Activision

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Activision Publishing, Inc.
Activision.svg
Activisionheadquarters.jpg
Santa Monica headquarters
Type
Subsidiary
Industry Computer and video games
Interactive entertainment
Founded October 1, 1979; 37 years ago
Founders David Crane
Alan Miller
Bob Whitehead
Larry Kaplan
Headquarters Santa Monica, California, United States
Number of locations
38 (studios and offices)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Eric Hirshberg (CEO)[1]
Products List of Activision video games
Total assets
Increase US $ 14.75 billion (2014)
Decrease US$ 14.012 billion (2013)
Increase US$ 14.2 billion (2012)
Number of employees
4000
Parent Activision Blizzard
Subsidiaries
Beachhead Studios
Beenox
Demonware
Fun Labs
High Moon Studios
Infinity Ward
Radical Entertainment
Raven Software
Sierra Entertainment
Sledgehammer Games
Toys for Bob
Treyarch
Vicarious Visions
Website activision.com
Footnotes / references
[2][3]
Activision Publishing, Inc., also known as Activision, is an American video game
publisher. It was founded on October 1, 1979[4] and was the world's first
independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles. Its first
products were cartridges for the Atari 2600 video console system published from
July 1980 for the US market and from August 1981 for the international market (UK).
[5]

As of January 2017, Activision is one of the largest third party video game
publishers in the world and was also the top publisher for 2016 in the United
States.[6]

Its CEO is Eric Hirschberg.[1] Its parent company is Activision Blizzard, formed
from the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games in July 9, 2008,[7] an entity which
became a completely independent company on July 25, 2013 when Activision Blizzard
purchased the remaining shares from then majority owner Vivendi.[8]

Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 New Activision
1.2 Merger with Vivendi
1.3 Post-merger developments
2 Acquisitions and partnerships
3 Studios
3.1 Current
3.2 Defunct
3.3 Sold
4 Notable games published
4.1 1980s
4.2 1990s
4.3 2000s
4.4 2010s
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
History[edit]
Before Activision, third-party developers did not exist.[9] Software for video game
consoles were published exclusively by makers of the systems for which the games
were designed.[10] For example, Atari was the only publisher of games for the Atari
2600. This was particularly galling to the developers, as they received neither
financial rewards nor credit for games that sold well.[11]

Atari programmers David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller, and Bob Whitehead met
with Atari CEO Ray Kassar in May 1979 to demand that the company treat developers
as record labels treated musicians, with royalties and their names on game boxes.
Kaplan, who called the others "the best designers for the [2600] in the world",
recalled that Kassar called the four men "towel designers" and that "anyone can do
a cartridge." Crane, Miller, and Whitehead left Atari and founded Activision in
October 1979[12] with former music industry executive Jim Levy and venture
capitalist Richard Muchmore; Kaplan joined soon. David Crane has said the name
"Activision" was based on Jim Levy's idea to combine 'active' and 'television'. The
original name proposed for the company was VSync, Inc.[13]

Unlike Atari, the company credited and promoted game creators along with the games
themselves. The steps taken for this included devoting a page to the developer in
their instruction manuals[14][15][16] and challenging players to send in a high
score (usually as a photograph, but letters were acceptable) in order to receive an
embroidered patch.[17][18][19] These approaches helped the newly formed company
attract experienced talent. In recognition of this step, Kaplan, Levy, Miller, and
Whitehead received the Game Developers Choice "First Penguin" award in 2003.

The departure of the four programmers, whose titles made up more than half of
Atari's cartridge sales at the time,[13] caused legal action between the two
companies not settled until 1982. As the market for game consoles started to
decline, Activision branched out, producing game titles for home computers and
acquiring smaller publishers.

In 1982, Activision released Pitfall! on the Atari 2600. Designed and developed by
David Crane, it was a huge success. Many clones of the game were introduced,
including stand-up arcade games. On June 13, 1986, Activision purchased struggling
text adventure pioneer Infocom. Jim Levy was a big fan of Infocom's titles and
wanted the company to remain solvent. About six months after the "InfoWedding",
Bruce Davis took over as CEO of Activision. Davis was against the merger from the
start and was heavy-handed in its management. Eventually in 1989, after several
years of losses, Activision closed down the Infocom studios in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, extending to only 11 of the 26 employees an offer to relocate to
Activision's Silicon Valley headquarters. Five of them accepted this offer.[20]

In 1988, Activision began involvement in software besides video games, such as

business applications. As a result, Activision changed its corporate name to
Mediagenic to better represent all of its activities.[21][22]

Mediagenic consisted of four groups:

Activision: video game publisher for various platforms, notably the Nintendo
Entertainment System, the Sega Master System, the Atari 7800, Atari ST, Commodore
64 and Amiga
Infocom: shut down and merged into Activision in May 1989
Gamestar: initially an independent company but purchased by Activision in 1986.
Specialized in sports video games
Ten point O: business application software[23]
New Activision[edit]
Following a multi-million judgment on damages in a patent infringement suit,
wherein infringement had been determined many years prior during the Levy era, a
financially weakened Mediagenic was taken over by an investor group led by Robert
Kotick. After taking over the company, the new management filed for a Chapter 11
reorganization. In the reorganization, Mediagenic merged with The Disc Company with
Mediagenic being the surviving company. Mediagenic, through Activision, continued
to publish games for PCs and video game consoles, but stopped making strategic
acquisitions. After emerging from bankruptcy, Mediagenic officially changed its
corporate name back to Activision in December 1992 and became a Delaware
Corporation (it was previously a California Corporation). At that point, Activision
moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Santa Monica in Southern California
and from then on concentrated on video gaming.

