Activision Blizzard Officially Official
The Ts are dotted, the Is are crossed and the deal is done: Activision Blizzard [http://www.activisionblizzard.com/] is now official, and officially the biggest kid in the playground.
The Blizzard [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2008/07/activision_blizzard_its_offici.html?nav=rss_blog], will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision, which in turn will fall under the ownership of Vivendi SA, which now holds a 52 percent stake in the company.
The finalization of the Activision Blizzard deal means Wedbush Morgan [http://www.ea.com] analyst Michael Pachter. "This just makes the industry that much more interesting."
Despite the fact that almost nothing has been said about the new entity's plans for the future, its very existence will make things "much more interesting" indeed. For years, Electronic Arts has been the undisputed heavyweight champ. Activision, along with other companies such as Take-Two [http://www.ubi.com], were major players, but they couldn't compare with the sheer mass and muscle of the EA juggernaut. As Pachter implied, the creation of a bigger and badder competitor with a world-wide reach will give EA a new and very immediate motivation to maintain, and hopefully even improve, its game.
Activision, meanwhile, will get a front-row seat on the Blizzard Gold Train, affording it greater opportunities for the development of future projects than it has ever had in the past. The balance of power in the videogame industry has simultaneously shifted and stabilized, which will inevitably lead to increased competition and innovation as they vie for the consuming public's attention - a very good state of affairs for gamers.
Permalink
The Ts are dotted, the Is are crossed and the deal is done: Activision Blizzard [http://www.activisionblizzard.com/] is now official, and officially the biggest kid in the playground.
The Blizzard [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2008/07/activision_blizzard_its_offici.html?nav=rss_blog], will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision, which in turn will fall under the ownership of Vivendi SA, which now holds a 52 percent stake in the company.
The finalization of the Activision Blizzard deal means Wedbush Morgan [http://www.ea.com] analyst Michael Pachter. "This just makes the industry that much more interesting."
Despite the fact that almost nothing has been said about the new entity's plans for the future, its very existence will make things "much more interesting" indeed. For years, Electronic Arts has been the undisputed heavyweight champ. Activision, along with other companies such as Take-Two [http://www.ubi.com], were major players, but they couldn't compare with the sheer mass and muscle of the EA juggernaut. As Pachter implied, the creation of a bigger and badder competitor with a world-wide reach will give EA a new and very immediate motivation to maintain, and hopefully even improve, its game.
Activision, meanwhile, will get a front-row seat on the Blizzard Gold Train, affording it greater opportunities for the development of future projects than it has ever had in the past. The balance of power in the videogame industry has simultaneously shifted and stabilized, which will inevitably lead to increased competition and innovation as they vie for the consuming public's attention - a very good state of affairs for gamers.
Permalink
