Activision Explained

Activision Publishing, Inc.
Type:Subsidiary
Industry:Video games
Hq Location:2701 Olympic Blvd
Hq Location City:Santa Monica, California
Hq Location Country:US
Area Served:Worldwide
Products:List of Activision video games
Subsid:See
Footnotes:[1] [2]

Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world and was the top United States publisher in 2016.[3]

The company was founded as Activision, Inc. on October 1, 1979, in Sunnyvale, California, by former Atari game developers upset at their treatment by Atari in order to develop their own games for the popular Atari 2600 home video game console. Activision was the first independent, third-party, console video game developer. The video game crash of 1983, in part created by too many new companies trying to follow in Activision's footsteps without the experience of Activision's founders, hurt Activision's position in console games and forced the company to diversify into games for home computers, including the acquisition of Infocom. After a management shift, with CEO Jim Levy replaced by Bruce Davis, the company renamed itself to Mediagenic and branched out into business software applications. Mediagenic quickly fell into debt, and the company was bought for around by Bobby Kotick and a small group of investors around 1991.

Kotick drastically revamped and restructured the company to get it out of debt: dismissing most of its staff, moving the company to Los Angeles, and reverting to the Activision name. Building on existing assets, the Kotick-led Activision pursued more publishing opportunities and, after recovering from its former financial troubles, started acquiring numerous studios and various types of intellectual property over the 1990s and 2000s, among these being the Call of Duty and Guitar Hero series. A holding company was formed as Activision's parent company to manage both its internal and acquired studios. In 2008, this holding company merged with Vivendi Games (the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment) and formed Activision Blizzard, with Kotick as its CEO. Within this structure, Activision manages numerous third-party studios and publishes all games besides those created by Blizzard. In October 2023, Microsoft acquired parent company Activision Blizzard, maintaining that the company will continue to operate as a separate business. While part of the larger Microsoft Gaming division, Activision retains its function as the publisher of games developed by their studios.

History

Founding (1979)

In 1976, Warner Communications bought Atari, Inc. from Nolan Bushnell to help accelerate the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS or later the Atari 2600) to market by 1977. That same year, Atari began hiring programmers to create games for the system. Prior to Warner's acquisition, the company did not award bonus pay to programmers who worked on profitable games,[4] [5] nor credit the programmers publicly, to prevent them from being recruited by rival game companies.[6] Warner Communication's management style was also different from Bushnell's. According to developer John Dunn, Warner management treated developers as engineers rather than creative staff, creating conflicts with staff.[7] Atari's CEO Ray Kassar, named to that position following Warner's acquisition in 1978, was committed to keeping production costs minimal for Warner, according to David Crane, one of Atari's programmers.

In early 1979, Atari's marketing department circulated a memo listing the best-selling cartridges from the previous year to help guide game ideas. Crane noted that the games he was fully responsible for had brought in over for the company but he was still only receiving a salary.[8] Out of a development staff of thirty-five, four programmers (Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead), had produced games that had accounted for 60% of Atari's sales.

Crane, Kaplan, Miller, and Whitehead became vocal about the lack of recognition within the company and became known as the "Gang of Four". The group met with 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 claimed that "anybody can do a cartridge".[9]

The four made the decision to soon leave Atari and start their own business, but were not sure how to go about it. In 1979, the concept of third-party developers did not exist,[10] as software for video game consoles were published exclusively by makers of the systems for which the games were designed;[11] thus the common thinking was that to make console games, one needed to make a console first.[12] The four decided to create their own independent game development company. They were directed by their attorney to Jim Levy, who was at the time raising venture capital to get into the software business for early home computers. Levy listened to their plans, agreed with its direction, and helped the four to secure about in capital from Sutter Hill Ventures. They also checked with legal counsel on their plans to develop games for the Atari VCS, and included litigation fees in their capital investment.[12]

By August, Crane and Miller had left Atari, with Whitehead joining them shortly after. Kaplan had also quit Atari in August, but initially decided not to join as he did not like the starting business plan; he came back later to join Activision that December.[13] Activision was formally founded on October 1, 1979, with Levy serving as CEO. The company was initially named "Computer Arts, Inc." while they considered a better title. The founders had thought of the name VSync, Inc., but feared that the public would not understand or know how to say it. Levy suggested combining "active" and "television" to come up with Activision.[14] [15]

Early years (1980–1982)