In 1991, Activision packaged 50 of Infocom's past games into a CD-ROM collection

called The Lost Treasures of Infocom, without the feelies Infocom was famous for.
The success of this compilation led to the 1992 release of 11 more Infocom titles
in The Lost Treasures of Infocom II.

Activision published the first-person perspective MechWarrior in 1989, based on

FASA's pen-and-pencil game BattleTech. A sequel, MechWarrior 2, was released in
1995 after two years of delays and internal struggles, prompting FASA not to renew
their licensing deal with Activision. To counter, Activision released several more
games bearing the MechWarrior 2 name, which did not violate their licensing
agreement. These included NetMech, MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bears Legacy, and
MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries. The entire MechWarrior 2 game series accounted for more
than US$70 million in sales.[24]

Activision procured the license to another pen-and-paper-based war game, Heavy

Gear, in 1997. The video game version was well received by critics, with an 81.46%
average rating on GameRankings and being considered the best game of the genre at
the time by GameSpot. The Mechwarrior 2 engine was also used in other Activision
games, including 1997's Interstate '76 and finally 1998's Battlefield 2142.[24]

In June 2000, Activision Holdings was created as a holding company to manage more
effectively Activision and its subsidiaries.[25] Immediately after, Activision
changed its corporation name from "Activision Inc" to "Activision Publishing",
while Activision Holdings took Activision's former corporate name of Activision
Inc.[25]
Merger with Vivendi[edit]
In December 2007, it was announced that Activision would merge with Vivendi Games,
which owned fellow games developer and publisher Blizzard, and the merger would
close in July 2008. The new company was called Activision Blizzard and was headed
by Activision's former CEO, Robert Kotick. Vivendi was the biggest shareholder in
the new group.[26] The new company was estimated to be worth US$18.9 billion, ahead
of Electronic Arts, which was valued at US$14.1 billion.[27]

Post-merger developments[edit]
Sledgehammer Games was founded on November 17, 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael
Condrey,[28] who left Electronic Arts subsidiary, Visceral Games.[29][30][31]

The Sledgehammer Games micro site went live on December 8, 2009 with information on
the studio development team, location, and current job openings. Speculation on the
studio's next game has been offered by industry sites, Kotaku and Gamasutra.[32]
The studio's first game was originally planned to be a first-person shooter in the
Call of Duty series, with rumors of MMO aspects, as revealed on their website[33]
on June 19, 2010. However, after the resignation of many Infinity Ward employees,
Sledgehammer Games was brought in to help with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.[34]

On February 9, 2011, Activision announced that it was ending its once profitable
Guitar Hero franchise, in the process doing a layoff of approximately 500 people.
At the same time it announced that it was discontinuing development of True Crime:
Hong Kong, and that it was refocusing its efforts into a new online service named
Call of Duty: Elite for its IP Call of Duty. At the same meeting these
announcements were made, Activision reported net losses of $233 million for fourth
quarter 2010.[35]

In 2011 Activision restarted its in-house development team, releasing Generator

Rex: Agent of Providence in October 2011 for PlayStation 3, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo
DS, Wii, and Xbox 360.[36] The game was roundly ignored by critics, with no review
scores available on Metacritic as of February 2012.[37]

Acquisitions and partnerships[edit]

Year Acquisition
1997 Raven Software made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was
subsequently acquired by them. This partnership resulted in Hexen II, Heretic II,
Soldier of Fortune, its sequel and Quake 4. That same year, Activision acquired
CentreSoft Ltd., (an independent distributor in the United Kingdom) and NBG
Distribution (a German distributor).
1998 Pandemic Studios was founded with an equity investment by Activision.
Pandemic's first two games, Battlezone II: Combat Commander and Dark Reign 2, were
both sequels to Activision games. That same year, Activision also inked deals with
Marvel Entertainment, Head Game Publishing, Disney Interactive, LucasArts
Entertainment and CD Contact Data.
1999 Activision acquired Neversoft, best recognized for their line of Tony Hawk
skateboarding games. That same year, Activision acquired Expert Software (maker of
Home Design 3D).
2000 Activision made an equity investment in Gray Matter Interactive, to develop
the follow-up to id Software's Wolfenstein 3D.
2001 Activision acquired rights to Columbia Pictures' feature film Spider-Man.
That same year, Activision also acquired Treyarch.
2002 Activision made an equity investment in Infinity Ward, a newly formed studio
comprising 22 of the individuals who developed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. That
same year, Activision acquired Z-Axis Games (the studio behind Dave Mirra Freestyle
BMX) and Luxoflux Corporation.
2003 Activision and DreamWorks SKG inked a multi-year, multi-property publishing
agreement. That same year, Activision also formed a partnership with Valve and
acquired both Infinity Ward (developers of the Call of Duty franchise) and software
developer Shaba Games LLC.
Activision and Sega made a deal to publish the US releases of PC versions of some
titles, especially Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut.

