Bobby Kotick Declares Former EA Boss John Riccitiello 'Worst CEO in Video Games'

Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick unleashed a scathing critique of his ex-EA counterpart, John Riccitiello, labeling him "the worst CEO in video games" during a recent appearance on the Grit podcast. Speaking alongside former EA chief creative officer Bing Gordon, who hinted Riccitiello's leadership contributed to his departure, Kotick acknowledged EA's superior business model but insisted he'd gladly pay to keep Riccitiello away from the helm. Kotick stated, "I'm not saying this because [Gordon] is sitting here. Our fear was always that Bing was going to run [EA]. And we would have paid for Riccitiello to stay a CEO forever. We thought he was the worst CEO in video games."

Riccitiello's departure from EA in 2013 followed a period of poor financial performance and significant layoffs. His tenure, which began in 2007, included controversial proposals such as charging players for ammunition reloads in *Battlefield*. He later served as CEO of Unity Technologies, leaving in 2023 amidst controversy surrounding installation fees. His time at Unity was also marked by several other controversies, including an apology to developers for his disparaging remarks about those opposed to microtransactions.

Interestingly, Kotick, who led Activision Blizzard until its $68.7 billion acquisition by Microsoft in 2023, revealed EA's multiple attempts to acquire Activision Blizzard. He stated, "[EA] tried to buy us a bunch of times. We had merger conversations a bunch of times. We actually thought their business, in a lot of ways, was better than ours. More stable."

While Kotick's leadership at Activision Blizzard resulted in significant financial success, his tenure was also marred by considerable controversy. Numerous employee complaints regarding sexism, a toxic work culture, and allegations of mishandling serious misconduct allegations surfaced. Activision Blizzard maintains that independent reviews found these allegations of sexual harassment and management's response to be unsubstantiated. A $54 million settlement was reached with the California Civil Rights Department in December 2023, with the department stating that "no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard," or that Activision Blizzard's board of directors including Kotick "acted improperly with regard to the handling of any instances of workplace misconduct."

In the same interview, Kotick also offered his less-than-favorable opinion of Universal's 2016 Warcraft adaptation, calling it "one of the worst movies I've ever seen."