Activision began working out of Crane's garage in the latter half of 1979, each programmer developing their own game that was planned for release in mid-1980: Dragster, Fishing Derby, Checkers, and Boxing.[12] The four's knowledge of the Atari 2600, as well as software tricks for the system, helped them make their own games visually distinct from Atari-produced games. To further distinguish themselves, Activision's boxes were brightly colored and featured an in-game screenshot on the back cover. Instruction manuals for games devoted at least one page to credit the developer. Additionally, for nearly all of Activision's games through 1983, the instruction manuals included instructions for sending the company a photograph of a player's high scores to receive a patch in return.[16]

Ahead of the release of the first four games, Activision obtained space at the mid-year 1980 Consumer Electronics Show to showcase their titles, and quickly obtained favorable press.[12] The attention afforded to Activision worried Atari, as the four's departure had already created a major dent in their development staff. Atari initially tried to tarnish Activision's reputation by using industry press at CES to label those that took trade secrets as "evil, terrible people", according to Crane, and then later threatened to refuse to sell Atari games to retailers that also carried these Activision titles.[12] By the end of 1980, Atari filed a formal lawsuit against Activision to try to stop the company, claiming the four had stolen trade secrets and violated non-disclosure agreements.[12] The lawsuit was settled by 1982, with Activision agreeing to pay royalties to Atari but otherwise legitimizing the third-party development model.[17] In 2003, Activision's founders were given the Game Developers Choice "First Penguin" award, reflecting their being the first successful third-party developer in the video game industry.[18]

Following the first round of releases, each of the founders developed their own titles, about once a year, over the first few years of the company. While their 1980 games were modest hits, one of the company's first successful games was Kaboom!, released in 1981, which was Activision's first game to sell over a million units.[12] Activision's breakout title was 1982's Pitfall!, created by Crane. More than four million copies of the game were sold.[19] Near the end of 1982, Kaplan left Activision to work on the development of the Amiga personal computer as he wanted to be more involved in hardware development.[20] [12]

Total sales for Activision were estimated at and revenues at ahead of its June 1983 initial public offering; at this point Activision had around 60 employees.[12] Danny Goodman stated in Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games in 1983, "I doubt that there is an active [Atari 2600] owner who doesn't have at least one Activision cartridge in his library".[21] The company completed its public offering in June 1983 on NASDAQ under the stock ticker AVSN.[22]

The video game market crash (1983–1988)

The success of Activision, alongside the popularity of the Atari 2600, led to many more home consoles third-party developers as well as other home consoles. Activision produced some of its Atari games for the Intellivision and ColecoVision consoles, among other platforms.[23] However, several new third-party developers also arose, attempting to follow the approach Activision had used but without the experience they had; according to Crane, several of these companies were founded with venture capital and hired programmers with little game design experience off the street, mass-publishing whatever product the developers had made. This was a contributing factor to the video game crash of 1983.

For Activision, while they survived the crash, they felt its effects in the following years. These third-party developers folded, leaving warehouses full of unsold games, which savvy retailers purchased and sold at a mass discount (compared to Activision's manufacturer's suggested retail price). While there was still a demand for Activision games, uneducated consumers were more drawn to the heavily discounted titles instead, reducing their income. Their quarterly revenue dropped from in mid-1983 to about by the end of 1984, according to Levy, and they were forced to lay off staff, going from about 400 employees to 95 in that period.[24] Because of this, Activision decided that they needed to diversify their games onto home computers such as the Commodore 64, Apple, and Atari 8-bit computers to avoid completely going out of business like other third-party developers. There still was a drain of talent through 1985 from the crash. Miller and Whitehead left in 1984 due to the large devaluation of their stock and went on to form Accolade.

With the video game crash making console game development a risky proposition, the company focused on developing for home computers with games like Little Computer People and Hacker, while Levy tried to keep expenditures in check as they recovered. Looking to expand further, Activision acquired, through a corporate merger, the struggling text adventure pioneer Infocom in June 1986. This acquisition was spearheaded by Levy, who was a big fan of Infocom's titles and felt the company was in a similar position as Activision. About six months after the "Infocom Wedding", Activision's board decided to replace Levy with Bruce Davis. Davis was against the purchase of Infocom from the start and was heavy-handed in its management,[25] and even attempted to seek a lawsuit to recover their purchase from Infocom's shareholders. Crane also found Davis difficult to work with and was concerned with how Davis managed the closure of Imagic, one of the third-party development studios formed after Activision's success in 1981. Crane left Activision in 1986 and helped Garry Kitchen found Absolute Entertainment. In late 1986, Activision adopted the Electric Dreams brand, usually used for British software, for titles outside of English for the American market.[26]

Mediagenic (1988–1991)

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.[27]

Mediagenic consisted of four groups:

In 1989, after several years of losses, Activision closed down the Infocom studios, extending to only 11 of the 26 employees an offer to relocate to Activision's Silicon Valley headquarters. Five of them accepted this offer.

