Activision/Vivendi Merger Looms, Fallout Continues

Ever since the announced merger between Activision and Vivendi Games the community has been all aflutter with speculation and fallout. Here we are, six months later, and the shockwaves continue to resonate throughout the industry as the actual merger looms closer. Gamasutra has an in-depth investigation of what this deal actually means and what some of the details might be.

Activision Stock Price - ATVI

[moore.dustin]

In case you were wondering, yes, Blizzard and its assets have pretty much been priced into the stock already. Now that the merger is looking solid and ATVI revised profits upwards a few weeks ago for 07, the stock has gone to $34 after hovering around $27 for a few months.

A friend close to the two companies says: A stock price of $40 is likely to take some time (18+ months) and would be contingent on the performance of both Activision Blizzard and EA. EA will probably need to slip to the #2 publisher in order for Activision Blizzard to consistently trade over $40.

Re:it will be disaster

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you just not have the faintest idea what "emo" means?

Re:it will be disaster

[Anonymous Coward]

Except the majority of high-end gamers are going, "Oh f---- not another expansion, I don't want to grind anymore..."

Re:it will be disaster

[Kingrames]

...short for emotional?

Re:it will be disaster

[OMNIpotusCOM]

Sure, that may have been the way it WAS 10 years ago, but we're talking now, and getting past that stigma will let you realize that three of the most popular gaming companies in the world are owned or in partnership with much larger companies. Valve is owned by Vivendi, Bungie used to be partnered with Microsoft, and BioWare is currently partnering with Microsoft.

Now, I'm not saying you're entirely wrong, because all you'd have to do is look back at Rareware and their Nintendo ownership before you see your corporate overlord strawman, but Rareware also released some of the most popular and innovative games during its partnership with Nintendo - Goldeneye, Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong Country, Blast Corps, etc... The basic "evil" that came out of that deal was that they were supposedly not allowed to develop their own IPs, that's what they said anyway. So what'd they do when they broke away from Nintendo? They released Viva Pinata and whatever the fuck their other 360 flop was.

No, the mergers and partnerships of today are more like the big company helping the little company than it was back in the day. Microsoft shoveled money to Bungie, Vivendi shoveled money to Blizzard, and the resulting games are better for the money that was dished out and the lack of influence the bigger company exerted.

The hostile takeover is a thing of the past when it comes to companies in the public eye. How many people do you know who won't buy another EA game because they keep buying out their competitors (Madden is the only NFL game)? I know many.