Activision Blizzard
| |
| Activision Blizzard | |
| Type | Subsidiary of Microsoft Gaming |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 4, 1994 (Universal Interactive Studios) 1996 (CUC Software) December 1997 (Cedant Software) November 20, 1998 (Havas Interactive) May 16, 2001 (Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing) November 13, 2001 (Vivendi Universal Games) March 3, 2006 (Vivendi Games) May 16, 2001 (Activision Blizzard) |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, US |
| Key people | Not disclosed |
| Industry | video games |
| Products | Video games |
| Number of people | 17,000 |
| Website | https://activisionblizzard.com/ |
Activision Blizzard, a subsidiary of Microsoft Gaming, is a video game holding company.
Universal Interactive Studios
Universal Interactive Studios was founded in January 4, 1994 as the video game publishing division of Universal Studios.
CUC Software
CUC International acquired Davidson & Associates and Sierra On-Line in 1996 and formed CUC Software as its publishing subsidiary.
Cendant Software
CUC International and Hospitality Franchise Systems merged in December 1997 forming Cedant and CUC Software was renamed Cendant Software.
Havas Interactive
On November 20, 1998, the French media company Havas, which itself was acquired from Vivendi in 1997, acquired Cendant Software for $800 million USD. The latter was renamed Havas Interactive.
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing
In June 2000, Vivendi, Seagram, and Canal Plus merged. As Canal Plus owned Universal Studios, the resulting company was named Vivendi Universal.
On May 16, 2001, Havas was renamed Vivendi Universal Publishing after its parent company, Vivendi Universal, and Havas Interactive was renamed Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing. The company had two divisions, Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing North America and Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International, which each handled publishing responsibilities for its respective region.
Vivendi Universal Games
On November 13, 2001, the North American and international divisions were consolidated into Vivendi Universal Games.
Vivendi Games
On March 3, 2006, Vivendi Universal sold the majority of its media operations to General Electric and was renamed Vivendi. As a result, Vivendi Universal Games was renamed Vivendi Games.
Activision Blizzard
On July 9, 2008, Vivendi Games was merged with Activision to create Activision Blizzard, the latter part of which was named after Blizzard Entertainment, a company owned by Vivendi Games.
Acquisition by Microsoft
Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion USD on October 13, 2023, and the latter became a subsidiary of Microsoft Gaming.
