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 disapproval of the 2016 Universal adaptation of Activision Blizzard's Warcraft. Kotick labeled it as "one of the worst movies I've ever seen," and went on to say that the film's production was a significant distraction for the World of Warcraft development team, contributing to delays in game expansions and patches.
Kotick highlighted the departure of veteran designer Chris Metzen in 2016 as a direct consequence of the movie's impact. He described Metzen as "the heart and soul of creativity of the company," and noted that the film, which was already in development before Activision's acquisition, drained resources and shifted focus from game development. Kotick mentioned that the involvement of the team in the movie's casting and on-set activities was a major distraction.
The Warcraft movie, while underperforming in North America with a domestic gross of $47 million, achieved significant international success, particularly in China, earning a total of $439 million worldwide. Despite this, it was considered a financial disappointment by Legendary Pictures due to its high budget.
Kotick revealed that Metzen took the movie's failure personally before leaving to start a board game company. However, Kotick later persuaded Metzen to return to Blizzard on a consultancy basis. Despite Metzen's return, he was critical of the plans for the next two expansions, suggesting they needed a complete overhaul.
Kotick admitted to having limited interaction with Metzen after his return, acknowledging Metzen's expertise in game design. He praised Metzen's significant influence on the last expansion, World of Warcraft: The War Within, which received a glowing 9/10 in our review, hailed 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 the Warcraft movie's sequel dreams were dashed, director Duncan Jones had envisioned a trilogy that would have fulfilled "the promise of Durotan to give his people a new home."
