Merger Official, Say Hello to Activision Blizzard [Archive]

AgtFox

07-08-2008, 01:17 PM

With over 92% stockholder approval with the vote today, the merger of Activision and Vivendi will be closed on tomorrow and the new company will be named Activision Blizzard, but will keep Activision's NASDAQ acronym of ATVI. Here is a piece of the press release, full one in next post:

Activision and Vivendi Games will combine their businesses through the merger of a newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision with and into Vivendi Games. As a result of the merger, Vivendi Games, the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment and Sierra, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision.
Good or bad...what do you guys think? And who was still hoping the company would be named Blizzvision or Actiblizzard?

AgtFox

07-08-2008, 01:17 PM

Full Press Release:

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jul 08, 2008 -- Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced that, at a special meeting of stockholders held earlier today, it received the stockholder approval necessary to consummate the company's agreement with Vivendi, S.A. to combine Vivendi Games, Vivendi's interactive entertainment business, with Activision's businesses. All of the proposals required to effect the transaction received more than 92 percent of the shares voted. The transaction is expected to close on or around July 9, 2008.

Activision and Vivendi Games will combine their businesses through the merger of a newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision with and into Vivendi Games. As a result of the merger, Vivendi Games, the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment and Sierra, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision. Vivendi will receive approximately 295.3 million newly issued shares of Activision common stock. Concurrently with the merger, Vivendi will purchase approximately 62.9 million newly issued shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share for a total of approximately $1.7 billion in cash, resulting in a total Vivendi ownership stake in Activision Blizzard of approximately 52% on a fully diluted basis and approximately 54% of shares outstanding. As of the closing of the transaction, Activision will be renamed Activision Blizzard and will continue to operate as a public company traded on NASDAQ under the ticker ATVI.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard, Inc. is a worldwide pure-play online and console game publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry.

Activision Blizzard maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Romania, Australia, Chile, India, Japan China, the region of Taiwan and South Korea. More information about Activision Blizzard and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activisionblizzard.com (http://www.activisionblizzard.com).

CaptStu

07-08-2008, 01:19 PM

Placeholder...

J Arcane

07-08-2008, 01:19 PM

So should I start expecting the characters in Call of Duty 6 to sport huge shoulderpads and cartoony graphics too?

Variable Gear

07-08-2008, 01:20 PM

Hi, where's the cake?

AgtFox

07-08-2008, 01:22 PM

So should I start expecting the characters in Call of Duty 6 to sport huge shoulderpads and cartoony graphics too?
I would expect rainbows aplenty in the next Call of Duty game and for there to be an alternate universe Call of Duty that involves the Zerg ;)

Zanzibar

07-08-2008, 01:23 PM

...an alternate universe Call of Duty that involves the Zerg ;)
I would SO play that.

AgtFox

07-08-2008, 01:23 PM

Oh yes, this officially will close down Sierra as a brand name...it was a good run even though it isn't the company it once was.

Hemalin

07-08-2008, 01:24 PM

I would expect rainbows aplenty in the next Call of Duty game and for there to be an alternate universe Call of Duty that involves the Zerg ;)

They're just going to wussify the CoD series by adding rainbows and guys getting their heads ripped off.

Schnoogs

07-08-2008, 01:25 PM

So should I start expecting the characters in Call of Duty 6 to sport huge shoulderpads and cartoony graphics too?

Yeah but Bean said the graphics won awards so they must be good...right?

J Arcane

07-08-2008, 01:26 PM

I would expect rainbows aplenty in the next Call of Duty game and for there to be an alternate universe Call of Duty that involves the Zerg ;)
Well, didn't Infinity Ward say they were working on a sci-fi game?

Ten19

07-08-2008, 01:27 PM

I still can't believe they went with the retarded name. I, for one, will just call them Blizzard, thanks.

Dukefrukem

07-08-2008, 01:29 PM

are we gonna start seeing Blizzard games on steam now? or is that an IW thing and not an Activision thing?