Activision, along with several other game software publishers, was investigated by
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its accounting practices, namely
the use of the "return reserve" to allegedly smooth quarterly results.

2004 The company marked its 25th anniversary, and stated that it had posted record
earnings and the twelfth consecutive year of revenue growth.
2005 Activision acquired ShaderWorks, acquired game developers Vicarious Visions,
Toys for Bob and Beenox.
2006 Activision secured the video game license to make games based on the world of
James Bond from MGM Interactive. An exclusive agreement between the two begins in
September 2007 with Activision's first game set for release in May 2008 being
developed by Treyarch, Beenox and Vicarious Visions. Also in 2006, Activision
acquired publisher RedOctane (the publisher of the Guitar Hero franchise).
2007 Activision acquired the control of games developer Bizarre Creations.
Activision acquired Irish multiplayer technology company Demonware.[38]

2008 Merger with Vivendi Games (who owned Blizzard and Sierra) to become
Activision Blizzard.[39]
2008 Activision acquired UK games studio FreeStyleGames.[40]
2009 Activision acquired Los Angeles based developer 7 Studios.[41]
2010 Partnership with Bungie.[42]
Activision announced that Sledgehammer Games will be making Call of Duty games.

2011 Beachhead Studios began developing the ELITE website for the Call of Duty
games.
2014 Activision relaunches Sierra Entertainment as an indie game publisher and to
re-release old Sierra games.
2015 Activision partners with Nintendo to make Skylanders/amiibo figurines of
Bowser and Donkey Kong
2016 Activision acquires $46 million USD worth of assets from Major League Gaming
to develop Activision's esports activities.
Studios[edit]
See also: List of Activision Blizzard studios
Current[edit]
Beachhead Studios in Santa Monica, California, founded in February 2011.
Beenox in Qubec City, Qubec, Canada, founded in May 2000, acquired on May 25,
2005.
Demonware in both Dublin, Republic of Ireland and Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada, founded in 2003, acquired in May 2007.
Fun Labs in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1999.
High Moon Studios in San Diego, California, founded as Sammy Corporation in April
2001, acquired by Vivendi Games in January 2006.
Infinity Ward in Woodland Hills, California, founded in 2002, acquired in October
2003.
Raven Software in Madison, Wisconsin, founded in 1990, acquired in 1997.
Sledgehammer Games in Foster City, California, founded on July 21, 2009.
Toys for Bob in Novato, California, founded in 1989, acquired on May 3, 2005.
Treyarch in Santa Monica, California, founded in 1996, acquired in 2001.
Vicarious Visions in Menands, New York, founded in 1990, acquired in January 2005.
Defunct[edit]
The Blast Furnace in Leeds, United Kingdom, founded in November 2011 as Activision
Leeds, changed rename in August 2012, closed in March 2014.
Gray Matter Interactive in Los Angeles, California, founded in the 1990s as Xatrix
Entertainment, acquired in January 2002, merged into Treyarch in 2005.
Infocom in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded on June 22, 1979, acquired in 1986,
closed in 1989.
Luxoflux in Santa Monica, California, founded in January 1997, acquired in October
2002, closed on February 11, 2010.[43]
Radical Entertainment in Vancouver, Canada, founded in 1991, acquired by Vivendi
Games in 2005, closed unknown.
Shaba Games in San Francisco, California, founded in September 1997, acquired in
2002, and closed on October 8, 2009.[44][45]
RedOctane in Mountain View, California, founded in November 2005, acquired in 2006,
closed on February 11, 2010.[46]
Underground Development in Redwood Shores, California, founded as Z-Axis in 1994,
acquired in May 2002, closed on February 11, 2010.[46]
Budcat Creations in Iowa City, Iowa, founded in September 2000, acquired on
November 10, 2008, closed in November 2010.
7 Studios in Los Angeles, California, founded in 1999, acquired on April 6, 2009,
closed in February 2011.
Bizarre Creations in Liverpool, England, founded as Raising Hell Productions in
1987 and changed name in 1994, acquired on September 26, 2007,[47] closed on
February 18, 2011.
Neversoft in Los Angeles, California, founded in July 1994, acquired in October
1999, merged into Infinity Ward on May 3, 2014[48] and was officially made defunct
on July 10, 2014.[49]
Sold[edit]
Wanako Studios in New York City, founded in 2005, acquired by Vivendi Games on
February 20, 2007, sold to Artificial Mind and Movement on November 20, 2008.
FreeStyleGames in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, founded in 2002,
acquired on September 12, 2008, sold to Ubisoft on January 18, 2017.
Swordfish Studios in Birmingham, England, founded in September 2002, acquired by
Vivendi Universal Games in June 2005, sold to Codemasters on November 14, 2008.
Massive Entertainment in Malm, Sweden, founded in 1987, acquired by Vivendi
Universal Games in 2002, sold to Ubisoft on November 10, 2008.