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 the significant distraction it caused within the World of Warcraft development team, contributing to the departure of veteran designer Chris Metzen in 2016.
Kotick highlighted Metzen's crucial role in the company's creative process, stating, "Chris Metzen was — and is, to me — the heart and soul of creativity of the company." He explained that the movie, a pre-existing deal Activision inherited, consumed considerable resources and diverted developer attention. The resulting consequences included delayed expansions and missed patch deadlines.
"It took a lot of resources and distracted [developers at Blizzard]," Kotick elaborated. "They're helping with the casting, and they're on the set... it's just a huge distraction. Our expansions were late. Patches weren't getting done on time."
Despite the film's international success, grossing $439 million globally (though falling short of breaking even due to its substantial budget), its domestic performance was weak, earning only $47 million in North America. Kotick revealed Metzen's personal disappointment with the film, leading to his departure 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.
Following Metzen's brief consultancy, Kotick noted limited further interaction, stating, "Hardly ever. What am I going to tell Chris Metzen about game design?" However, he expressed confidence in the quality of the subsequent expansions, particularly the last one, which he praised as "excellent," a sentiment echoed by a 9/10 review of World of Warcraft: The War Within, describing it as "the best World of Warcraft has been on all fronts in many years."
