John Riccitiello was apparently one of the least effective leaders in the gaming world. At least, that’s what Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard, thinks. Kotick, who isn’t without his own controversies, revealed on the Grit show that he would have gladly ensured Riccitiello stayed at the helm of EA. This revealing conversation was shared with Bing Gordon, who once served as EA’s chief creative officer.
“I’m not just saying this because Bing’s here,” Kotick clarified, as reported by GameSpot. He went on to explain, “We were always worried that Bing would end up running [EA]. Honestly, we would have paid just to keep Riccitiello as CEO indefinitely… we genuinely thought he was the worst CEO in the video game industry.”
Interestingly, despite Kotick’s harsh words and the apparent tension between EA and Activision Blizzard, there were actually several merger discussions over the years. Kotick reminisced, “[EA] attempted to acquire us numerous times. We had numerous merger talks.”
He also admitted that EA’s operations outpaced theirs in many respects, hinting at a begrudging respect for certain aspects of their business.
Riccitiello’s history with EA began in 1997, where he started out as the company’s president and chief operating officer. He left, only to return as CEO in 2007, but departed once more in 2013 due to disappointing financial results. He then took the role of chief executive at Unity, the major games engine company, which he left under a cloud of controversy in 2023.
Before his exit from Unity, Riccitiello didn’t hold back in an interview with PocketGamer.biz, where he didn’t mince words, calling some developers “the biggest fucking idiots.” Quite the character indeed.
