PacManPolarBear
12-27-2007, 09:05 AM
December 27th, 2007
by PacManPolarBear (http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/author/pacmanpolarbear/)
http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/countdown-banner2.gif
http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/wy1205actib.jpg
Top Gaming Moment # 37: December 2nd, 2007
Source: SarcasticGamer (http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/2007/12/activision-blizzard-the-lowdown.html), Vivendi (http://www.vivendi.com/) & Activision (http://www.activision.com/)
2007 was one of the biggest years in gaming history, not only for the unholy plethora of AAA titles that were released, but also for the surge of takeovers and mergers that swept the industry. EA (A.k.A Darth Vader) set the bar earlier in the year with their purchase of Pandemic and BioWare. To say that gamers were not happy with that move is an understatement of epic proportions. EA closed numerous studios (EA Chicago anyone?), shuffled and let many employees go (plus the usual studio employees abandoning ship ala Westwood and others in years previous) during the fallout of their maneuvering. Not to mention EA’s less than stellar reputation in general.
Enter EA’s chief rival, Activision. With the fantastic success of their 2007 lineup, including Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero 3, Activision was sitting pretty. So when Activision announced that they would be merging with (not being taken over by) Vivendi, gamers and industry watchers everywhere spit out there morning coffee in total shock.
Find out why Activision Blizzard’s birth was a cause for celebration after the jump!
The merger made the 18.9 billion dollar dream union, named Activision Blizzard, the world’s biggest independent third-party publisher. Kicking the previous king publisher, everyone’s love-to-hate EA, of its throne. If EA’s spending spree was epitomized by gamers crying themselves to sleep with worry over the fate of their beloved BioWare, Activision Blizzard’s announcement had video game junkies throwing all night keg parties. No studios being thrown to the sharks, no big changes in management, the same semi-autonomous development for their individual studios; everything gamers loved about Activision stayed the same, only with even more brawn to back it up. Vivendi brought games like World of Warcraft and StarCraft into the fold, as well as access to the worlds largest recording label, Vivendi’s Music Group.
That’s why the merger of Activision and Vivendi, and their rise to king of the third-party publishers over EA checks in at number 37 on Sarcastic Gamer’s top 100 Gaming moments of 2007!
Click here for the rest of Sarcastic Gamer’s Top 100 Gaming Moments from 2007 all in one place! (http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/top-100)
by PacManPolarBear (http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/author/pacmanpolarbear/)
http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/countdown-banner2.gif
http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/wy1205actib.jpg
Top Gaming Moment # 37: December 2nd, 2007
Source: SarcasticGamer (http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/2007/12/activision-blizzard-the-lowdown.html), Vivendi (http://www.vivendi.com/) & Activision (http://www.activision.com/)
2007 was one of the biggest years in gaming history, not only for the unholy plethora of AAA titles that were released, but also for the surge of takeovers and mergers that swept the industry. EA (A.k.A Darth Vader) set the bar earlier in the year with their purchase of Pandemic and BioWare. To say that gamers were not happy with that move is an understatement of epic proportions. EA closed numerous studios (EA Chicago anyone?), shuffled and let many employees go (plus the usual studio employees abandoning ship ala Westwood and others in years previous) during the fallout of their maneuvering. Not to mention EA’s less than stellar reputation in general.
Enter EA’s chief rival, Activision. With the fantastic success of their 2007 lineup, including Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero 3, Activision was sitting pretty. So when Activision announced that they would be merging with (not being taken over by) Vivendi, gamers and industry watchers everywhere spit out there morning coffee in total shock.
Find out why Activision Blizzard’s birth was a cause for celebration after the jump!
The merger made the 18.9 billion dollar dream union, named Activision Blizzard, the world’s biggest independent third-party publisher. Kicking the previous king publisher, everyone’s love-to-hate EA, of its throne. If EA’s spending spree was epitomized by gamers crying themselves to sleep with worry over the fate of their beloved BioWare, Activision Blizzard’s announcement had video game junkies throwing all night keg parties. No studios being thrown to the sharks, no big changes in management, the same semi-autonomous development for their individual studios; everything gamers loved about Activision stayed the same, only with even more brawn to back it up. Vivendi brought games like World of Warcraft and StarCraft into the fold, as well as access to the worlds largest recording label, Vivendi’s Music Group.
That’s why the merger of Activision and Vivendi, and their rise to king of the third-party publishers over EA checks in at number 37 on Sarcastic Gamer’s top 100 Gaming moments of 2007!
Click here for the rest of Sarcastic Gamer’s Top 100 Gaming Moments from 2007 all in one place! (http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/top-100)