Stockholders have approved the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games to form the goliath Activision Blizzard. GameDaily reports the deal officially closes on July 9 and the new company will trade on the Nasdaq under Activision's ATVI ticker. This instantly makes Activision Blizzard the new alpha dog in the industry with a value of $18.9 billion -- EA now trails with $14.1 billion.
Without getting into the nitty-gritty details, Activision Blizzard is expected to have the highest profit margins in the industry. Activision Blizzard should also continue to enjoy bagiggles of cash flowing into its coffers unless franchises like World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero suddenly self-destruct.
Reader Comments (44)
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:03PM Vegnagun said
Ugliest and least marketable name in existence.
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:04PM (Unverified) said
Never judge a developer by it's name.
Valve & People Can Fly ftw!
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Valve & People Can Fly ftw!
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:07PM (Unverified) said
And yet the richest company the industry has ever seen.
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Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:04PM BigEd said
I was going for BlizzardVision.
(patent pending)
(patent pending)
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 6:13PM The Artist Formerly known as Jes said
I was rooting for Activlizzard
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Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:06PM (Unverified) said
This is history.
PS: And who wouldn't love a Guitar Hero vs WoW cross-over? April Fool's Bard anyone?
PS: And who wouldn't love a Guitar Hero vs WoW cross-over? April Fool's Bard anyone?
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:09PM Zertoss said
I still like Actiblizzion and Actard better.
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:10PM In A World said
Blizzavision!
Actiblizzard!
Blactazzision!
Actard!
Actiblizzard!
Blactazzision!
Actard!
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:12PM (Unverified) said
obviously they should have called themselves Blactivision
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:13PM Roto13 said
The only Activision game I play is Guitar Hero, and I don't play any Blizzard games, but the fact that there is now a bigger company than EA pleases me.
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:15PM (Unverified) said
One more step to world controlling mega corporations! Yay!
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 10:43PM (Unverified) said
Lets see. Vivendi, Viacom, Time Warner.
Thats about half of the media right there!
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Thats about half of the media right there!
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 10:54PM (Unverified) said
Oh, and I forgot The Walt Disney Company too.
I guess you can throw News Corporation too.
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I guess you can throw News Corporation too.
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:16PM (Unverified) said
Prepare for Starcraft 9 within 5 years, skateboards in WoW, and Diablo Hero
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:16PM FredFredrickson said
Let's just hope that Blizzard can keep up the quality in work with this new merger... I like the company, and would hate to see Activision hurt it much.
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 10:29PM (Unverified) said
if Im not wrong, Blizzard will still act independently like they were doing under Vivendi
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Posted: Jul 9th 2008 8:28AM Otimus said
Don't worry! Blizzard will continue taking 5-10 years to make the same game for you over again, in what any other company could do in 6-12 months, whilst making it extremely ugly, able to run on a toaster, and getting their general balls licked by the gaming press, and fanboys for no real apparent reason, whilst Koreans build statues in their honor.
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Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:18PM (Unverified) said
I hope they buy Take 2 so EA can go piss on itself.
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:25PM (Unverified) said
Yeah, because Activision having take two would be SOOO much better.
Look at what activision's doing with call of duty and guitar hero, whoring them out every year. They're FAR worse than ea.
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Look at what activision's doing with call of duty and guitar hero, whoring them out every year. They're FAR worse than ea.
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:54PM SoCoolCurt said
well i wouldnt mind seeing Actiblizzard buy Take Two. that way i might actually be able to play a decent NFL football game before the century is up. if not, EA would just buy all their decent competition.
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Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:28PM (Unverified) said
So what's gonna happen to Brutal Legend now?
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:25PM (Unverified) said
Bandivision?
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:28PM Dirty said
Well they certainly have some hot new competition. Go ask tony hawk what he thinks of age of conan and rock band.
Just sayin.
Just sayin.
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 5:29PM (Unverified) said
And the good name of Blizzard becomes soiled within a year as less-informed customers wonder out loud what the difference is between Activision Blizzard and Blizzard.
[...Nearby a fanboy weeps...]
[...Nearby a fanboy weeps...]
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 6:00PM anoffday said
I love Activision games, and I love Blizzard games, so I'm all for this.
I'm also for any company bigger than EA. I hate EA.
I'm also for any company bigger than EA. I hate EA.
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 6:15PM (Unverified) said
hey i just realised remember when they said Diablo 3 wouldnt come to consoles and now there saying theres a chance it might, it could because of this merge activision are doing the console port of D3
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 9:14PM gohamstergo said
Blactizzard...word
Posted: Jul 8th 2008 11:54PM (Unverified) said
Whoa, you used my mock-up logo I made several months ago for an ABXY.org news article. Never expected to see that again. Haha.
Posted: Jul 9th 2008 3:43PM EA575 said
IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!
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