Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard, recently shared his thoughts on the Warcraft film during an appearance on the Girt podcast.

In his remarks, Kotick expressed concerns about the movie’s impact on the company’s resources. He stated:

“It took a lot of resources and distracted them.”

The Warcraft movie, which debuted in 2016, received poor reviews, holding a mere 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite earning $439 million against a production budget of $160 million, Kotick believes it did little to benefit Blizzard’s flagship franchise.

He highlighted how the film’s development was signed off before the merger of Activision and Blizzard, indicating that it became a significant distraction from game development, particularly for World of Warcraft.

“You think about all these people who make videogames for a living, and now they have the chance to make a movie, and they’re helping with the casting on set.”

Kotick pointed out that this diversion led to delayed expansions and patches for World of Warcraft. He lamented:

“The movie was terrible; it was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.”

He further discussed Chris Metzen’s departure as a result of this situation, calling it very personal for him.

“Metzen I think took it very personally, didn’t want to work and left.”

Metzen, a prominent figure in Blizzard who returned in 2022, is seen as crucial to the company’s identity and its recent successes in game development. Kotick praises Metzen highly:

“To me, he’s the heart and soul of the company.”

Kotick also reflected on Blizzard’s ambitious project Titan, which ultimately transformed into the successful game Overwatch. He emphasized the need for Blizzard to focus on enhancing the existing World of Warcraft experience rather than getting sidetracked by new projects.

Overall, Kotick’s retrospective highlights a turbulent period for Blizzard and raises questions about balancing creative aspirations with practical game development.