Wanna take on World of Warcraft? Got a billion dollars?

We all know that World of Warcraft rules the MMO space with a sun-deprived, Cheetoh-dust-stained fist. But just how extensive is that rule? Well, to give you some idea, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has just told GamesIndustry.biz "We don't think that even if we made the USD 500 million or billion-dollar investment to get a product out [to compete with WoW] that we would even be successful doing it."

Admittedly, Kotick has a horse in this race (what with his company owning the game now) and he could just be trying to scare off all comers. But when you look at the game's crazy (and preposterously still growing) fan base, it's hard to really dispute his case.