PS3 Informer

Blizztivision: What the Activision/Vivendi Merger Means For Games

Activision and Vivendi announced on Tuesday that the two companies have merged to create one of the largest video game publishing companies on the planet. What does this merger mean for gamers and for the future of popular franchises currently owned and produced by each company? We delve further into the story to provide our thoughts on the impact of this financial partnership.

Alternate Distribution Channels

The majority of Blizzard’s success in the games industry has come from the PC market, while Activision has primarily focused on consoles. The result of a merger between these two companies is that their franchises can now more easily be marketed and sold across both types of systems. We expect that Blizzard will immediately begin to release their IPs on next-gen consoles. Don’t be surprised if World of Starcraft attracts as many subscribers on the Xbox 360 as it does on the PC. But, don’t take our word for it. Here is Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of Vivendi, discussing the advantages of this merger: "We have created the world leader in online and console games with this transaction and the combined strengths of the two businesses offer immense growth potential. I am also very confident that, with the new leadership team in place, the new entity is perfectly positioned to take advantage of these rapidly developing markets across the globe."

The company has also openly discussed possible new distribution channels, such as digital downloads, music, and film.

"When you think about the potential for what we will be able to do together, there have not been many viable alternatives to iTunes. Not to give you something that's a concrete plan, but more speculate about opportunities for the future. If you're downloading a song to play on your Guitar Hero, there's no reason why you can't download the performance also. So there's all kinds of things you can think about."

Bigger Games

Many people bemoan corporate mergers, arguing that conglomeration stifles innovation. However, in today’s media landscape, dominated by large, horizontally integrated corporations, sometimes size does matter. Activision – Vivendi now have a larger war chest and more resources to produce the kind of cutting-edge technology gamers demand from next-gen games. With budgets that approach those of the largest blockbuster films (50 million or more), it is an expensive proposition to produce a game. Faced with the risk of their title being a flop, many smaller, indie studios forgo innovation in favor of a sure thing. Activision – Vivendi are now in a position to take more risks and bring big, expensive games to market.

Protection From the Competition

With Electronic Arts gobbling up smaller studios left and right, and with their recently-approved takeover bid for Take Two underway, an Activision/Vivendi merger makes sense. We are approaching a two- or three-superpower world, in which a few game companies control the lion’s share of the market. This merger means that there will be fierce competition between EA and Activision – Vivendi to capture market share and gain the hearts and minds of gamers. While more competition would probably be better for gamers, at least there remains – and will remain – some competition in the games market, thanks to this protective move.