Notably during this time, Mediagenic was known to have worked on the early version of a football game that would be the basis for Joe Montana Football. Sega of America's Michael Katz had been able to get Sega to pay Mediagenic around early 1990 to develop this into the branded version after securing the rights to Joe Montana's name, but was unaware of internal troubles that had been going on within the company, which had left the state of the game mostly unfinished. Katz and Sega were forced to take the incomplete game to Electronic Arts, which had been developing its own John Madden Football series for personal computers, to complete the game.[28]

During this period Mediagenic, via Activision, secured the rights to distribute games from Cyan Worlds. The first game published by Activision from Cyan was The Manhole, on CD-ROM for personal computers, the first major game distributed in this format.[29] [30] [12]

Purchase by Bobby Kotick (1991–1997)

Davis' management of Mediagenic failed to produce a profitable company; in 1991, Mediagenic reported a loss of on only of revenue and had over in debt.[31] Cyan severed their contract with Activision, and turned to Broderbund for publishing, including what would become one of the most significant computer games of the 1990s, Myst.

Bobby Kotick had become interested in the value of the video game industry following the crash, and he and three other investors worked to buy Commodore International in an effort to gain access to the Amiga line of personal computers. After failing to complete purchase, the group bought a company that licensed Nintendo characters, and through Nintendo was directed to the failing Mediagenic.[32] Kotick was drawn to buy out Mediagenic not for its current offerings but for the Activision name, given its past successes with Pitfall!, with hopes to restore Activision to its former glory.[33] Crane said that Kotick has recognized the Activision brand name could be valued around and rather than start a new company and spend that amount to obtain the same reputation, he saw the opportunity to buy the failing Mediagenic at a bargain price and gain Activision's reputation with minimal cost.[12] Kotick and additional investors bought Mediagenic for approximately in 1991. This group of investors included real estate businessman Steve Wynn and Philips Electronics.[34]

Kotick became CEO of Mediagenic on its purchase and made several immediate changes: He let go of all but 8 of the companies' 150 employees, performed a full restructuring of the company, developed a bankruptcy restructuring plan, and reincorporated the company in Los Angeles, California. In the bankruptcy plan, Kotick recognized that Mediagenic still had valuable assets, which included the Infocom library as well as its authoring tools to make games, Activision's distribution network, and licenses to develop on Nintendo and Sega home consoles. Kotick offset some debt by giving stock in the company to its distributors as to keep them vested in the company's success. Kotick also had the company reissue several of its past console and Infocom titles as compilations for personal computers. Kotick had also recognized the value of the Zork property from Infocom, and had the company develop a sequel, Return to Zork. Combined, these steps allowed Mediagenic to fulfill on the bankruptcy plan, and by the end of 1992, Kotick renamed Mediagenic to the original Activision name. The new Activision went public in October 1993, raising about, and was listed on NASDAQ under its new ticker symbol ATVI.

By 1995, Kotick's approach had met one promise he made to investors: that he would give them four years of 50% growth in revenues while remaining break-even. Reaching this goal, Kotick then set Activision on his second promise to investors, to develop high-demand games and make the company profitable by 1997.

Activision published the first-person perspective MechWarrior in 1989, based on FASA's pen-and-paper 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, , and . The entire MechWarrior 2 game series accounted for more than in sales.

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 1998's Battlezone.

Growth and acquisitions (1997–2008)

With several of its own successfully developed games helping to turn a profit, Kotick led Activision to start seeking acquisitions of video game development studios, guided by market surveys to determine what areas of content to focus on. It is estimated that between 1997 and 2008, Activision made 25 acquisitions, several for undisclosed amounts. Several of these came prior to 2001, in the midst of the Dot-com bubble, enabling the company to acquire studios at a lower valuation. On June 16, 2000, Activision reorganized as a holding company, Activision Holdings, to manage Activision and its subsidiaries more effectively.[35] Activision changed its corporate name from "Activision, Inc." to "Activision Publishing, Inc.", while Activision Holdings took Activision's former "Activision, Inc." name. Activision Publishing became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision, which in turn became the publicly traded company, with all outstanding shares of capital stock converted.[36]

