Top 10 Worst Things Activision Blizzard Has Done

#10: Constant “COD” Content

“Call of Duty” franchise (2003-)

Every year without fail, a new “Call of Duty” game will hit shelves. It will leave the core gameplay and multiplayer almost untouched, adding little more than a short campaign, some flashier graphics, and devouring all of your hard drive space. On top of annual releases, these new “COD” games will always cost far more than they’re worth, forcing people to pay out extortionate amounts of money not only for the game but for those pesky season passes as well. Few people would be disappointed if “Call of Duty” changed tact and put out better games less often, but when Activision is still raking in the cash with this business strategy, it’s not likely to change anytime soon.

#9: “Warcraft III: Reforged” (2020)

In an era of non-stop reboots and remakes - the vast majority are resoundingly disappointing - “Warcraft III: Reforged” was no exception. Its wealth of technical issues wasn’t the worst of Blizzard’s errors, either – it was also significantly more limited than the 2002 original with many promised features completely missing. But to make matters even worse, this wasn’t a case where players could just ignore the remake and keep playing “Reign of Chaos” because Blizzard used the same servers. This meant players were forced into updating to the newer, inferior version and losing some of the functionality the original had. Blizzard ended up offering everybody refunds.

#8: “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5” (2015)

In a bid to maintain the licensing rights to the “Tony Hawk” series, Activision decided to mercilessly destroy what was once one of the best franchises out there. “Pro Skater 5” was a cheap cash-in on Tony Hawk’s name and little else besides. Its gameplay was completely uninspired, featuring bland maps that asked players to collect random items while playing music that couldn’t match up to the iconic soundtracks of the originals. Though it was the worst “Tony Hawk” game, the worst skateboarding game, and one of the worst games ever made period, the fact Activision thought they could get away with this might be the worst thing about it.

#7: The Auction House

“Diablo III” (2012)

A defining feature of “Diablo” has always been its randomly-generated loot, and “Diablo III” went a step further by introducing an in-game auction house for you to buy and sell items to get the loot you really want. Though there was an auction house for in-game currency, there was another far more controversial one where players could use real-world money to buy high-level items. For people willing to farm loot, the auction house was big business, but paying to be better at the game was widely disliked. Finally, in 2014, the auction house was shuttered for good, with Blizzard developers saying that implementing it at all was one of their biggest regrets.

#6: The Treatment of Bungie

“Destiny” (2014) & “Destiny 2” (2017)

After the wild success of “Halo,” all eyes were on Bungie to see what its next big IP would be. “Destiny” was promised as a triple-A adventure through the solar system – but on release, it didn’t live up to expectations. It was overhyped to oblivion by Activision’s marketing, and an unpleasant deal with Sony meant that until 2019, PS4 players were getting exclusive content over other platforms. Following the disappointment of the first game, Activision pushed Bungie into releasing a sequel long before they wanted to. The companies ultimately split and Bungie self-published “Destiny 2,” greatly improving it and making it free – but Activision almost killed the franchise in the process.

#5: Infinity Ward

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” (2009)

Activision has a bad reputation for enlisting lots of studios in the development of “COD,” with studios Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Raven Software, and Sledgehammer Games all playing a role in producing a new FPS each year. But this approach made enemies of Infinity Ward’s co-founders, Jason West and Vince Zampella, just a few months after the launch of “Modern Warfare 2.” Already tired of making “COD” games, Activision alleged that Zampella and West were in talks with EA, which caused Activision to unceremoniously fire them both. The duo sued Activision for wrongful termination and came out on top in the end, winning tens of millions of dollars from their former employers.

#4: Tweeting a Fake Terror Attack

Lots of politically contentious things happen in “Call of Duty” – who can forget “No Russian”? – but this marketing stunt for “Black Ops III” was particularly awful. Somebody at Activision had the bright idea to transform the official “COD” Twitter account into a fake news network and started posting about an alleged terrorist attack in Singapore, followed by rioting and a state of emergency being called in the city. When it was revealed that no, Singapore hadn’t been the victim of a devastating attack and the entire story was just to promote one of the world’s most lucrative video games, people had run out of patience for Activision. Who thought this was acceptable?

#3: Microtransaction Patent

Forget paying $60 for a finished game at release. Now you’ll pay more money for unfinished games and are expected to buy virtual items on top. Microtransactions are the bane of every gamer’s life, and Activision Blizzard is no exception. “Overwatch” is famously riddled with loot boxes, while even “Call of Duty” had supply drops for a while. But worst of all was Activision’s patent for a matchmaking technique that would drop players who had bought items through microtransactions into matches that would make those weapons “highly effective.” This would serve to convince people to shell out even more for a clear gameplay advantage. It hasn’t been implemented, but the patent’s existence is unpleasant enough.

#2: The Blitzchung Controversy

In 2019, popular “Hearthstone” player Blitzchung spoke out in support of the Hong Kong protests during a tournament, much to the ire of Blizzard. He was kicked from the tournament, forced to forfeit his prize money, and was banned from competing for a year. The public backlash was enormous, with Blizzard widely perceived as pandering to China – not in the least because Chinese publisher Tencent owns a stake in Activision Blizzard. Blizzard rolled back Blitzchung’s punishment a little and apologized, but not until after “Overwatch” players began using Mei (may) as a mascot for the Hong Kong protests; a boycott of Activision Blizzard was launched; and Mitsubishi, a sponsor of the tournament, withdrew support.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few Dishonorable Mentions:

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered” (2016)

People Who Bought “Infinite Warfare” for This Lost Out When It Released on Its Own

“Diablo Immortal” (TBA)

Unfortunately for Blizzard, This Was Not a Prank

Open Dot DLC

For 100 COD Points, a Red Dot Sight Marginally Different from the Free One Could Be Yours

#1: Starving Staff

You’d think that with ballooning video game budgets, at least some money would go to the developers themselves – but despite Activision making billions of dollars each year, in 2020 it came out that many Activision Blizzard devs were struggling to make ends meet. CEO Bobby Kotick took home a paycheck for more than $30 million in 2020, and in protest, the developers shared their own salaries on an anonymous spreadsheet. They discovered they were being grossly underpaid and many of them were having to skip meals because their wages were so low. Even the company’s shareholders aren’t happy with the huge bonuses Kotick and the other executives give themselves.