Sessler’s Soapbox: Gaming’s Power Couple
By Ron on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 11:32 AM PST In Activision, Blizzard, Call of Duty, Computer, Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Games, Games Industry, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sierra, Sony, Starcraft, Vivendi, World of Warcraft
Everyone else is talking about the Blizzard / Activision merger, so why not our old friend Adam Sessler? In this week’s edition of Sessler’s Soapbox, Adam takes a look at the recent news concerning the merger, and its possible implications on the the industry.
Personally, I agree with Adam that one really good thing to come of this merger is that there is finally a publisher large enough, strong enough, and funded enough to stand toe-to-toe with Electronic Arts. With this sort of competition, EA is bound to take notice, and hopefully refocus to improve the quality of their game offerings.
I have heard a few folks ’round the net say that they fear this merger threatens Blizzard and/or World of Warcraft. Don’t you believe it. With 9.3 million + subscribers, Vivendi isn’t going to do anything to interfere with the workings of its number one cash cow. You can fully expect Blizzard to continue as before, with only a name change to signify that anything happened. To make any more sweeping changes at this juncture would be bad business.
This move actually gives Vivendi a lot of leverage in the gaming market, as they now have some strong ties to every part of it. Activision provides solid, tested console IP’s, and a few PC games (Call of Duty, anyone?). Sierra is working on some new and different IP’s, and Blizzard is, well, Blizzard.
Thanks, G4 TV!
