In a revealing interview on Grit, former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who stepped down in December 2023 after a 32-year tenure, expressed strong criticism towards Universal's 2016 adaptation of Activision Blizzard's Warcraft, calling it "one of the worst movies I've ever seen." Kotick went on to say that the movie not only disappointed him but also negatively impacted the development of World of Warcraft, describing it as a significant distraction to the team.

Kotick highlighted the departure of veteran designer Chris Metzen in 2016, attributing it partly to the film's production. "Chris Metzen was — and is, to me — the heart and soul of creativity of the company," Kotick remarked. He explained that Metzen's exit was influenced by burnout and the movie project, which Kotick felt was a terrible idea from the start. "It took a lot of resources and distracted [developers at Blizzard]," he said, pointing out delays in expansions and patches as a direct result of the film's production.

Despite its poor performance in North America, earning only $47 million, Warcraft became the most successful video game adaptation internationally at the time, thanks to its popularity in China. However, with a total of $439 million in global earnings, it was still considered a failure by Legendary Pictures due to its high budget.

Kotick mentioned that Metzen took the movie's reception "very personally" before leaving to start a board game company. Eventually, Kotick persuaded Metzen to return on a consultancy basis. Yet, Metzen was critical of the plans for the next two expansions, suggesting a complete overhaul. Kotick admitted to minimal interaction with Metzen after his return, stating, "What am I going to tell Chris Metzen about game design, you know? I just wanted him to do his thing."

Kotick praised Metzen's influence on the last expansion, World of Warcraft: The War Within, which received a stellar 9/10 in our review. We described 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."

Although a sequel to the Warcraft movie seems unlikely, director Duncan Jones had plans for a trilogy that would have focused on "the fulfilling of Durotan’s promise to give his people a new home."