King Of Acquisitions
The PocketGamer.biz View: Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard
The true jewel in the crown is King
Company Profile
Activision Blizzard
Website
www.activisionblizzard.com
About
Activision Blizzard, formerly Activision, is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi, and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games (formerly Vivendi Universal Games), announced on December 2nd, 2007.
Related People
Clement Xue
Head of Activison Blizzard Media
Ken Wee
Chief strategy officer
Carin Huurnink
senior animator
Daniel Alegre
COO & President
Bobby Kotick
CEO
+2 more
Accolades
Articles featuring Activision Blizzard
Microsoft Monopolises
Microsoft: mobile gaming key to Activision Blizzard acquisition
Firm puts mobile at the forefront of the acquisition
Deep Breaths
Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion cash
Aims to bring its franchises to players "virtually anywhere"
Player First Always
How to balance game monetisation with a player-first mindset
Meta Audience Network explores the ways in which leading developers and publishers utilise monetisation strategies to complement the player experience and drive engagement
Featureful
PocketGamer.biz’s top five biggest features of 2021
Our most-viewed features, opinion pieces, and interviews
A Time Of Reflection
PocketGamer.biz’s top five biggest news stories of 2021
Our most-viewed news items
Candy Crushing It
Spurred by Candy Crush Saga, Activision Blizzard see Q3 2021 growth up 6%
Blizzzard also on the up
Dungeonin'
Diablo Immortal closed beta now playable in Canada and Australia
And so it continues
Best Of 2021
The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2021
The movers, the shakers, and all those funky moneymakers
$2.3 Billion
Activision Blizzard sees mobile boom as King and Call of Duty hit record sales
Call of Duty: Mobile on track to generate $1 billion in 2021
First Of Many?
Update: Blizzard president and head of HR depart company amid lawsuit
J. Allen Brack and Jesse Meschuk make their exit
Bad To Worse
Activision Blizzard confronted with second lawsuit from investors
The second lawsuit alleges that investors received misinformation
Engagement Priority
Diablo Immortal delayed until first half of 2022
"Our team has been tuning core and endgame features…"
Union Buster
Activision Blizzard brings on union-busting law firm following protests
WilmerHale is tasked with reviewing policies at the company
Open Letter
Ubisoft staff back Activision Blizzard, demand impactful changes in open letter
The letter accuses Ubisoft of not doing enough to combat workplace misconduct
Staff Walkout
Activision Blizzard employees set to strike
The employees are demanding several changes be made to the company’s operations
Signed Letter
Update: Over 3,000 Activision Blizzard staff push back at company’s response to allegations
Staff members call for the "seriousness of the allegations" to be officially recognised
Court Case
Activision Blizzard lawsuit alleges workplace sexual harassment and bullying
The lawsuit follows a two year investigation alleging a "pervasive frat boy workplace culture"
Hiring Now
10 games industry jobs to apply for this week
Job vacancies from Sega, Activision Blizzard, Square Enix and Bandai Namco
New Entity
Update: Activision Blizzard clarifies stake in social casino dev Playstudios
"We received shares in the new entity and are now disclosing that..."
Scoped Up
Scopely appoints former Activision Blizzard president Coddy Johnson to board of directors
Morgan Stanley executive Marcie Vu joins board too
Big Bangs
Call of Duty: Mobile hits 500 million downloads, over a $1 billion revenue
Milestone hit in 19 months
Shooting Up
Activision Blizzard's Q1 FY21 sales up 27% to $2.3 billion
King's revenue up 22 per cent YoY
Moving Up
Activision Blizzard promotes Armin Zerfa to CFO
Effective from Q2
Farewell
Activision Blizzard to make cuts throughout Europe
Only the publishing offices will be affected
Money Bags
Activision Blizzard's Kotick to recieve $200 million
As the company makes various layoffs
"complex Year"
Update: King confirms only one employee "affected" by Activision layoffs
Activision Blizzard reportedly lets go nearly 190 employees
Deja Vu
Blizzard confirms "multiple" free-to-play World of Warcraft games are on the way
"We intend to deliver more frequent premium content"
It's About Time
King president confirms Crash Bandicoot: On the Run launches in March
"We're super excited about working on this very iconic IP"
Inclusivity
Activision Blizzard claims it is "committed to inclusive hiring" after describing practice as "unworkable"
Publisher was reportedly trying to get out of putting diverse hiring proposal to shareholders
Giving Back
Activison Blizzard Staff gave over $1.6 million to charity in December
"At Activision Blizzard, we recognise our responsibility to give back to the communities where we operate"
Down Under
Diablo Immortal enters a technical alpha in Australia
"This is an early look at Diablo Immortal—an exciting new chapter in our action role-playing game series"
A Year Of Transition
King president Humam Sakhnini addresses Candy Crush longevity, diversity and utilising Activision IP to bring Crash Bandicoot to mobile
"The vast majority of our 249 million monthly active players have never spent any money in our games"
Going Mobile
Activision Blizzard will bring more franchises to mobile
"We need to make sure that we're enabling our franchises on the billions of mobile devices that are available right now"
Come One Come All
Activision Blizzard hiring for over 2k staff following 800 layoffs last year
CEO Kotick says it needs more employees to help meet its production demand
Financials
Activision Blizzard had a great third quarter with $1.95 billion in net revenues
"Our teams continue to execute our growth plans with excellence during incredibly challenging circumstances"
Best Of 2020
The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2020
Revealed: The movers, shakers, and moneymakers
Welcome Aboard
Activision Blizzard names MLB executive Tony Petitti as its new sports and entertainment president
"I couldn't be more excited to use my own 30 years of sports and entertainment experience to help Activision Blizzard realise its ambitions"
Financials
Activision Blizzard experiences a record breaking second quarter as it hits $1.9 billion in revenue
King boasted 271 million monthly active users in Q2
Crash!
Update: King officially unveils Crash Bandicoot: On The Run
Pre-registrations open now on Google Play
Welcome Aboard
Spotify's content and ad boss Dawn Ostroff joins Activision Blizzard board
"Throughout my career, I've always been drawn to companies willing to shift the paradigm of entertainment and media"
Money Money Money
Activision Blizzard shareholder claims firm has 'unnecessarily enriched' CEO Kotick
Executive director of CTW Investment Group Dieter Waizenegger says that the exec is compensated too highly
Covid-19 Strikes Again
BlizzCon 2020 cancelled, digital event expected for early 2021
"We're feeling deeply disappointed about this decision"
Uncertain Times
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick thinks people will turn to free mobile games during economic uncertainty
"Having free games on phones is going to probably be a big way to grow the audience"
Candy Crush Growth
Activision Blizzard revenue drops but profit increases over Q1 2020
Two new games utilising existing IP revealed too
Helping Veterans
Activision Blizzard donates $2 million to help veterans find employment during the COVID-19 pandemic
"We've seen a huge increase in veterans asking our partners for assistance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic"
Call Me Maybe
Activision Blizzard CEO gives out personal number to employees amid pandemic
Bobby Kotick also confirms all games are on track
App Annie Top Publishers
Tencent reigns supreme as the top-grossing mobile publisher for 2020
NetEase and Activision Blizzard finish the top three
$1.3 Million Salary
Activision Blizzard appoints Google veteran Daniel Alegre as new COO
"Activision Blizzard is at an exciting point in its history"
Anime And Animation
Activision Blizzard co-president leaks Diablo and Overwatch series in the works for Netflix
Nick van Dyk profile details both shows are planned