Some of the key acquisitions and investments made by Activision in this period include:

Merger with Vivendi Games (2008)

See main article: Activision Blizzard. While Activision was highly successful with its range of developers and successful series, Kotick was concerned that they did not have a title for the growing massively multiplayer online market, which presented the opportunity for continued revenues from subscription models and microtransactions instead of the revenue from a single sale. Around 2006, Kotick contacted Jean-Bernard Lévy, the new CEO of Vivendi, a French media conglomerate. Vivendi had a games division, Vivendi Games, that was struggling to be viable at the time, but its principal feature was that it owned Blizzard Entertainment and its highly successful World of Warcraft game, which was drawing in a year in subscription fees. Vivendi Games also owned Sierra Entertainment.

Lévy recognized Kotick wanted control of World of Warcraft, and offered to allow the companies to merge, but only if Lévy held the majority shares in the merged group, forcing Kotick to cede control. Kotick fretted about this decision for a while, according to friends and investors. During this time in 2006–2007, some of Activision's former successful properties began to wane, such as Tony Hawk's, so Activision bought RedOctane, the publisher of the Guitar Hero franchise. Kotick met with Blizzard's president Mike Morhaime, and learned that Blizzard also had a successful inroad into getting their games into China, a potentially lucrative market. Given this potential opportunity, Kotick agreed to the merger.

Activision's board signed on to the merger by December 2007.[47] The merger was completed in July 2008. The new company was called Activision Blizzard and was headed by Kotick, while Vivendi maintained a 52% share in the company.[48] The new company was estimated to be worth, ahead of Electronic Arts, which was valued at .[49]

Post-merger developments (2009–2022)

Activision Publishing remains a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard following the merger, and is responsible for developing, producing, and distributing games from its internal and subsidiary studios. Eric Hirshberg was announced as Activision Publishing's CEO in 2010.

Activision Publishing established Sledgehammer Games in November 2009. Formed earlier in 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, former Visceral Games leads that had worked on Dead Space, Sledgehammer intended to develop a Call of Duty spin-off title fashioned after the gameplay in Dead Space. However, in early 2010, legal issues between Infinity Ward and Activision Blizzard led to several members of Infinity Ward leaving, and Activision assigned Sledgehammer to assist Infinity Ward in the next major Call of Duty title, Modern Warfare 3.[50] Since then, Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch share development duties for the flagship series, with support from Raven and other studios as necessary.

In February 2010, Activision Blizzard reported significant losses in revenue stemming from a slow down in Guitar Hero sales and from its more casual games. Subsequently, Activision Publishing shuttered Red Octane, Luxoflux and Underground Development as well as laid off about 25% of the staff at Neversoft.[51] [52] Within the same year, Activision shuttered Budcat Creations in November 2010, and Bizarre Creations in February 2011.[53] [54]

Hirshberg left the CEO position in March 2018.[55]

Into the 2020s, Activision put more focus on the Call of Duty franchise, including the release of the free-to-play in 2020. By April 2021, the company had assigned all of its internal studios to work on some part of the Call of Duty franchise.[56] This includes a new studio, Activision Mobile, devoted to the Call of Duty Mobile title as reported in August 2021.[57] [58]

In 2021, while all their employees were working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, Activision and its parent Activision Blizzard vacated their longtime headquarters building in Santa Monica and ended their lease with Boston Properties. In September 2021, they subleased a much smaller office space in Santa Monica at the Pen Factory (a former Paper Mate factory) from Kite Pharma, which had leased the space from Lincoln Property Company.[59]

Purchase by Microsoft (2023–present)

With the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft in October 2023, Activision Blizzard as a whole, including the Activision Publishing subdivision, became a separate division under the Microsoft Gaming arm of Microsoft.[60]

On March 8, 2024, 600 Activision QA workers in Texas, Minnesota and California unionized under the Communication Workers of America (CWA), marking it as the largest union in the United States video game industry.[61]

On May 16, 2024, Activision announced the establishment of Warsaw-based studio Elsewhere Entertainment, assembled for the development of a new narrative-based AAA IP not associated with other Activision series like Call of Duty. The studio comprises various developers associated with other narrative-driven gaming franchises such as The Last of Us, Uncharted, The Witcher and Far Cry among others; at the time of announcement they were recruiting more staff to create a "state-of-the-art and next-generation gaming experience", as well as a franchise with "an enduring legacy that goes far beyond games."[62]

In July 2024, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) actor labor union, which provides numerous video game voice actors, would initiate a labor strike against a number of video publishers, including Activision, over concerns about lack of A.I. protections which concern not only video game actors, but also the use of A.I to replicate an actor’s voice, or create a digital replica of their likeness.[63] [64]

Studios

See main article: List of Microsoft Gaming studios.

