Bobby Kotick Criticizes Warcraft Movie: 'One of the Worst Films Ever'

In a revealing interview on Grit, former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who stepped down in December 2023 after a 32-year tenure, expressed strong criticism of Universal's 2016 adaptation of Activision Blizzard's Warcraft. Kotick labeled the film as "one of the worst movies I've ever seen," and highlighted its negative impact on the development of World of Warcraft. He pointed out that the movie served as a significant distraction for the development team, contributing to delays in game expansions and patches.

Kotick specifically mentioned that the film played a role in the departure of veteran designer Chris Metzen in 2016. He described Metzen as "the heart and soul of creativity of the company," and noted that the movie project, which was already in motion before Activision's acquisition, drained resources and pulled developers away from their core work. Kotick lamented the involvement of the team in movie-related tasks like casting and set visits, which he felt were detrimental to their focus on game development.

Despite its domestic underperformance, grossing only $47 million in North America, Warcraft achieved international success, particularly in China, and temporarily became the highest-grossing video game adaptation. However, with a total of $439 million, it did not break even on its substantial budget, leading Legendary Pictures to consider it a failure.

Kotick revealed that Metzen took the movie's failure personally and left to start a board game company. Kotick later "begged" Metzen to return to Blizzard on a consultancy basis. Although Metzen was critical of the plans for the next two expansions, suggesting they needed a complete overhaul, Kotick respected his expertise and allowed him to work independently. Kotick praised Metzen's influence on the last expansion, World of Warcraft: The War Within, which received a glowing 9/10 in our review, 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."

Director Duncan Jones had envisioned a trilogy for the Warcraft movie, with the overarching story focusing on "the fulfilling of Durotan’s promise to give his people a new home." However, these plans were canceled, leaving fans without a sequel.