scrapped trilogy plans that would have completed "Durotan's quest to secure his people's homeland."

While Warcraft flopped domestically with $47 million, its international success—particularly in China—briefly made it history's top-grossing video game adaptation at $439 million worldwide. Still, Legendary Pictures viewed it as unsuccessful given its budget overrun.

Kotick noted Metzen "took the criticism hard" before founding a board game company, but later convinced him to return as consultant despite Metzen's dissatisfaction with two planned expansions requiring complete overhauls.

"We rarely spoke after his comeback," Kotick admitted. "What design insights could I offer Chris? I trusted his creative process."

"His influence on the latest expansion was profound—it's outstanding. The upcoming release shows equal promise."

We concurred in our 9/10 War Within review, praising how it "reinvigorates this 20-year-old MMO across all aspects, delivering WoW's most compelling experience in recent memory."