Former studios

Notable games published

See main article: List of Activision video games.

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Activision Publishing . www.activision.com . Activision Publishing . August 17, 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140920233518/http://www.activision.com/company/aboutus . September 20, 2014.
  2. Web site: Activision Blizzard, Inc. 2013 Annual Report Form (10-K) . United States Securities and Exchange Commission . XBRL . March 3, 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140407061826/http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/718877/000104746914001688/0001047469-14-001688-index.htm . April 7, 2014.
  3. Web site: Top 25 Companies by Game Revenues . newzoo.com . January 12, 2017 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170306074425/https://newzoo.com/insights/rankings/top-25-companies-game-revenues/ . March 6, 2017.
  4. Web site: Classic Gaming Expo Distinguished Guest: ALAN MILLER . Classic Gaming Expo . CGE Services, Corp . August 22, 2012 . 1999–2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120208143935/http://www.cgexpo.com/bios/amiller.htm . February 8, 2012.
  5. Book: DeMaria. Rusel. Wilson. Johnny L.. High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games. 2003. McGraw-Hill/Osborne. New York. 0-07-223172-6. 56. 2.
  6. Web site: Easter Eggs: The Hidden Secrets of Videogames . Jack . Yarwood . . March 27, 2016 . March 27, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160330033934/http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/03/easter-eggs-the-hidden-secrets-of-videogames.html . March 30, 2016 . live.
  7. Web site: Atari: The Golden Years -- A History, 1978-1981 . Steve . Fulton . August 21, 2008 . April 2, 2021 . .
  8. Web site: The History Of Activision . Gamasutra . Jeffrey . Flemming . December 30, 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20161220122651/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1537/the_history_of_activision.php?print=1 . December 20, 2016.
  9. News: What went wrong at Atari? . InfoWorld . November 28, 1983 . Originally published in the San Jose Mercury News . March 5, 2012 . Hubner . John . Kistner . William F. Jr. . 151 . January 24, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210124131414/https://books.google.com/books?id=sy8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA158 . live .
  10. News: Stream of video games is endless . Milwaukee Journal . December 26, 1982 . January 10, 2015 . Business 1 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160312093025/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nwsdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QX8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3635%2C1989311 . March 12, 2016 . live.
  11. Video Gaming World . Computer Gaming World . November 1988 . Kunkel . Bill . Worley . Joyce . Katz . Arnie . 54.
  12. Activisionaries: How Four Programmers Changed The Game Industry . https://web.archive.org/web/20130301003455/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/02/26/activisionaries-how-four-programmers-changed-the-game-industry-forever.aspx . dead . March 1, 2013 . Ben . Reeves . February 26, 2013 . April 2, 2021 . .
  13. Web site: Larry Kaplan interview . Scott . Stilphen . 2006 . April 2, 2021 . Atari Compendium .
  14. News: DAVID CRANE INTERVIEW (1994) . Video Game Ephemera . December 10, 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191930/http://www.video-game-ephemera.com/010.htm . March 4, 2016.
  15. Console Portraits: A 40-Year Pictorial History of Gaming . Wired Staff . June 15, 2007 . . January 15, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180712215741/https://www.wired.com/2007/06/gallery-game-history/ . July 12, 2018 . live.
  16. Activision Badges – The Original Gaming Achievement . Kyle . Hillard . October 23, 2016 . February 12, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190213123800/https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/10/26/activision-badges-the-original-gaming-achievement.aspx . February 13, 2019 . dead.
  17. Web site: Activision's Unlikely Hero . Peter . Beller . January 15, 2009 . February 12, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170806105646/https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0202/052.html#788254c31a16 . August 6, 2017 . live.
  18. Web site: First Penguin Archive . February 12, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181130125453/http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/archive/penguin.html . November 30, 2018 . live.
  19. Web site: Top 10 Best-Selling Atari 2600 Games . Levi Buchanan . . August 26, 2008 . September 24, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110726161836/http://retro.ign.com/articles/903/903024p1.html . July 26, 2011 . live.
  20. A Short History Of Activision . August 24, 2006 . February 13, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20130404231907/http://www.edge-online.com/features/short-history-activision/ . April 4, 2013.
