That’s right, you did not hear wrong all of you fans of Call of duty, Warcraft series, Starcraft series, World of Warcraft, Diablo series, Guitar Hero.
Vivendi Universal and Activision is creating the world’s largest and most profitable pure-play video game publisher by merging Blizzard and Activision. From the Activision Blizzard fact sheet:
- Transaction combines Activision’s top selling franchises with Vivendi Games’ portfolio of leading PC and subscription-based online games
Activision Blizzard will be the only publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment industry. - After closing, immediately will become global leader in dynamic, high margin subscription-based online games business with opportunity to migrate Activision franchises online
- Combination creates company with large footprint in the fast-growing Asian markets, including China and Korea, while maintaining strong
operating performance across North America and Europe - Activision Blizzard is expected to have $3.8 billion in pro forma calendar 2007 revenues and the highest operating margins of any major third party video game publisher
- Targeted pro forma operating income of $1.1 billion and pro forma EPS in excess of $1.20 in calendar year 2009