Game giants Activision and Blizzard merge to form new company

[exterminatus]

The companies behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are merging in a deal which could shake up the global video games industry. Activision and Blizzard have said they will form "the world's most profitable games business" in a deal worth $18.8bn (£9.15bn).

US-based Activision also makes hit console games such as the Tony Hawk series and Guitar Hero.

Nine million people pay a monthly subscription to play World of Warcraft.

'High-growth industry'

Blizzard is the biggest player in online gaming and Warcraft is the global market leader of what are known as massively multi-player online role-playing games, or MMORPGs.

It is currently owned by the French media group Vivendi.

As part of the merger plan, Blizzard will invest $2bn in the new company, while Activision is putting up $1bn.

The merged business will be called Activision Blizzard and its chief executive will be Activision's current CEO Bobby Kotick. Vivendi will be the biggest shareholder in the group.

Jean-Bernard Levy, Vivendi chief executive, said: "This alliance is a major strategic step for Vivendi and is another illustration of our drive to extend our presence in the entertainment sector.

"By combining Vivendi's games business with Activision, we are creating a worldwide leader in a high-growth industry."

Different strengths

The two firms are hoping that their different strengths will combine to form a business which is powerful on every gaming platform and in every territory.

Blizzard is strong in Asia, where its Starcraft series has proved hugely popular.

Starcraft, a strategy game first released in 1998, is played by millions of South Koreans in gaming cyber-cafes, and by professional gamers on television.

Activision has developed a presence on all three new generation game consoles - Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii - with franchises such as Spider-Man and X-Men.

The games software industry has been through turbulent years, with companies changing ownership and going in and out of business in rapid succession.

Activision was formed in 1979 and went through bankruptcy and a series of alliances and mergers before becoming successful.

Blizzard had been through a number of owners before ending up in the hands of Vivendi in 1998.

Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7123582.stm)

[archvile]

o m g....
this is soo imba
wow dred wowww

[exterminatus]

That was my first reaction to when i read the article, but then i got to thinking.
Activision made the call of duty series which is one of the better fps series, now that they and Blizzard are now one company they can help one another
with programming for joint projects. What i'm getting at is Starcraft ghost was shelved but not dropped, now that they are part of activision, Activision
can work and finish ghost and launch it on next gen consoles.

[slickdre]

wow this is something really big.....i mean two big company comin together like this
could it be possible that some other companies might look to do the same??

[scaR]

It's good to see two strong gaming companies come together like this. The gaming industry needs more non-EA mergers if it is to keep growing. Lets hope Blizz/Activision can save Ubisoft from EA's stained fingers. Now that would be even greater ownage.

[archvile]

Orcs With Rocket Launchers!
Burning Legions As Tanks!

[TaC_Up]

I thought it was between vivendi and activision. This of course means blizzard but other companies as well such as sierra. So it is a much larger deal than you guys think :P.

[Xecutiona]

many people here care about blizzard more than they care about other publishers because of the products they made(idont need to tell anyone)

this deal is mega mega money for this new entity, especially when activisio and sierra are going to use blizzard's name to get its product sold in asia

there is already a deal for blizzard to get guitar hero going out there in asia, expect muh, much more...also, the free exchange of technicians,coders and specialists could ensure very high quality games multiplatform...


i have much more faith in activision than i do of lazy EA...they have got their act together

[Paradoxxx]

Blizzard needs to get on steam or provide a service like that, this CD-Key nonsense must end!!

[TaC_Up]

Blizzard needs to get on steam or provide a service like that, this CD-Key nonsense must end!!

You won't have to worry about that. Activision already distributes their games through steam, that's where I got my Cod4 from and I don't see why they will change that anytime in the future. Granted you will have to wait a week or two from launch because they want the boxed versions to sell as well.

[slickdre]

I second that....CD-Key muss end

[TaC_Up]

many people here care about blizzard more than they care about other publishers because of the products they made(idont need to tell anyone)

this deal is mega mega money for this new entity, especially when activisio and sierra are going to use blizzard's name to get its product sold in asia

there is already a deal for blizzard to get guitar hero going out there in asia, expect muh, much more...also, the free exchange of technicians,coders and specialists could ensure very high quality games multiplatform...


i have much more faith in activision than i do of lazy EA...they have got their act together

I just red an interview that blizzard ceo had. He specifically said that they are NOT going to use the blizzard logo for anything outside of blizzard's games and they are not going to use the joint logo in their games either. The merge was basically to keep up profits for the year while they develop games, we all know blizzard takes their team with everything and as you said to give them access to the best techs,coders etc.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3164670

Link to the interview.