  21. Goodman . Danny . Danny Goodman . Spring 1983 . Home Video Games: Video Games Update . Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games . 32 . November 6, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171107020633/http://www.atarimagazines.com/cva/v1n1/vgupdate.php . November 7, 2017 . live.
  22. Web site: Small Company Initial Public Offerings: June 1983 . June 1983 . . February 12, 2019 . January 24, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210124131445/https://www.inc.com/magazine/19830901/2878.html . live .
  23. Web site: The rise and fall (and rise and fall) of gaming's third-party exclusives . Kyle . Orland . August 13, 2014 . February 12, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20150708081756/http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/08/the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-and-fall-of-gamings-third-party-exclusives/ . July 8, 2015 . live.
  24. Book: DeMaria. Rusel. Wilson. Johnny L.. High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games. 2003. McGraw-Hill/Osborne. New York. 0-07-223172-6. 103–105. 2.
  25. Web site: Down From the Top of Its Game: The Story of Infocom, Inc. . December 15, 2000 . February 12, 2016 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20151105111124/http://web.mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2000/infocom/infocom-paper.pdf . November 5, 2015.
  26. News: September 1986 . Electric Dreams Imported Software . 3 . Computer Entertainer.
  27. Mediagenic Rises from the Ashes, Will Publish Range of Products . 34 . 10 . 40 . Rachel . Parker . . October 3, 1988 . InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. . December 30, 2016 . Google Books . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20161230160846/https://books.google.com/books?id=oDoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=mediagenic%20activision%20divisions&source=bl&ots=bW8gBM1_xe&sig=Q99Dme4yB05X7U04oS5zex9SwzI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjB4P-ti6bQAhWn64MKHdrkDWQQ6AEIWDAN . December 30, 2016.
  28. Book: King, Steven L. . The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 1: From Pong to Pokemon and Beyond ... the Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World . Crown . 2010 . 978-0307560872 . Chapter 22: The Year of the Hardware .
  29. https://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2008/09/sept-24-1993-beautiful-myst-ushers-in-era-of-cd-rom-gaming/ "Sept. 24, 1993: Beautiful 'Myst' Ushers In Era of CD-ROM Gaming"
  30. 3900 Games Later... . Computer Gaming World . November 1992 . July 4, 2014 . Sipe, Russell . 8 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140702235552/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=100 . July 2, 2014 . live.
  31. https://web.archive.org/web/19980128082919/http://www.newmedia.com/NewMedia/96/09/screens/Activision_Rebound.html . Activision: Reorganized, Redefined and on the Rebound . June 24, 1996 . Sengstack, Jeff . January 28, 1998 . NewMedia . dead . May 6, 2019.
  32. Web site: Kotick changes the game at Activision Blizzard . Dan . Gallagher . December 4, 2008 . February 12, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190308043931/https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bobby-kotick-changes-game-activision . March 8, 2019 . live.
  33. Web site: Activision Passed on The Sims . Matt . Casamassina . February 18, 2010 . March 2, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043610/https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/02/18/activision-passed-on-the-sims . March 6, 2019 . live.
  34. News: Market Place; Home Software's Treasure Hunt . Steve . Lohr . December 28, 1993 . February 13, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190214002846/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/28/business/market-place-home-software-s-treasure-hunt.html . February 14, 2019 . live . limited.
  35. Web site: Activision Announces New Holding Company Reorganization . Maryanne . Lataif . Kristin . Mulvihill . June 16, 2000 . Activision . https://web.archive.org/web/20010107203700/http://www.activision.com/investor/pressreleases/218.html . January 7, 2001 . unfit.
  36. Web site: Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg is leaving the company . Andy . Chalk . January 18, 2018 . January 18, 2018 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20180119072905/http://www.pcgamer.com/activision-publishing-ceo-eric-hirshberg-is-leaving-the-company/ . January 19, 2018 . live.
  37. Web site: From Dungeon & Dragons to Call of Duty: The Story of Raven Software . USgamer.net . October 28, 2014 . February 15, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170827165702/http://www.usgamer.net/articles/raven-software . August 27, 2017 . live.
