Kotick Criticizes Warcraft Film as 'One of the Worst'

In a revealing interview on Grit, former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who led the company for 32 years before stepping down in December 2023, expressed strong criticism of Universal's 2016 adaptation of Activision Blizzard's Warcraft, labeling it "one of the worst movies I've ever seen." Kotick argued that the film not only failed to meet expectations but also had a significant negative impact on the development of World of Warcraft, describing it as a "distraction" to the team. He specifically pointed to the movie as a contributing factor in the departure of veteran designer Chris Metzen from the company in 2016.

Kotick praised Metzen, calling him "the heart and soul of creativity of the company," and noted that the designer left due to burnout, exacerbated by the resources and attention diverted to the film. Kotick revealed that the decision to make the movie was made before Activision's ownership of the company, and he believed it was a "terrible idea." The film's production, he claimed, led to delays in World of Warcraft expansions and patches, as developers were drawn into movie-related tasks such as casting and set work.

While the Warcraft movie did not perform well in North America, earning only $47 million domestically, it achieved international success, particularly in China, and briefly held the title of the most successful video game adaptation of all time globally, with total earnings of $439 million. Despite this, the film was deemed a financial failure by Legendary Pictures due to its high budget.

Kotick mentioned that Metzen took the movie's failure "very personally" before leaving to start a board game company. Later, Kotick "begged" Metzen to return to Blizzard on a consultancy basis. However, upon his return, Metzen was critical of the plans for the next two expansions, suggesting they needed to be completely "redone."

Despite limited direct communication with Metzen after his return, Kotick acknowledged the designer's significant influence on the last expansion, which received high praise. In our World of Warcraft The War Within review, we awarded it a 9/10, describing it as "the best World of Warcraft has been on all fronts in many years, making this two-decade-old MMO feel fresh and thrilling again."

While fans may never see a sequel to the Warcraft movie, director Duncan Jones had previously shared plans for a trilogy that would have followed "the fulfilling of Durotan’s promise to give his people a new home."