Kotick Criticizes Warcraft Film as 'One of the Worst'

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 also connected the film's production to the departure of veteran designer Chris Metzen in 2016, describing Metzen as "the heart and soul of creativity of the company." He noted that the movie project, which was initiated before Activision's ownership of Blizzard, consumed substantial resources and pulled developers away from their core work. Kotick lamented the distraction, saying, "You think about all these people who make video games for a living, and now they have the chance to make a movie. They're helping with the casting, and they're on the set, and... it's just a huge distraction."

Despite its poor performance in North America, where it earned only $47 million, Warcraft became the most successful video game adaptation internationally at the time, thanks to its popularity in China. However, with a global total of $439 million, the film was considered a financial disappointment by Legendary Pictures due to its high production costs.

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, stating, "What am I going to tell Chris Metzen about game design, you know? I just wanted him to do his thing."

Metzen's influence was evident in the last expansion, World of Warcraft: The War Within, which received a glowing 9/10 in our review. We praised 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." Kotick also expressed optimism about the upcoming expansion, crediting Metzen's involvement.

While a sequel to the Warcraft movie seems unlikely, 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."