  38. Web site: Activision set to acquire Raven . Paul . Karon . August 8, 1997 . February 14, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190214233438/https://variety.com/1997/biz/news/activision-set-to-acquire-raven-1116676216/ . February 14, 2019 . live.
  39. Web site: Karen. Kaplan. Activision to Expand Game Lineup with Raven Purchase. Los Angeles Times. August 7, 1997. August 17, 2021.
  40. Web site: Activision Acquires Neversoft . Sam . Kennedy . April 27, 2000 . February 13, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190214002759/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-acquires-neversoft/1100-2448473/ . February 14, 2019 . live.
  41. Web site: Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Financial Results . . February 11, 2016 . December 7, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161220082153/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160211006451/en . December 20, 2016 . live.
  42. News: Activision to Acquire Treyarch Invention . October 4, 2001 . February 14, 2019 . . . https://web.archive.org/web/20160301163903/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/oct/04/business/fi-53391 . March 1, 2016 . live.
  43. Web site: Activision Acquires Rest Of Gray Matter Interactive . January 14, 2002 . February 14, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20180613085929/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1011018184632447240 . June 13, 2018 . live.
  44. Web site: Meet the studio behind Call of Duty: Black Ops and Zombies mode . Charlie . Hall . May 8, 2018 . February 14, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20180630052949/https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/8/17316562/call-of-duty-black-ops-zombies-treyarch-interview . June 30, 2018 . live.
  45. Web site: Activision Buys Toys for Bob . David . Adams . May 3, 2005 . March 2, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044722/https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/05/03/activision-buys-toys-for-bob . March 6, 2019 . live.
  46. Web site: How Toys for Bob turned Activision into a giant toy company with Skylanders . Dean . Takahashi . October 5, 2012 . March 2, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111558/https://venturebeat.com/2012/10/05/how-paul-reiche-turned-activision-into-a-giant-toy-company-with-skylanders-interview/ . March 6, 2019 . live.
  47. News: Vivendi To Merge With Activision . Forbes . August 22, 2012 . Rachel . Rosmarin . December 2, 2007 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130620012647/http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/02/vivendi-computer-guitar-tech-media-cx_rr_1202activision.html . June 20, 2013.
  48. Vivendi and Activision to create Activision Blizzard – World's Largest, Most Profitable Pure-Play Video Game Publisher . . December 2, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080409211320/http://www.activisionblizzard.com/pressReleases/pr120207.php . April 9, 2008 . December 2, 2007.
  49. Web site: Activision-Vivendi to Shake Up Games Biz . Georg . Szalai . July 8, 2008 . AdWeek . February 12, 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054037/http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/activision-vivendi-shake-games-biz-96314 . March 4, 2016.
  50. News: Flemming . Ryan . Inside Sledgehammer Games and the Biggest Gamble You Never Knew About . March 2, 2013 . Digital Trends . February 16, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130221063229/http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/inside-sledgehammer-games-and-the-biggest-gamble-you-never-heard-of/ . February 21, 2013 . live.
  51. Web site: Activision lays off about 200 employees, shuts down Santa Monica studio Luxoflux . Ben . Fritz . February 11, 2010 . February 14, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190215050545/https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/02/activision-lays-off-200-shuts-luxoflux.html . February 15, 2019 . live.
  52. Web site: Activision Shutters Guitar Hero Creators, GH: Van Halen Developers (Update) . Luke . Plunkett . February 12, 2010 . Kotaku . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20100213081101/http://kotaku.com/5470149/activision-shutters-guitar-hero-creators-gh-van-halen-developers . February 13, 2010.
  53. Web site: Updated: Activision shutting down Bizarre and Budcat studios? . November 16, 2010 . February 15, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190214233411/https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-shuts-down-bizarre-and-budcat-studios/ . February 14, 2019 . live.
  54. Web site: Wesley Yin-Poole . Bizarre says goodbye with farewell video . Eurogamer.net . February 18, 2011 . May 15, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180304232906/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-18-bizarre-says-goodbye-with-farewell-video#cm-2156706 . March 4, 2018 . live.
