Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick recently revealed that Electronic Arts (EA) came close to acquiring Call of Duty in the past, and fans are relieved that the deal never materialized.

On October 13, Microsoft finalized its massive $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, clearing the way for Activision Blizzard titles to join Xbox Game Pass.

So far, games like Diablo IV, Crash Bandicoot 4, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 have been added to the service, with rumors suggesting that classic Call of Duty titles may soon join as well.

However, the deal hasn’t been without controversy. Some critics blamed Call of Duty for Microsoft raising the price of all Game Pass tiers, as well as removing day-one access to first-party Xbox games for Standard tier subscribers. Despite these concerns, the overall response to the acquisition has been largely positive.

Interestingly, none of this would have been possible if EA had succeeded in acquiring Call of Duty during earlier negotiations.

Fans Rejoice Over EA’s Missed Opportunity

In a recent episode of the Grit podcast, Bobby Kotick shared details about Activision’s prior interactions with EA. He explained that EA had made several attempts to acquire and merge with Activision.

“They tried to buy us multiple times. We had merger conversations several times,” Kotick said. He added that EA passed on acquiring Call of Duty and Guitar Hero before Activision fully owned the intellectual properties.

Kotick didn’t mince words about former EA CEO John Riccitiello, who led the company from 2007 to 2013. He called Riccitiello the “worst CEO in video games” and joked, “We would have paid for Riccitiello to stay as [EA] CEO forever.”

Community Reactions to EA’s Failure to Acquire Call of Duty

Fans agreed that an EA-controlled Call of Duty would have been disastrous. “Imagine the microtransactions they would’ve shoved down our throats,” one commenter remarked. Another added, “If EA merged with Activision, the game would have fallen off a cliff unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”

Even as player counts for Black Ops 6 and Warzone have seen declines, many fans are thankful the franchise isn’t under EA’s management. For them, the current ownership—warts and all—is far better than what could have been under EA’s control.