Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick did not hold back his criticism of Universal's 2016 adaptation of the company's iconic game, Warcraft, calling it "one of the worst movies I've ever seen." In a revealing interview on Grit, Kotick — who led the company for 32 years before stepping down in December 2023 — went on to say that the movie was a significant distraction for the World of Warcraft development team and contributed to the departure of veteran designer Chris Metzen in 2016.

"Chris Metzen was — and is, to me — the heart and soul of creativity of the company," Kotick emphasized. He explained that Metzen's departure was due to burnout, exacerbated by the film project which Kotick felt was a terrible idea from the start. The movie deal was signed before Activision owned the company, but it still pulled resources and focus away from the game's development. Kotick noted, "Our expansions were late. You know, patches weren't getting done on time. And the movie was terr— it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen."

Despite its domestic underperformance, earning only $47 million in North America, Warcraft found success internationally, particularly in China, making it the most successful video game adaptation at the time with a global haul of $439 million. However, Legendary Pictures considered it a failure due to its inability to break even on its large budget.

Director Duncan Jones had ambitious plans for a trilogy, aiming to fulfill Durotan’s promise to provide his people with a new home. However, these plans were ultimately canceled, leaving fans without a sequel.

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. Despite this, Metzen was critical of the next two expansions, suggesting they needed a complete overhaul. Kotick admitted to limited interaction with Metzen after his return, stating, "Hardly ever. What am I going to tell Chris Metzen about game design, you know? I just wanted him to do his thing."

Kotick praised the last expansion, saying, "The last expansion, he had his fingertips all over it. It's excellent. The next one is going to be great." This sentiment was echoed in our World of Warcraft The War Within review, where we awarded it a 9/10, 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."