Bobby Kotick Labels John Riccitiello as Gaming's Worst CEO

Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard, has publicly criticized John Riccitiello, the ex-CEO of Electronic Arts (EA), labeling him as "the worst CEO in video games." During a conversation on the podcast Grit with Bing Gordon, the former chief creative officer at EA, Kotick acknowledged that EA's business model was in many ways superior to Activision's. However, he expressed a strong desire for Riccitiello to remain in his position, stating, "We would have paid for Riccitiello to stay a CEO forever."

Riccitiello served as EA's CEO from 2007 until his departure in 2013, prompted by poor financial performance and significant layoffs. One of his more infamous proposals was suggesting that players of the Battlefield series might be willing to pay a dollar every time they reloaded their weapons. Following his stint at EA, Riccitiello took the helm at Unity Technologies in 2014, a position he held until 2023. His tenure at Unity was also fraught with controversy, culminating in a significant backlash over proposed install fees that were later retracted. Riccitiello's remarks on microtransactions, where he described developers not embracing them as "the biggest f*cking idiots," further stirred controversy.

Kotick, who led Activision Blizzard through its monumental $68.7 billion acquisition by Microsoft in 2023, revealed that EA had attempted to acquire Activision Blizzard on multiple occasions. He remarked, "We had merger conversations a bunch of times. We actually thought their business, in a lot of ways, was better than ours. More stable."

Despite Kotick's successful leadership from a financial standpoint, his time at Activision Blizzard was not without its own controversies. Employees raised concerns about sexism and a toxic work environment, and staged walkouts following reports that Kotick had not adequately informed the company's board about serious allegations, including rape. Activision Blizzard, however, stated that independent reviews found these allegations to be unsubstantiated.

In July 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (now the Civil Rights Department) filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, alleging a "frat boy" culture and retaliatory practices. In December 2023, a $54 million settlement was reached, but it was noted that "no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard," nor that the board, including Kotick, "acted improperly with regard to the handling of any instances of workplace misconduct."

In the same interview, Kotick also shared his candid opinion on the 2016 film adaptation of Activision Blizzard's Warcraft, describing it as "one of the worst movies I've ever seen."