Kotick Calls EA’s Riccitiello the “Worst CEO” in Gaming Industry

It seems that in the gaming world, John Riccitiello hasn’t exactly been winning any popularity contests. Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who hasn’t been without his share of controversy, openly shared his thoughts on Riccitiello during an appearance on the Grit podcast alongside Bing Gordon, EA’s former chief creative officer.

Kotick didn’t shy away from expressing his opinions, emphasizing, “I’m not just saying this because Bing’s here,” which was noted in a GameSpot transcript. Kotick cheekily admitted that he would’ve happily paid to keep Riccitiello at the helm of EA indefinitely, believing he was, as he put it, “the worst CEO in video games.”

Despite this lively rivalry, it appears that EA and Activision Blizzard explored the idea of joining forces more than once. “EA tried to buy us quite a few times, and we had merger discussions,” Kotick reminisced. Surprisingly, he did acknowledge that EA’s business had some advantages over theirs.

Riccitiello’s journey at EA began in 1997 as president and COO. He left, only to return later in 2007 as CEO, before eventually stepping down in 2013 due to the company’s disappointing fiscal results. He then took up the chief executive role at Unity, leaving in 2023 amid a whirlwind of controversy.

Prior to his departure from Unity, Riccitiello made headlines with an interview he gave to PocketGamer.biz, where he didn’t mince words, calling some developers “the biggest idiots.” A bold statement, to say the least!