There is a new/old kid on the gaming block. The company is called Activision Blizzard and comes about as a result of a merger between Activision and Vivendi Games. This merger is being touted as the largest transaction the videogame industry has ever seen.
Both companies have done well separately with entries such as “World of Warcraft” and “Guitar Hero,” but with the competition getting steep and money getting tighter, both companies felt they could do better as partners rather than competitors.
The new entity is valued at $18.9 billion and is projected to have approximately $3.8 billion of revenue this year, according to Variety . Wall Street statistics show that this will make Activision Blizzard the world’s largest pure-play videogame publisher, putting it ahead of Electronic Arts, which has been #1 for some time.
“I’ve never heard this even speculated, but it’s a merging of two companies that have different businesses and revenue streams and are almost entirely complementary,” noted Wedbush Morgan vidgames analyst Michael Pachter.
“With the success of the Wii and what we have had with products like ‘Guitar Hero’ you are really, for the first time, starting to see a broadening of the audience,” company CEO Bobby Kotick told Daily Variety. “We are now the best positioned combination of interactive assets to capitalize on the change in audience that’s taking place.”
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