Activision Blizzard.. ?

[abaez]

http://www.activisionblizzard....sReleases/pr120207.php

I'm not sure how this'll work, but I hope no franchises get screwed in the process.

 

[SexyK]

Wow, pretty big deal. Should be interesting to see how it shakes out.

 

[TecHNooB]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[Maximilian]

What the hell man!! They better not do to blizzard what EA does to all its franchises, im seriously they better goddamn well leave them to their own devices or computer gaming will actually die!

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Yeah, don't like the sound of this.

 

[RandomFool]

But but ..................

Does this mean Blizzard is going to start putting out sequels every year?

 

[Modelworks]

argh.
Still, activision and blizzard are both two semi-decent companies.
Hopefully they will overcome each others faults.

 

[Pugnate]

Ahhh shit.

This is bad news for PC gamers.

 

[Pugnate]

Who wants a bet that five years from now we will be reminiscing about the days when Blizzard was a great company?

 

[TehMac]

Meh, Activision published Rome Total War, one of the greatest PC Games.

 

[SexyK]

Eh, could be a good thing. Eventually there will be no room left for smaller developers, so it's a matter of either having EA own everyone, or other solid companies joining forces to challenge the juggernaut. We'll see, but I don't think this will end up badly.

 

[Molondo]

Originally posted by: RandomFool
But but ..................

Does this mean Blizzard is going to start putting out sequels every year?

Zing!

 

[Modelworks]

I will always remember pitfall for the atari 2600 when thinking of activision.
That game rocked

 

[chizow]

I think its a great move for Blizzard as it never seemed they were that happy with Vivendi since the D2 days. If any dev house has proven they're autonomous of their publisher, its Blizzard. They take their time with games (LOL!), and with Activision it looks like they'll have more financial backing along with well-established inroads to the console market.

 

[Molondo]

Originally posted by: chizow
I think its a great move for Blizzard as it never seemed they were that happy with Vivendi since the D2 days. If any dev house has proven they're autonomous of their publisher, its Blizzard. They take their time with games (LOL!), and with Activision it looks like they'll have more financial backing along with well-established inroads to the console market.

I can see Blizzard concentrating a little more on the consoles now.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Molondo

Originally posted by: chizow
I think its a great move for Blizzard as it never seemed they were that happy with Vivendi since the D2 days. If any dev house has proven they're autonomous of their publisher, its Blizzard. They take their time with games (LOL!), and with Activision it looks like they'll have more financial backing along with well-established inroads to the console market.

I can see Blizzard concentrating a little more on the consoles now.

Well, it depends what you mean by "more". More than now, sure, but more than PC games I doubt it. That's what more money affords you though, the ability to grow and hire more people to take on more projects like console games or concurrent multi-platform ports and releases.

I think Blizzard's next two projects are still focused at the PC (SC2 and rumored new MMO in 2010, maybe D3?) but more money would allow them to expand in other areas. Not sure if Blizzard replaced the people they lost when Blizzard North died (and SC: Ghost along with it).

 

[Vortex22]

They claim this will not affect their games at all, but I'm fearing for the worst here. This may be the day PC gaming died. I really hope my fears are incorrect though.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Think not of Activision owning blizzard, but Vivendi (the owners of Blizzard) now controlling Activision and Blizzard, Vivendi now owns 52% of Activision and soon to be 68%.

Text

Under the arrangement, the companies said that Vivendi would pay $27.50 a share and make a cash infusion of $1.7 billion to acquire a 52 precent stake in Activision

The combined company also plans to repurchase $4 billion worth of its shares for $27.50 a share, a move that the companies said would raise Vivendi?s stake to 68 percent.

But, it will cost vivendi

Further, Vivendi is buying Activision while it is in the middle of a hot streak.

Vivendi and Activision said that with $3.8 billion in revenue this year, the combined company would be larger than Electronic Arts, the biggest independent game publisher today, with revenue of $3.1 billion. The two companies said they expected operating income for the new company of $1.1 billion by 2009.

The agreement values Activision shares at $27.50 each, a 24 percent premium over the close Friday of $22.15.

This reminds me of the Smuckers buyout of Jiff and Crisco brands where Proctor and Gamble shareholders ended up having the majority of the combined company.

 

[videogames101]

WTF, that was totally random... and sucks for all of us.

 

[Pugnate]

Says EA CEO John Riccitiello, "We bring a lot to the table ... we simplify the process of courting publishers, basically taking it to zero." He adds that EA, being the publishing giant that it is, can "reach places where [BioWare and Pandemic] don't get to so we can build their properties bigger."

Biggest WTF quote of the year?

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: Vortex22
They claim this will not affect their games at all, but I'm fearing for the worst here. This may be the day PC gaming died. I really hope my fears are incorrect though.

Give me a break, PC gaming is never going to die.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: Pugnate
Who wants a bet that five years from now we will be reminiscing about the days when Blizzard was a great company?

Heh, some people already do.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Oh c'mon, what was the last game Blizzard put out? WOW, and that was 3 years ago. They've released one game in the last 5 years and have been milking WOW for everything it's worth. SC2 is already in the pipe and Diablo 3 might be another 5 years away for all we know, so it's not like we're looking at a significant shift here. I mean what's the worst they can do? Put out another WOW expansion? Release even less games?

 

[Skott]

Personally, I feel Blizzard was at their best when they were independent. I'm not against big business but when it comes to gaming houses I dont like Corporations buying out the smaller good companies. Too much is lost with such mergers. PC Gaming wont die but too many of the good companies do die because of Corporate buyouts.