Mega media conglomerates Vivendi SA are considering selling Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publishers Activision Blizzard, according to Bloomberg. A private discussion on the matter is due to take place on June 22, with Vivendi apparently considering selling all or part of their 61% stake in the company.
The move is said to be part of a huge restructure for Vivendi, which also owns Universal Music Group and ran their own games publishing company until 2008. Although Activision Blizzard’s shares grew by 4.5% last year, Vivendi’s fell by a whopping 28%. With sales of $4.76 billion last year, Activision Blizzard is the world’s largest game publisher, but also only Vivendi’s fourth-biggest business.
Although a knock-on effect from the sale is likely, we do still remember gamers quaking in their boots at the thought of Activision being owned by Vivendi back in 2008. That seemed to work out OK, though, especially with Blizzard being given about three millennia to work on StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3.
The move is said to be part of a huge restructure for Vivendi, which also owns Universal Music Group and ran their own games publishing company until 2008. Although Activision Blizzard’s shares grew by 4.5% last year, Vivendi’s fell by a whopping 28%. With sales of $4.76 billion last year, Activision Blizzard is the world’s largest game publisher, but also only Vivendi’s fourth-biggest business.
Although a knock-on effect from the sale is likely, we do still remember gamers quaking in their boots at the thought of Activision being owned by Vivendi back in 2008. That seemed to work out OK, though, especially with Blizzard being given about three millennia to work on StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3.
So, what does this mean for us?
Well, not much really. Vivendi is just Blizzard's "parent" company, meaning Blizzard basically does what Blizzard wants to do, except Vivendi supervises them. But, what could happen is if Vivendi sells all of it's stake, Activision and Blizzard could split apart.
What does that mean for D3, and future games?
Think about it. Right now, Activison Blizzard is concerned only with pleasing their shareholders (money). But, if they split from Activision, they just might go back to making quality games, and not concerning themselves 100% with $.
We'll just have to wait and see though, get yourselves ready for the 22nd!
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