The Call of Duty and World of Warcraft series could be owned by Electronic Arts, - said the former head of the company
Although major franchises such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty are now owned by Microsoft after Activision acquired Blizzard, a former EA executive said that EA could have owned these iconic franchises instead.
Here's What We Know
Bing Gordon, the former creative director of EA, spoke about how EA had the opportunity to acquire Activision Blizzard's intellectual property, including Guitar Hero, and even Blizzard itself. Gordon explained that EA considered these offers, but ultimately rejected them all.
For context, EA had a chance to acquire Blizzard before its merger with Activision in 2008, when it was still part of Vivendi Games. Gordon said that EA turned down the opportunity at the time. He expressed admiration for Robert Kotick, former CEO of Activision, for his foresight in making the acquisition. Gordon praised Kotick for successfully retaining key creative talent that has been critical to the long-term success of Activision Blizzard.
In the same podcast, Kotick said that Activision Blizzard had approached EA with a merger proposal on several occasions. Gordon, reflecting on EA's own moves, mentioned the acquisition of PopCap and its focus on casual games at the time.
After Microsoft completed its acquisition, Activision Blizzard showed significant growth: in early 2024, Microsoft reported a 49% increase in revenue.
Source: GamingBolt
