World Call of Warcraft Duty?

[Che Guava]

I'm sure there are better puns...but Im tired

Video game giants in $18bn merger


The companies behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are merging in a deal which could shake up the global video games industry.

Activision and Blizzard have said they will form "the world's most profitable games business" in a deal worth $18.8bn (£9.15bn).

US-based Activision also makes hit console games such as the Tony Hawk series and Guitar Hero.

Nine million people pay a monthly subscription to play World of Warcraft.

'High-growth industry'

Blizzard is the biggest player in online gaming and Warcraft is the global market leader of what are known as massively multi-player online role-playing games, or MMORPGs.

It is currently owned by the French media group Vivendi.

As part of the merger plan, Blizzard will invest $2bn in the new company, while Activision is putting up $1bn.

The merged business will be called Activision Blizzard and its chief executive will be Activision's current CEO Bobby Kotick. Vivendi will be the biggest shareholder in the group.

Jean-Bernard Levy, Vivendi chief executive, said: "This alliance is a major strategic step for Vivendi and is another illustration of our drive to extend our presence in the entertainment sector.

"By combining Vivendi's games business with Activision, we are creating a worldwide leader in a high-growth industry."

Different strengths

The two firms are hoping that their different strengths will combine to form a business which is powerful on every gaming platform and in every territory.

Blizzard is strong in Asia, where its Starcraft series has proved hugely popular.

Starcraft, a strategy game first released in 1998, is played by millions of South Koreans in gaming cyber-cafes, and by professional gamers on television.

Activision has developed a presence on all three new generation game consoles - Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii - with franchises such as Spider-Man and X-Men.

The games software industry has been through turbulent years, with companies changing ownership and going in and out of business in rapid succession.

Activision was formed in 1979 and went through bankruptcy and a series of alliances and mergers before becoming successful.

Blizzard had been through a number of owners before ending up in the hands of Vivendi in 1998.

I actually don't play many games outside of civ (and I haven't played that in ages), so I was wondering what folks around hre might think of these two behemoths of gaming getting together...

 

[azzaman333]

Hopefully this results in better games being made rather than worse games.

 

[Che Guava]

WHich do expect might happen?

 

[azzaman333]

No idea, but it certainly has the potential to create great things.

 

[Che Guava]

Like a crossover, where WWII soldiers show up in WoW?

 

[Yoda Power]

It will probably create more expensive games, since there's less competition.

 

[azzaman333]

I don't think Activision and Blizzard have many games that compete in the same genre though, so it shouldn't increase prices.

 

[Till]

Blizzard has enjoyed a bit of a golden touch since the mid 90s. Virtually everything they published/produced turned out to be a smashing success. Activision's record is more hit and miss, but they published a lot more titles than Blizzard in the same time period.

I do think they fit well together, as far as the genres go. Activision isn't particularly famous for its strategy games, and neither is Blizzard for its First Person Shooters.
In my opinion, this is mainly bad news for EA.

 

[Che Guava]

In my opinion, this is mainly bad news for EA.

Dang, I got some stock in EA. C'mon guys, just release Spore already!!!!

 

[MobBoss]

Like a crossover, where WWII soldiers show up in WoW?

Nope. More likely will be more Blizzard style games for the console market.

 

[emzie]

WWII soldiers in WoW? No. Mages in WWII?

Sweet.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Not a big Activison fan, they're kind of the video game equivalent of the Hollywood movie makers who like to suck a series dry by continually putting out mediocre stuff (with a couple exceptions). Blizzard has a good reputation. For what they do, they're good at it. Hopefully more of the latter will be the outcome.

 

[sourboy]

Activision is a giant that's still lingering from days of old. In other words they have the money to invest in many games, and therefore are bound to have some good ones.

Blizzard has been known for consistently top-notch games with replayability, that's designed to run on the "average" computer, so that anyone can play -- not just geeks with $4k computers.

I hate seeing mergers, personally, and will be leary of any new Blizzard games. Why fix what's not broken - kind of thing.

 

[The Yankee]

Will this be a World of Duty? I suppose we'll have to find out over the next couple of years.

Well, anyway, hope combined resources make things better and that it won't stifle creativity.

 

[Verge]

Well, it will be a public company, so if the numbers look good, I'll invest.

 

[Riffraff]

I hope blizzard doesn't start turing into something like E.A after this...

 

[Zelig]

Vivendi's getting even more massive... they've got a majority stake in Activision Blizzard now, as well as 20% of NBC Universal and all of Universal Music Group along with a couple telecom companies.

Video game devolpment is getting increasingly difficult for small and independant developers and publishers, pretty soon, we're going to have only EA, Vivendi, Sony/MS/Nintendo and some Japanese companies left.

 

[Nylan]

Well there goes Starcraft 2. If Activision get's their greasy little finger in it, it will fail. Blizzard works best alone.

 

[Verge]

Well there goes Starcraft 2. If Activision get's their greasy little finger in it, it will fail. Blizzard works best alone.

I doubt they would nix Starcraft 2 when it's already so far into development.

 

[Nylan]

Let's hope so, but I'm still paranoid. Nine years of waiting, and then this happens, just as the hype is reaching a peak. The perfect time for a disaster.