Activision vs. The World

Activision.

A few years ago, gamers were fed up with the way Electronic Arts had become a mega-conglomerate in the gaming industry. Swallowing small developers whole, annual re-releases on their franchise titles and a reputation of choosing to play it safe rather than create gaming experiences. It seems that a new king will hold that crown.

But why is Activision the evil bully on the gaming block now? Three franchises became overnight cash-cows for Bobby Kotick and his money-printing machine. Guitar Hero and Call of Duty took over their respective genres. Guitar Hero won over masses of casual gamers with the first two releases on the PlayStation 2 while Call of Duty stole the FPS-in-a-real-life-war sub-genre from EA’s Medal of Honor. Lastly, Activision merged with Vivendi Games, which owned not only formerly powerful studios like Sierra Games but also owns a successful little company known as Blizzard Entertainment. Not only did Activision become Activision-Blizzard, they now had control of the world’s largest MMORPG in World of Warcraft as well as publishing control to future blockbuster titles in Diablo III and Starcraft II.

But I digress.