  55. Web site: Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg is leaving in March . January 18, 2018 . venturebeat.com . September 7, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015834/https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/18/activision-publishing-ceo-eric-hirshberg-is-leaving-in-march-after-8-years/ . September 8, 2018 . live.
  56. Web site: Now Every Single Activision Studio Works On Call Of Duty . Zack . Zweizan . April 30, 2021 . April 30, 2021 . .
  57. Web site: Activision Blizzard creates new mobile studio for Call of Duty . Dean . Takahashi . August 3, 2021 . August 3, 2021 . .
  58. Web site: A new Call of Duty game is in development at Activision Mobile . Tom . Ivan . August 3, 2021 . August 3, 2021 . .
  59. News: Cornfield . Greg . Activision Moves Publishing HQ to Pen Factory in Santa Monica: Sources . March 4, 2023 . Commercial Observer . September 10, 2021.
  60. Web site: Who owns Activision Blizzard? Microsoft acquires Call of Duty maker in blockbuster deal . Alan . Martin . Vicky . Jessop . Saqib . Shah . October 13, 2023 . December 29, 2023 . .
  61. Web site: Carpenter . Nicole . 2024-03-08 . 600 Activision QA workers unionize, Microsoft voluntarily recognizes . 2024-03-09 . Polygon . en-US.
  62. Web site: Bailey . Kat . 2024-05-16 . Activision Opens New Studio Tasked With Creating Narrative-Based AAA Franchise . 2024-05-16 . IGN . en.
  63. News: SAG-AFTRA Members Who Work on Video Games Go on Strike; A.I. Protections Remain the Sticking Point. SAG AFTRA. July 26, 2024. July 26, 2024.
  64. News: Hollywood's videogame performers to strike over AI, pay concerns. Danielle. Broadway. Reuters. July 25, 2024. July 26, 2024.
  65. Activision Acquires Mobile Game Developer Digital Legends . October 28, 2021 . October 28, 2021.
  66. Web site: Jez Corden . 2024-05-16 . Microsoft's Activision team is opening a new game studio in Poland 'Elsewhere Entertainment' to build new AAA IP . 2024-05-16 . Windows Central . en.
  67. Web site: Activision Blizzard creates new mobile studio for Call of Duty . Dean . Takahashi . Venturebeat . August 3, 2021 . October 28, 2021.
  68. Web site: Activision lays off 30 from recently purchased 7 Studios . Kath . Brice . 7 October 2009 . . March 16, 2022.
  69. Web site: Activision closes 7 Studios . Fred . Dutton . February 10, 2011 . . March 16, 2022.
  70. Web site: Activision Value Publishing, Inc. . . June 11, 2024.
  71. Web site: Activision has a round of layoffs, entire Minneapolis location may have closed . February 15, 2016. . June 11, 2024.
  72. https://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=265950 Activision Acquires U.K. Game Developer Bizarre Creations
  73. Web site: Report: Neversoft Merging With Call Of Duty Developer Infinity Ward . Mike . Fahey . kotaku.com . May 3, 2014 . June 16, 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140614085544/http://kotaku.com/report-neversoft-merging-with-call-of-duty-developer-i-1571334321 . June 14, 2014.
  74. Web site: Tony Hawk studio Neversoft bids farewell, burns eyeball effigy . Tom . Phillips . July 10, 2014 . July 11, 2014 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140713203848/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-11-tony-hawk-studio-neversoft-bids-farewell-burns-eyeball-effigy . July 13, 2014.
  75. Web site: Prototype Creators Shutting Down . Jason . Schreier . June 28, 2012 . March 6, 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190327091513/https://kotaku.com/prototype-creators-shutting-down-update-5922129 . March 27, 2019 . live.
  76. Web site: Activision Lays Off Shaba's Ranks, Closes Studio (Update) . Michael . McWhertor . October 8, 2009 . Kotaku . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20091010224322/http://kotaku.com/5376826/activision-lays-off-shabas-ranks-closes-studio . October 10, 2009.
  77. Web site: Activision confirms Shaba Studios closure . GamesIndustry.biz . Martin . Matt . October 9, 2009 . February 12, 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213601/http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/activision-confirms-shaba-studios-closure . March 3, 2016.
  78. Web site: We're Going Indie! . 2024-02-29 . www.toysforbob.com . en . February 29, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240229181407/https://www.toysforbob.com/blog/2024/WereGoingIndie . dead .
  79. Web site: Crash 4 Developer Toys for Bob Is Officially Going Indie. Rebekah. Valentine. IGN. February 29, 2024. March 10, 2024.
  80. Web site: Life . Nintendo . 2024-06-01 . Crash Bandicoot And Spyro Studio 'Toys For Bob' Is Now Officially Independent . 2024-06-01 . Nintendo Life . en-GB.
  81. Web site: Vicarious Visions merged into Blizzard . Brendan . Sinclair . January 22, 2021 . January 22, 2021 . . January 22, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210122204139/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-01-22-vicarious-visions-merged-into-blizzard . live .

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