Matt Martin
11:59 (BST)
10/07/2008
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Activision's merger with Vivendi becomes complete
The merger of Activision and Vivendi has finally completed, creating the "world's most profitable pure-play online and console game publisher," Activision Blizzard.
The deal was first announced back in December, with Activision shareholders voting in favour of the deal on Tuesday.
"The completion of this transaction marks the beginning of an important new chapter in the history of interactive entertainment," commented Robert Kotick, president and CEO of Activision Blizzard.
"By combining leaders in mass-market entertainment and subscription-based online games, Activision Blizzard has leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry.
“With more than 10.7 million subscribers on World of Warcraft, and with tens of millions of people playing Guitar Hero, Activision Blizzard's games are transcending the traditional stereotypes and are more popular as a form of entertainment than ever before. We look forward to building upon our brands to create value for our shareholders, customers and consumers," he added.
As well as Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft, franchises in the Activision portfolio include Tony Hawk, Call of Duty, Diablo, StarCraft and Spider-Man.
"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," offered Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of Vivendi.
"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."
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