Zander

07-08-2008, 01:36 PM

I do not like homogenization and I do not belive this is good for the industry.

DarkDaY

07-08-2008, 01:43 PM

No biggie to me, at least EA cant buy them up now.
Just keep the games coming...slowly

Lord_Don

07-08-2008, 01:43 PM

I do not like homogenization and I do not belive this is good for the industry.

This.

shortsentenceisshort

Yeti2005

07-08-2008, 02:12 PM

This pretty much guarantees we'll see Diablo 3 on the consoles. Thank you Activision :)

Suicidal ShiZuru

07-08-2008, 02:17 PM

This pretty much guarantees we'll see Diablo 3 on the consoles. Thank you Activision :)

Hahahahahahahahaha

Itchyeyes

07-08-2008, 02:18 PM

This pretty much guarantees we'll see Diablo 3 on the consoles. Thank you Activision :)
Shhh... the dedicated fanbase will roast you alive for saying such a thing optimistically. We're talking about a group of people that considers using only slightly muted colors as a personal insult and a slap in the face.

Sandman

07-08-2008, 02:22 PM

They could have called it Actilizzard....Blizzvision....Activision Blizzard is just lame.

Verocity

07-08-2008, 02:24 PM

This does not bode well...

rein

07-08-2008, 02:38 PM

So should I start expecting the characters in Call of Duty 6 to sport huge shoulderpads and cartoony graphics too?

No! They will all be Night Elf chicks stripping for gold. It will be called Call of Duty 6:The Dance Off.

walkstheplanes

07-08-2008, 02:39 PM

I think it's still too soon to tell. I just hope the quality that Blizzard is reputed for is maintained.

Sl1pstream

07-08-2008, 02:40 PM

Well, didn't Infinity Ward say they were working on a sci-fi game?

Starcraft. Ghost. Awesome.

Also, Blizzivision > Blizzvision.

Talon-

07-08-2008, 02:40 PM

This pretty much guarantees we'll see Diablo 3 on the consoles. Thank you Activision :)

Battle.net idiots are annoying enough. Throw in Xbox Live asshats with voicechat, and I'll be forced into ganking bitches. ;)

Yes, I actually can't hear these asshats singing because of that little filtering option that Microsoft graciously included. Let me have my fun!

Anyways, this will be an interesting test case of who holds the power. If anyone can get away with giving a publisher the finger, Blizzard would certainly be at the top of that list. I for one believe we'll see this on consoles.

GrenadeMagnet

07-08-2008, 02:41 PM

Blazztivision?
Actitard?

AgtFox

07-08-2008, 02:49 PM

I think it's still too soon to tell. I just hope the quality that Blizzard is reputed for is maintained.
All signs point to Blizzard being unaffected by this and still be in control of everything they do.

Now, Sierra's holdings are a totally different matter as I believe the Activision side of this is taking over publishing duties. Games coming from Sierra previous would be things like Prototype, Ghostbusters, the new 50 Cent game and Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust.

Virtual Machine

07-08-2008, 03:18 PM

Everyone else hates EA, i hate Activision.

I see this as altogether bad news.

Say hello to rushed product, mediocre Customer support, and a bazillion sequels - basically all the same stuff EA is given crap for, only with a 30points lower average metascore.

Heretic Machine

07-08-2008, 03:26 PM

This pretty much guarantees we'll see Diablo 3 on the consoles. Thank you Activision :)

Eh... you realize that the original Diablo was on the PS1, right? Along with Warcraft II and it's expansion. Starcraft appeared on the N64.

They were all shitty ports, and that is why no body remembers them.

Hemalin

07-08-2008, 03:28 PM

Eh... you realize that the original Diablo was on the PS1, right? Along with Warcraft II and it's expansion. Starcraft appeared on the N64.

They were all shitty ports, and that is why no body remembers them.

Well this time Activision can farm out the ports to other devs like Treyarch, so they are guaranteed to be awesome, right?

ZMoe

07-08-2008, 03:33 PM

I was kind of hoping for Ac'tard but oh well.

