Activision boss Bobby Kotick is misunderstood and doesn't deserve his industry hate figure status, so says Blizzard president Mike Morhaime.

"I have an advantage there because I know Bobby personally and we have very long, in-depth conversations, so my view of him is not limited to small sound bites taken out of context," said Morhaime in a new MCV interview.

"I can tell you that Bobby has been very supportive of Blizzard and that we have a great relationship with him. I don't think the public image that some people have of him is fair or accurate."

He then went on to promise that Blizzard had retained full creative independence following its 2008 merger with the Call of Duty publisher.

"We wouldn't have been supportive of the deal had we believed that Bobby and Activision didn't have an understanding of how special Blizzard entertainment is and weren't supportive of our values.

"We were convinced that they did and that they were doing this for the right reasons, that the two businesses were complementary and that we wouldn't be giving up our creative autonomy in any way. And that's exactly how it's panned out."

Next up from Blizzard is keenly anticipated action RPG sequel Diablo III. It's due on PC on an as yet undetermined date, though speculation is mounting that a console version is in the works too.