Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime left Blizzard as a result of he was reportedly bored with combating with former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, based on those that labored intently with him, the 2 leaders having butted heads for years relating to the way forward for Blizzard.
New particulars about Morhaime’s 2018 departure and Blizzard’s contentious relationship with Activision come through an excerpt from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier’s upcoming ebook Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment , which releases on October 8 (the identical day Blizzard’s first growth for Diablo 4, Vessel of Hatred, launches).
For years, Morhaime tried to maintain Activision, which acquired Blizzard in 2007, at bay. That aim of maintaining Blizzard insulated from outdoors Activision strain grew to become more durable in 2013 when Blizzard canceled challenge Titan, an FPS MMO that had been supposed to be the subsequent World of Warcraft, based on Schreier.
After the challenge’s cancellation, which value Blizzard round $80 million, Kotick and Activision started to claim extra management over Blizzard, together with pushing Blizzard to rent a chief monetary officer, Armin Zerza, to maintain prices in test. Zerza simply “saved speaking about make as a lot cash as attainable,” based on one former worker, and at one level instructed axing Blizzard’s annual BlizzCon fan conference, confused as to why a challenge with such low revenue margins was allowed to exist, based on Schreier’s sources. Blizzard introduced this 12 months there wouldn’t be a BlizzCon 2024.
Morhaime continued to battle Kotick within the following years, defending Blizzard’s want for customer support staff and the studio’s cinematics workforce. Following a gathering of Activision, Blizzard, and King leaders targeted across the theme of “One ABK,” Morhaime feared Blizzard was dropping its independence, based on Schreier. He wrote a prolonged electronic mail to Kotick in response, stating he believed “preserving Blizzard’s tradition and magic” was a necessity as a way to entice and retain “the perfect inventive expertise on the earth.” He moreover mentioned that it had been “more and more arduous for me to offer Blizzard management and employees confidence that Blizzard has a steady future.”
In 2017, Morhaime submitted a resignation letter, however was persuaded on the time by Kotick and others to take it again. Following the One ABK assembly within the spring of 2018, Morhaime formally introduced his departure that October, saying it was time for another person to guide.
Blizzard’s story would in fact proceed, however with out the person that Schreier mentioned many Blizzard employees worshiped. Morhaime went on in 2020 to discovered a brand new sport studio and writer, Dreamhaven. Blizzard, in the meantime, in 2021 discovered itself embroiled in controversy following an explosive state of California lawsuit that accused Activision Blizzard of systemic sexual misconduct and discrimination, ultimately settling with the state in 2023 to the tune of $54 million. Morhaime mentioned in an announcement addressing the lawsuit that he was “ashamed.”
“To the Blizzard girls who skilled any of these items, I’m extraordinarily sorry that I failed you,” Morhaime mentioned.
Within the wake of the lawsuit, Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, with Kotick stepping down as Activision Blizzard CEO in December 2023.