Gedd

07-08-2008, 03:33 PM

Lol, Activizzard.

Is this the part where they become like EA games and release as much crap as possible while shining on the gamers who ask for patches?

...I sure hope not!

RMan

07-08-2008, 03:50 PM

Blactardzzvision sounds about right.

Magnanimous Gnome

07-08-2008, 04:09 PM

I do not like homogenization and I do not belive this is good for the industry.

Agreed. Nothing much else to say.

Magnanimous Gnome

07-08-2008, 04:12 PM

Lol, Activizzard.

Is this the part where they become like EA games and release as much crap as possible while shining on the gamers who ask for patches?

...I sure hope not!

Aren't they pretty much there already?

I got annoyed with Ubi and EA releasing yearly sequels last gen, but both companies have since toned that down, with the exception of EA's sports games of course. Activision was more than happy to pick up the reins though.

Philonious

07-08-2008, 05:08 PM

Activision Blizzard is just the corporate name... Everything is SUPPOSED to remain the same at Blizzard, though the Diablo 3 announcement may have been done to boost stock prices.

Kelegacy

07-08-2008, 05:24 PM

I don't think I own a single Activision game. No...I must, right? A massive megacorp like that?

Wait, CoD2, which I bought for a few bucks on clearance recently. Still unopened (beat it years ago on a rental).

DeathtollWRX

07-08-2008, 05:29 PM

How about a Mechwarrior game featuring Star Craft vehicles?

"We've got Goliaths down at nav Gamma"

bryan

07-08-2008, 05:44 PM

Magnanimous Gnome

07-08-2008, 06:13 PM

An avid pc gamer myself, I don't see why there shouldn't be D3 on the consoles. I never understood much the point of exclusivity. Having said that it'll be highly likely it'll be a port. It'll be more cost effective to swing Blizz's development machinery to a new project and just farm it out to the many companies the new company has available to them.

Mechwarrior rights are owned by Microsoft.

Actually I think they recently sold the rights to someone else...is that correct? I know that they sold Crimson Skies.

Hopefully someone will take both properties and use them for something great. MS let them rot for far too long.

MusashiOf5Rings

07-08-2008, 06:19 PM

I do not like homogenization and I do not belive this is good for the industry.

I agree wholeheartedly with the above. I'd also like to point out a few things. On one hand, if they leave Blizzard alone, Blizzard will keep sending checks along. However, lately Activision hasn't been smart enough to leave well enough alone.

Exhibit A: Call of Duty 3. Treyarch did good work with the Spiderman 2 movie tie-in, but CoD3 was mediocre at best, mostly due to things like unskippable cutscenes, and quick-time events. Yet, despite that, Treyarch is still working on CoD5.

Exhibit B: Guitar Hero. I like Guitar Hero as much as the next guy and all, but 3 was not remotely the same experience. But now we have Guitar Hero on the DS, and at this point I'm just waiting for the cell phone game. They intend to milk that cash cow hard until it crashes and burns.

Now whether this kind of exploitation, which generates piles of money in the short term, but rarely establishes long-term cornerstones, is actually good business or not, I cannot say. It leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the hardcore, but anymore, we are in the minority.

Activision now has a Red Ryder BB gun. They might be ok, but they are probably just gonna shoot their eye out.

Orz

07-08-2008, 06:19 PM

They could have called it Actilizzard....Blizzvision....Activision Blizzard is just lame.

Blactivizzard?

Evil Avatar

07-08-2008, 06:25 PM

I just felt a shudder in the force, like somewhere 5 Million WoW players all cried out in pain and were suddenly silenced.

Edit: Oh, and World of Warcraft on a console. You read it here first.

bean19

07-08-2008, 06:36 PM

This is a money thing more than a gamer thing.

Now it will have have an eventual effect on gamers, but I don't think I, or anyone outside of the top tiers of the organization, can really predict those effects. Will this become a publisher that works with Blizzard's focus on accessibility and only shipping high quality, polished products? Or will it bring down Blizzard's quality, but use the name to make some money on people who relate it to the quality.

