Try Not To Be Shocked, But Blizzard Co-Founder Mike Morhaime Left The Company Mainly Due To Activision Interference

I know that not everyone is a fan of Jason Schreier's work all the time. I suppose your opinion largely depends on what angle his reporting at Bloomberg or his previous employers took, or how it painted your "favorite company or game" at the time. I've been a fan of his work for a while now. As someone who loves reading about the history in the video game world, I very much enjoyed his book Press Reset and the look it provided at companies of the past and some of the incredible interviews contained within its covers.

Schreier has a new book coming out on October 8th looking directly at Blizzard. To tease the book a bit, Schreier posted an adapted version of a portion of Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment today.

While the adapted excerpt probably won't shock you, it's a good read if you love the behind-the-scenes "tea."

Today's tea examined the relationship between Mike Morhaime, co-founder of Blizzard, and Bobby Kotick, the then CEO of Activision. If you know anything about Morhaime, you can likely guess how the relationship between these two played out. Schreier recaps how both gentleman rose in their respective positions, covers the purchase of Blizzard by Vivendi, the creation of Activision Blizzard Inc., and ends with the more recent lawsuits and recent departures.

What's more interesting to me is the detailed look at the relationship between Morhaime and Kotick in those in-between years. Initially, Blizzard was able to maintain a great deal of independence thanks in large part to making crazy money, mostly via World of Warcraft, at the time. That wouldn't last forever, though, and Kotick was reportedly always looking for the "next" WoW out of Blizzard. Titan was supposed to be that. Sadly, we all know how that ended: an $80 million cancelled project.

Sure, Blizzard was able to use SOME of the pieces of Titan eventually in Overwatch, but, according to Schreier's sources, Kotick wasn't ever going to let the cancellation slide. In response, Blizzard ended up picking up a new CFO to manage costs and a push for customer service and cinematic cuts courtesy of Activision and Kotick. The new leaders also questioned things like Blizzcon, events that made little to no money. Morhaime would talk up loyalty and customer service, but these words may as well have been in foreign languages for as much as the Activision leaders understood them.

While Morhaime kept pushing back and tried to maintain some level of independence and the ability to work on creative experimentation, Kotick and Activision were pushing for games that had the "potential to be exploited every year across every platform." Morhaime even penned an email to Kotick saying, "“I believe that preserving Blizzard’s culture and magic is a necessity for preserving Activision Blizzard’s advantage of having an organization that can attract and retain the best creative talent in the world and that can consistently produce the highest quality games and experiences,” he wrote. “It has been increasingly hard for me to provide Blizzard leadership and staff confidence that Blizzard has a stable future.”

Sadly, there wasn't going to be a recovery. Morhaime, according to Schreier, tried to resign in 2017 but was talked out of it by Kotick and others. The end would eventually come in 2018 when Morhaime officially announced his departure simply saying it was time for new leaders.

In truth, Schreier's sources say Morhaime left because he was simply "tired of fighting with Kotick. 'He looked like a second-term president,' said one former executive who asked not to be identified."

If you're into a bit of drama and gaming mixed together, hit up the full post and maybe consider picking up the book on the 8th.