Mike Morhaime, President and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, a major PC video game publisher, has the scoop about Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision. And it’s not what you might think. When questioned about his opinion of Kotick in a recent interview, Morhaime said, “I have an advantage there because I know Bobby personally and we have very long, in-depth conversations, so my view of him is not limited to small sound bites taken out of context.”
As co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, Morhaime is best known for his input into one of the world’s most popular video games, World of Warcraft. He has also had direct influence in the development of other Blizzard franchises like Diablo and Starcraft. Often leading the pack, he has transformed Blizzard into a global enterprise which brings in $1.6 billion in yearly revenue. Even with that staggering growth, the company remains extremely nimble, critical to the success in this fast-paced industry.
Blizzard recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary. Considering this industry sees companies come and go, being around for twenty years puts Morhaime in the unique position to give advice from hard-earned experience. He shared some of that advice at the request of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science (AIAS), who appointed Morhaime to be on the Keynote Panel at the Design Innovate Communicate Entertain (DICE) Summit 2011. The AIAS had inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2008, around the time Bobby Kotick’s Activision and Morhaime’s Blizzard merged, and became Activision Blizzard.
For some, the merger of these video game giants seemed a blending of opposites. To the extreme, some have even said Bobby Kotick is evil. But Morhaime strongly disagrees. He has worked with Kotick and seen his triumphs with titles like Call of Duty, Tony Hawk, and Guitar Hero, just to name a few.
Asked about the merger, Morhaime said, “We were convinced that they did and that they were doing this for the right reasons, that the two businesses were complementary and that we wouldn’t be giving up our creative autonomy in any way. And that’s exactly how it’s panned out.” Insisting that Kotick has been true to his word, giving Blizzard complete autonomy, Morhaime has been able to build on his past successes. I n his years in the industry, Morhaime has become a good judge of character. So, when he hears detractors speak ill of his partner, Bobby Kotick, he believes they are criticizing him too harshly and aren’t taking into account the entire story.
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