AgtFox

07-08-2008, 06:44 PM

Mechwarrior rights are owned by Microsoft.

Actually I think they recently sold the rights to someone else...is that correct? I know that they sold Crimson Skies.

Hopefully someone will take both properties and use them for something great. MS let them rot for far too long.
Electronic rights of MechWarrior (Battletech), Shadowrun and Crimson Skies was licensed to Jordan Weisman who founded FASA and several other companies. Don't know who owns the actual property if Microsoft sold the electronic license.

WizKids (a Weisman company) did own the property rights, but they were sold to Topps in 2004 and I'm not sure if Weisman transferred the property to another of his companies.

Mr.Green

07-08-2008, 07:18 PM

How about Active Lizard?

Rommel

07-08-2008, 08:15 PM

I just felt a shudder in the force, like somewhere 5 Million WoW players all cried out in pain and were suddenly silenced.

Edit: Oh, and World of Warcraft on a console. You read it here first.

Will it be on the Half Life 1 engine?!

You know I keep coming here, year after year, just to keep you from pretending that was never said.

Spigot

07-08-2008, 08:27 PM

Exhibit B: Guitar Hero. I like Guitar Hero as much as the next guy and all, but 3 was not remotely the same experience. But now we have Guitar Hero on the DS, and at this point I'm just waiting for the cell phone game. They intend to milk that cash cow hard until it crashes and burns.Guitar Hero was the tipping point for me when it came to how I view Activision. Up until then, they were just another publisher, albeit one that had a lot of titles out there. The way they've run Guitar Hero into the ground really got my goat and this merger has me worried.

I just hope that Blizzard has enough heft in this situation to keep from having a yearly Diablo or Warcraft game come out. That said, maybe this would let us get games like Starcraft: Ghost or Warcraft Adventures instead of seeing them wander off into the sunset...

fitbabits

07-08-2008, 08:42 PM

Hello, Activision Blizzard.

Talon-

07-08-2008, 08:49 PM

I just hope that Blizzard has enough heft in this situation to keep from having a yearly Diablo or Warcraft game come out. That said, maybe this would let us get games like Starcraft: Ghost or Warcraft Adventures instead of seeing them wander off into the sunset...

I don't know if this bodes well for those types of games, though. StarCraft: Ghost was outsourced, and Activision would be excited to farm out WarCraft/Diablo/StarCraft console-based titles.

I like to think that Blizzard would be able to say "Fuck off" in the case that those games don't match the quality we've come to associate with the developer.

mightbe

07-08-2008, 08:57 PM

Edit: Oh, and World of Warcraft on a console. You read it here first.

I've been screaming this since the 360 launch, dude. I don't think it will be too long before it's on PS3/360.

But I've been wrong about this for a while now.

Farsight

07-08-2008, 09:23 PM

Blactivision.

That is all.

fitbabits

07-08-2008, 09:24 PM

Blactivision.

That is all.

Actizzard, actually.

J Arcane

07-08-2008, 09:26 PM

Electronic rights of MechWarrior (Battletech), Shadowrun and Crimson Skies was licensed to Jordan Weisman who founded FASA and several other companies. Don't know who owns the actual property if Microsoft sold the electronic license.

WizKids (a Weisman company) did own the property rights, but they were sold to Topps in 2004 and I'm not sure if Weisman transferred the property to another of his companies.
After Microsoft buried FASA Interactive in a filing cabinet, Weisman started yet another company and bought the rights off MS for cheap. So far no actual product has been announced for them. Given Weisman's attention span, I'm sure it'll be abandoned and sold off with in a year.

Valkyrist

07-08-2008, 09:29 PM

OrangePulp

07-08-2008, 10:13 PM

This irritates me simply because Activision is trading in on blizzard's good name. Blizzard will remain unchanged, and have nothing to do with Activision as a whole.

DeathtollWRX

07-08-2008, 10:45 PM

Wow on either PS3 or 360 has the potential to sell more consoles then any game released thus far.

