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Activision and Blizzard merge to form largest game publisher in the world

December 02, 2007 in News comments 22

As some may remember, Activision became the largest third party game publisher July of this year. Recently, Vivendi (Which owns Blizzard and Sierra) has merged with Activision. The publishing giant is now the largest game publisher in the world, called Activision Blizzard.

The combination of Activision and Vivendi Games, Activision Blizzard, will create the world's largest, most profitable pure-play video game publisher with some of the most popular titles in the industry, including Guitar Hero®, Call of Duty®, Tony Hawk, World of Warcraft®, Starcraft® and Diablo®.
Guticb via ps3fanboy.com »
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Most recently commented on by on Dec 3, 2007

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  • 0
    dmf_dynasty Dec 2, 07
    That's a terrible name. Activision Blizzard. It just sounds terrible. Maybe a merge of the names, Activendi. No, that sucks too. Oh well.
  • 0
    tidus04 Dec 2, 07
    That is indeed a strange name to have though I would have though Vivendi would have wanted some of there name still in it. Hopfully they can pull of some great titles together. A great sign of things to come..
  • 0
    VeGiTAX2 Dec 3, 07
    Vivendi also merged their Vivendi Games catalog with Activision and dumped 1.7 billion into the merger as well taking majority stock holding in the new company (52% with option to control 68%).

    This is more a case of Vivendi now showing off their two properties in the same name it seems.
  • 0
    Play ISDF Dec 3, 07
    I'm......so scared! Blizz and Acti, thats just an awesome and scary combo. Imagine the games @_@. They really should call themselves Actizarrd or Blizzion or something lol. They still sound bad but it's better than saying Activision Blizzard all the time.
  • 0
    Guugley Dec 3, 07
    Haha, pretty unusual but as long as they do the job with the games then it doesn't bother me the slightest.
  • 0
    Saiya Dec 3, 07
    The name is pretty stupid is I must add, but a joint game company wasn't such a stupid idea. I can see them producing great games together.
    • 0
      VeGiTAX2 Dec 3, 07
      It's apparently following the ever so popular merger of Namco Bandai Games.
  • 0
    Bale Fire Dec 3, 07
    Hmm what kind of titles has Activision made over the years?
    • 0
      VeGiTAX2 Dec 3, 07
      Well the merge is between two publishers, as such you generally talk about their published titles not what they made.

      Call of Duty series, Doom titles, Quake Titles, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk series, Spiderman series, X-Men Series, The Movies, Soldier of Fortune.

      Thats a general list of things, they have a boatload of franchise exclusives which they churn out for fast money as well.
  • 0
    iLLmatic Dec 3, 07
    I don't believe I own any Activision, Blizzard, or Vivendi games. The last Activision game I bought was that shitty Spiderman movie game. So yea, don't really care. I'm just surprised this merger makes them that big?
    • 0
      Dine_Agoti Dec 3, 07
      D= ... You, sir, are missing out.
  • 0
    Akira_EX Dec 3, 07
    Weekend megaton.

    Where the hell was the info on this? Stealth occurrence confirmed.
  • 0
    Storm Dec 3, 07
    It's a better name than Bandai Namco. Two big names coming together...Blizzard famous for the Warcraft series, and Activision...well who cares? xD
    • 0
      Akira_EX Dec 3, 07
      Activision owns Guitar Hero and Call of Duty, making them very respectable. They own some pretty damn popular series, and is why they are one of the biggest third-parties hanging along with EA.
  • 0
    Storm Dec 3, 07
    Yeah, I know about CoD quite well, but they don't develop the game, don't they just publish it? I don't think that's the same as owning it.
    • 3
      Akira_EX Dec 3, 07
      The larger idea here is that Activision's developers can now have access to Vivendi's resources.

      Although I would hate to use Gamespot right now, they have what I'm talking about here

      Paragraph in question:
      quote
      If the union is approved by US regulators, Activision Blizzard's estimated $3.8 billion in annual revenue will eclipse EA, which expects $3.35 to $3.65 billion in net revenue for its 2008 fiscal year. It will also put many marquee game franchises--Call of Duty, Tony Hawk, F.E.A.R., Diablo, StarCraft, Warcraft, and World of Warcraft--under a single roof. It will also give Activision's Guitar Hero franchise direct access to the library of Vivendi's Universal Music Group, the world's largest record label.
      Bolded for emphasis.

      I'd say that's pretty damn important.
  • 0
    chaosmonkix Dec 3, 07
    your post alone akira, just made my day. more music for one of my favorite games= pwnzors beyond belief.
  • 0
    Storm Dec 3, 07
    Yeah, great things to come with this merging. ^^
  • 0
    Dine_Agoti Dec 3, 07
    This sounds like it'll be pretty good for Guitar Hero. I'm looking forward to it. Although I will agree about the name, it is rather horrible. Why don't these mergers insight a bit more creativity?
    • 0
      Akira_EX Dec 3, 07
      Brand name. If you change the name, people won't know who you are beside the few who knew you changed your name.
  • 0
    BANDITO ATTACK Dec 3, 07
    good lord. can someone say 'monopoly'?

    Maybe that's a bit drastic, but DAAAAAMN
  • 0
    Seproth Dec 3, 07
    Awesome merger. Terrible name.

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