Legitimate question. I tried googling what the reason is “Why did blizzard get involved with activision” but all i’m getting is that blizzard is now a part of activision but at the same time is independent of them. I can’t for the life of me find a reason behind their merging.
Does anyone have an info on this? Any at all? Blizzard was successful (The gods of the gaming industry) before the activision decision, so it can’t be money.
Uhhh… money?
Bargaining power? Marketshare?
Do you have any foundation of knowledge about corporate mergers and acquisitions?
Activation offered a good price and they accepted I assume lol
Short version? Money.
Didn’t I read in another post something about Blizzard was owned by Vivendi (sp?) and Vivendi merged with Activision?
Money and power.
Blizzard didn’t have bargaining power during that time? they were one of the most reputable companies in the gaming industry!
Blizz was originally owned by Vivendi. Activision bought Vivendi and they merged together to form Activision Blizzard, thus claiming everything under their umbrella including Blizz.
Vivendi. That sounds familiar, but I’ve never heard it mentioned outright.
I thought blizzard was their own company to be honest. So blizzard isn’t an independent branch anymore, it’s directly under the ownership of activision.
what is the long version?
Umm… lmao they were never “the gods of the gaming industry.” They were a fan favorite, but Activision absolutely had more financial success. CoD, despite being trash, is an absolute MONSTER and has been for a very long time.
… “I have enough money” said no business ever.
I think it’s adorable you think reputation means anything in the business world. Reputation matters to consumers and critics, it is meaningless in a business situation.
Blizzard was owned by other companies pretty much since 1994, whether it was CUC international, Vivendi, or now Activision. The reasoning is simple. A small gaming studio is operating on very thin margins and almost no built up capital. One bad flop game and they are possible folding up shop (see the thousands of closed game studios for examples). By partnering with a larger distributor, it gives them liquid capital to keep the doors open while developing new games for flagship IP’s and continue to develop new ones, while at the same time it gives them the financial stability to handle a flop or two and continue to remain solvent.
That’s the long version, small game studios don’t live long on their own, so they seek the financial resources and stability of large distributors or larger game studios for protection from one bad loss ruining the company.
It’s all about owning intellectual property. Vivendi couldn’t sell the IP well, so Activision took over the job.
Money? Duh. They were a publicly traded corporation right? At that point any decision that doesn’t result in, “More Money For Shareholders”, is the wrong decision.
** edit ** You think it isn’t this simple, but it is. As soon as you change the ruleset that people operate under, their decision making changes and they do things that they would never do under “normal” circumstances.
Why does any business happen?
All about the Benjamin’s!
The Benjamin’s what?
They were a niche developer in a niche genre. Activision was head and shoulders more successful than them.
I believe Vivendi was still facing trouble despite Blizzard’s successes, and Activision happened to buy Blizzard on sale.
Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill.
Technically Blizzard never had a choice. They were owned by Vivendi who sought to merge with Activision. But interestingly enough, Vivendi kept majority control of Blizzard and WoW until 2013 when Activision bought majority control. Hence the heavy, heavy decline in quality since that time.