Primus

07-08-2008, 11:10 PM

This is good, especially if it means I don't have to buy Diablo 3 for the PC.

Primus

07-08-2008, 11:16 PM

Bad imo.

What could blizzard possibly gain out of this merger?

Revenue from a much larger and more popular platform. Any developer who develops for PC exclusively is basically lighting a giant truck of money on fire.

Evil Avatar

07-08-2008, 11:19 PM

Will it be on the Half Life 1 engine?!

You know I keep coming here, year after year, just to keep you from pretending that was never said.

What are you talking about?

I suspect you are talking about when I said that Half-Life 2 was still using some Quake engine code and I'm thinking you are such a dumb ass that you missed it when John Carmack confirmed that as fact.

PopoWRX

07-08-2008, 11:26 PM

Bad imo.

What could blizzard possibly gain out of this merger? It's not like they have ANY trouble producing or selling AAA games, one after the other. They have one of the best reputations in the industry. And WoW alone makes sure they will never go poor. With titles like SC2 and D3 on the way, they certainly don't look to be running out of steam anytime soon either.

Activision, on the other hand... Ignoring their emulation of EA in buying out every developer they can, they obviously stand to make a huge sum of money out of this deal. At least in the long run.

My only real worry is that Activision will start meddling with the way blizzard games are made and run. That they will try to fix something that isn't broken.

Here's to hoping my fears are proven wrong.

Though Blizzard's top brass had obvious input in the merger, it was ultimately Vivendi Games, their publisher, that hit the button on it. Why they named the group Activision Blizzard was to get Blizzard's name out there to the shareholders, as they have felt they've been undervalued by VU Games for awhile now (One of the reasons the BNorth leadership left, very little say in how things are run).

Blizzard and Activision both have said this will have no effect on Blizzard as a company as Activision won't force them to do anything, they don't want to crack the golden egg after all.

To think, Vivendi was shopping their games division around before WoW and no one wanted their other properties, just the golden goose, Blizzard.

I believe some EA rep said all they wanted was Blizz, but if they had an inkling of how successful WoW would be, they would of purchased it all easily.

Remember that ppl? The thought of EA having Blizzard under their wings makes me cringe inside.

AgtFox

07-08-2008, 11:35 PM

I don't know if this bodes well for those types of games, though. StarCraft: Ghost was outsourced, and Activision would be excited to farm out WarCraft/Diablo/StarCraft console-based titles.

I like to think that Blizzard would be able to say "Fuck off" in the case that those games don't match the quality we've come to associate with the developer.
OK, can I explain this merger a bit because I think things are a bit confused? Even though the name of the company is Activision Blizzard and I believe the CEO of Activision now becomes the CEO of the combined company, it is actually Vivendi's side (Blizzard, Sierra, etc.) that is the larger stakeholder in the overall company via stockholder shares.

From all I've come to understand Blizzard is going to run autonomously much like they did under Vivendi. The other Vivendi properties are a different story and may come under the control of what we would consider the old Activision.

An excellent article I just found via Google (by Gamsutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3690/the_impact_of_activision_blizzard.php)) explains this quite well. Here is the important part from the first page:

Following the completion of the transaction there will be a slight executive shake-up: Robert Kotick will be president and chief executive officer of Activision Blizzard. Bruce Hack, current chief executive officer of Vivendi Games, will serve as vice-chairman and chief corporate officer of Activision Blizzard.

Mike Griffith will serve as president and chief executive officer of Activision Publishing, which is to include the Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online and Vivendi Games Mobile divisions in addition to the Activision business.

Implying that they intend to "leave well enough alone", Mike Morhaime is to keep his executive position, and continue to serve as president and chief executive officer of Blizzard Entertainment.
Also, there will be no branding of Activision Blizzard on games. This means Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, WoW, etc. will just have Blizzard on the front and Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, etc. will just have Activision.

Prototype and the other Sierra properties will move to the Activision brand. That clear some things up?

