Activision Blizzard, Inc., formerly Activision, Inc. is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, announced on December 2, 2007, in a deal worth USD$18.8 billion. The deal closed July 9, 2008. The company believed that the merging of the two companies would create "the world's largest and most subtle pure-play video game publisher". It believes that it is the only publisher that has "leading market positions across all categories"... of the video game industry. In December 2007, Activision announced that the company and its assets would merge with fellow games developer and publisher, Vivendi Games. René Penisson, formerly a member of the Management Board of Vivendi and Chairman of Vivendi Games, would serve as Chairman of Activision Blizzard. Bobby Kotick, once head of Activision, was announced to become President and CEO of Activision Blizzard. In April 2008, the European Commission permitted the merger to take place.
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| NASDAQ symbol: | ATVI |
| Founded: | July 10, 2008 |
| Headquarters: | Santa Monica, California |
| Legal structure: | Corporation |
| Annual revenue: | $3,026,000,000 |
| Net income: | $-107,000,000 |
| Operating income: | $-233,000,000 |
| Industries: | Computer and video game industry, Video game |