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 (Page 1 of 1)
Vegnagun bwf @ Jul 8th 2008 5:03PM
Ugliest and least marketable name in existence.
Jakka @ Jul 8th 2008 5:04PM
Never judge a developer by it's name.
Valve & People Can Fly ftw!
tmacairjordan87 @ Jul 8th 2008 5:07PM
And yet the richest company the industry has ever seen.
bigsofty @ Jul 8th 2008 6:12PM
And so the business gets further taken over by the suits...
mj @ Jul 8th 2008 8:16PM
They'll always be BlizzAct in my heart.
Big Ed @ Jul 8th 2008 5:04PM
I was going for BlizzardVision.
(patent pending)
Marty @ Jul 8th 2008 5:15PM
I liked 'Blizzactivision' myself.
hurmun @ Jul 8th 2008 5:23PM
pff haha blizzactivision
The Artist formally known as Jesus @ Jul 8th 2008 6:13PM
I was rooting for Activlizzard
mr mobius @ Jul 8th 2008 7:59PM
Vizard
Activizard
Blizzivision
Activision VS Blizzard
Charizard
Monopolyzard
Abcltiizvziasridon
Just some suggestions.
ogvor @ Jul 8th 2008 11:27PM
Actard
Jakka @ Jul 8th 2008 5:06PM
This is history.
PS: And who wouldn't love a Guitar Hero vs WoW cross-over? April Fool's Bard anyone?
Zertoss @ Jul 8th 2008 5:09PM
I still like Actiblizzion and Actard better.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jul 8th 2008 5:49PM
lol @ Actard
Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Jul 8th 2008 5:10PM
Blizzavision!
Actiblizzard!
Blactazzision!
Actard!
Marius @ Jul 8th 2008 5:12PM
obviously they should have called themselves Blactivision
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jul 8th 2008 5:51PM
NNNOOOOOOO!!!!
too racy lol.
mj @ Jul 8th 2008 8:17PM
Always bet on ... BLACTivision!
Roto13 @ Jul 8th 2008 5:13PM
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.
theturtle363 @ Jul 8th 2008 5:15PM
One more step to world controlling mega corporations! Yay!
Hafk @ Jul 8th 2008 10:43PM
Lets see. Vivendi, Viacom, Time Warner.
Thats about half of the media right there!
Hafk @ Jul 8th 2008 10:54PM
Oh, and I forgot The Walt Disney Company too.
I guess you can throw News Corporation too.
CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jul 8th 2008 5:16PM
Prepare for Starcraft 9 within 5 years, skateboards in WoW, and Diablo Hero
phobic99 @ Jul 8th 2008 5:57PM
Can't wait for Diablo Hero!
Ghen @ Jul 9th 2008 7:41AM
Killing demons with crazy guitar riffs? Fighting epic battles against the Lord of Terror with my massive solo? Needing lightning resist in hell mode to stop the torrent of green blue orange triplets?
FUCK YES.
Marty @ Jul 8th 2008 5:16PM
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.
Noshino @ Jul 8th 2008 10:29PM
if Im not wrong, Blizzard will still act independently like they were doing under Vivendi
Anti-Blizzard League @ Jul 9th 2008 8:28AM
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.
vangl76 @ Jul 8th 2008 5:18PM
I hope they buy Take 2 so EA can go piss on itself.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jul 8th 2008 5:25PM
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.
CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jul 8th 2008 5:27PM
Tony Hawk says hi to:)
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jul 8th 2008 5:54PM
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.
Sora267 @ Jul 8th 2008 8:01PM
Fine, but only if Blizzard gets control of Take 2. Then a GTA MMO could be a reality!
deaftly @ Jul 8th 2008 5:25PM
Bandivision?
Dirty @ Jul 8th 2008 5:28PM
Well they certainly have some hot new competition. Go ask tony hawk what he thinks of age of conan and rock band.
Just sayin.
5abanja @ Jul 8th 2008 5:28PM
So what's gonna happen to Brutal Legend now?
Meatball @ Jul 8th 2008 5:50PM
It'll likely be published under the Activision name
Anam @ Jul 8th 2008 5:29PM
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...]
offday @ Jul 8th 2008 6:00PM
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.
lee @ Jul 8th 2008 6:15PM
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
Sora267 @ Jul 8th 2008 8:02PM
I'd rather have no console port at all than have Activision handle it. I mean, they might hand it to Treyarch *shudders*
Josh @ Jul 8th 2008 9:14PM
Blactizzard...word
Teddy @ Jul 8th 2008 11:54PM
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.
Elisha Adeagbo @ Jul 9th 2008 3:43PM
IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!