AgtFox

07-08-2008, 11:39 PM

Remember that ppl? The thought of EA having Blizzard under their wings makes me cringe inside.
More than likely Blizzard would have the same autonomy that Maxis has currently at EA if this would have happened. EA has certainly taken a hands-off approach with Spore and the major Sims games (Sims, Sims 2, upcoming Sims 3), not rushing them to market.

EA did get Pandemic and BioWare and it is sounding like both are autonomous in the grand structure of things there.

Evil Avatar

07-08-2008, 11:57 PM

Wow on either PS3 or 360 has the potential to sell more consoles then any game released thus far.

Porting the current game to a console would be a chore. I would imagine they would go more in the direction of those Baldur's Gate or Realms of Norrath titles.

Which would be a good thing.

Primus

07-09-2008, 01:17 AM

Porting the current game to a console would be a chore. I would imagine they would go more in the direction of those Baldur's Gate or Realms of Norrath titles.

Which would be a good thing.

So then we will have a Warcraft that plays like Diablo and a Diablo that looks like Warcraft. :confused::confused::confused:

H.Bogard

07-09-2008, 01:42 AM

Hahahahahahahahaha

http://www.assassinworks.com/**********

Evil Avatar

07-09-2008, 03:52 AM

So then we will have a Warcraft that plays like Diablo and a Diablo that looks like Warcraft. :confused::confused::confused:

Welcome to the future. :D

Spigot

07-09-2008, 04:39 AM

Thanks AgtFox. I was just thinking about that and realized that it was most likely Vivendi merging with Activision and dragging Blizzard along with it. I just haven't heard the Vivendi name in so long that I almost forgot that they existed :)

Magnanimous Gnome

07-09-2008, 04:48 AM

Revenue from a much larger and more popular platform. Any developer who develops for PC exclusively is basically lighting a giant truck of money on fire.

Which platform is much larger than the PC?

Hmmm....I smell bullshit.

Pureboy

07-09-2008, 04:48 AM

No sir, I don't like it.

H.Bogard

07-09-2008, 05:12 AM

Which platform is much larger than the PC?

Hmmm....I smell bullshit.

Exactly. It's not like WoW has ridiculous requirements either... or non-mass-market appeal... everyone and his grandma have already bought the game, so Blizzard would actually light the money elephant on fire by sharing retail and monthly revenue with Microsoft as royalty.

Froggy

07-09-2008, 08:48 AM

I don't see any name changes coming. All that this means is that the people who do the work get pay cuts and that money goes to people in nice suits; presumably so that they can buy more suits.

Stormwatcher

07-09-2008, 08:59 AM

You people realize that A) this is just the finalization of a process that happened a few months a go, right? and that B) it won't change anything in the way those 2 companies work...

It's not even a new thing. We already knew that Blizz and Activision will continue business as usual long ago.

Sheesh.

Stormwatcher

07-09-2008, 09:00 AM

Revenue from a much larger and more popular platform. Any developer who develops for PC exclusively is basically lighting a giant truck of money on fire.
That's the wrongest and dumbest thing I've read in a long, long time.

Congratulations, you are really special!

CoachCrazyMcScot

07-09-2008, 10:20 AM

I would name it Les. ;)

Narradisal

07-09-2008, 10:36 AM

Terrible name still. Didn't Blizzard (or Vivendi) buy Activision, not the other way round?

They should have given it a better name, or had it as BlizzardActivision

You know, give the fanbois' some pride

AgtFox

07-09-2008, 10:44 AM

Terrible name still. Didn't Blizzard (or Vivendi) buy Activision, not the other way round?
It's a merger versus an acquisition or hostile takeover. In the end the Vivendi stockholders own 52% of the company and the Activision stockholders own 48%. CEO of Activision becomes CEO of the combined company, CEO of Vivendi Games becomes Vice-President and COO (Chief Operating Officer).

Now I'm not sure who the largest single shareholder is and whether they come from the Activision or Vivendi side and what percentage of the total company they own.