{"id":485,"date":"2012-03-19T11:35:08","date_gmt":"2012-03-19T15:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/?p=485"},"modified":"2013-04-14T17:13:25","modified_gmt":"2013-04-14T21:13:25","slug":"activisionblizzard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/2012\/03\/19\/activisionblizzard\/","title":{"rendered":"Activision\/Blizzard"},"content":{"rendered":"<pre>by Isaac Davis<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.videogameinvesting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/Activision_Blizzard_Logo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"490\" height=\"276\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Formed in 2008 with the merging of Activision and Vivendi Games, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.activisionblizzard.com\/corp\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Activision Blizzard<\/a> is the second-largest video game publisher in North America.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Board of Directors<\/strong><br \/>\nRobert A. Kotick &#8211; President and CEO<br \/>\nJean-Bernard L\u00e9vy &#8211; Chairman<br \/>\nBrian G. Kelly &#8211; Co-Chairman<br \/>\nPhilippe G. H. Capron &#8211; Director<br \/>\nRobert J. Corti &#8211; Director<br \/>\nFr\u00e9d\u00e9ric R. Cr\u00e9pin &#8211; Director<br \/>\nLucian Grainge &#8211; Director<br \/>\nRobert J. Morgado &#8211; Director<br \/>\nSt\u00e9phane Roussel &#8211; Director<br \/>\nRichard Sarnoff &#8211; Director<br \/>\nR\u00e9gis Turrini &#8211; Director<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Franchises<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Call of Duty<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Guitar Hero<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Tony Hawk<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Skylanders<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Spiderman<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>James Bond<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Warcraft<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Starcraft<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Diablo<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Business (January 2012 &#8211; May 2012)<\/strong><br \/>\nActivision Blizzard\u2019s past fiscal year was \u201cbetter than expected,\u201d earning $4.49 billion, as opposed to $4.48 billion in 2010. Their <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.callofduty.com\/mw3\" target=\"_blank\">Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3<\/a><\/em> was the top-selling title of the year, with its accompanying <a href=\"http:\/\/www.callofduty.com\/elite\" target=\"_blank\">Call of Duty Elite<\/a> service hosting over 7 million registered users and 1.5 million paid subscribers. The new <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.skylanders.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Skylanders<\/a><\/em> toy line\/children\u2019s game proved quite successful, selling 20 million toys worldwide<sup>1<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/us.battle.net\/wow\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\">World of Warcraft<\/a> <\/em>(<em>WoW<\/em>), however, declined from 11.1 million subscribers to 10.2 million this year, with at least some of the decline being attributed to competitor <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ea.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Electronic Arts<\/a>\u2019 <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.swtor.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Star Wars: The Old Republic<\/a><\/em>, which released in December 2011<sup>2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>Following this news, <em>WoW<\/em>\u2019s development studio, <a href=\"http:\/\/us.blizzard.com\/en-us\/\" target=\"_blank\">Blizzard Entertainment<\/a> laid off 600 employees in an \u201corganizational shift,\u201d placing their current staff at around 5,000 worldwide<sup>3<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/media1.gameinformer.com\/imagefeed\/featured\/activision\/kotick921-610.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"337\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Activision CEO Bobby Kotick<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In February, Activision CEO <a href=\"http:\/\/people.forbes.com\/profile\/robert-a-kotick\/1126\" target=\"_blank\">Bobby Kotick<\/a> became a member of Coca-Cola&#8217;s board of directors. He had previously been a board member at Yahoo! from 2003 to 2008<sup>4<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>On March 5th, Activision hired Dennis Durkin, former VP and COO of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/default.aspx\">Microsoft<\/a>, as their new CFO<sup>5<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>On April 5th, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worlds.com\/index.html\">Worlds, Inc<\/a>. filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard over the technology used in <em>WoW<\/em>\u00a0and <em>Call of Duty<\/em>\u00a0(<em>CoD<\/em>). Worlds holds patents on a &#8220;system and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space&#8221;, and they had, in 2008, filed a lawsuit against <a href=\"http:\/\/us.ncsoft.com\/en\/\">NCSoft<\/a> over their game <em><a href=\"http:\/\/na.cityofheroes.com\/en\/index.php\">City of Heroes<\/a><\/em>, though it was dismissed in 2010<sup>6<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Infinity Ward Controversy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/media.giantbomb.com\/uploads\/0\/3740\/186905-infinityward_1_.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After the release of <em>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2<\/em>\u00a0in 2009, Jason West and Vince Zampella, CEOs and co-founders of <em>CoD<\/em>\u00a0development studio <a href=\"http:\/\/www.infinityward.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Infinity Ward<\/a>, were fired under mysterious circumstances. Infinity Ward and all <em>CoD<\/em>\u00a0IP has been owned by Activision since\u00a02003. Activision claims they were fired over &#8220;breaches of contract and insubordination&#8221;<sup>7<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>West and Zampella filed a lawsuit against Activision, leveling at least two fraud claims against them. The claims said that in firing them, Activision &#8220;fired them to avoid paying millions of dollars in royalties for [<em>Modern Warfare 2<\/em>]&#8221;.\u00a0On March 5th 2012, one of these claims was dismissed by the California Superior Court. May 7th is the trial date for the remaining claims<sup>8<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>On March 26th, <a href=\"http:\/\/fourzerotwo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Robert Bowling<\/a>, creative strategist for the <em>CoD<\/em>\u00a0series, suddenly left Activision after six years as the public face of the brand, with no indication of why he left or where he was headed<sup>9<\/sup>. On April 24th, he revealed that he is starting a new, independent development studio called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.robotoki.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Robotoki<\/a>. Their first project is slated for &#8220;next-gen&#8221; consoles (that is, game systems yet to be announced)<sup>10<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Release Schedule (2012)<\/strong><br \/>\n<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.prototypegame.com\/\">Prototype 2<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.radical.ca\/\">Radical Entertainment<\/a>) &#8211; April 24 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)<br \/>\n<em><a href=\"http:\/\/us.battle.net\/d3\/en\/\">Diablo III<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(Blizzard Entertainment) &#8211; May 15 (PC, Mac OS X)<br \/>\n<em>Battleship<\/em>\u00a0(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.doublehelixgames.com\/\">Double Helix Games<\/a>) &#8211; May 15\u00a0(PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, DS)<br \/>\n<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamazingspidermangame.com\/\">The Amazing Spider-Man<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.beenox.com\/en\">Beenox<\/a>) &#8211; June 26 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS Vita 3DS, DS)<br \/>\n<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TonyHawksProSkaterHD\">Tony Hawk&#8217;s Pro Skater HD<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.robomodo.com\/\">Robomodo<\/a>) &#8211; July (PS3, Xbox 360)<br \/>\n<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.transformersgame.com\/\">Transformers: Fall of Cybertron<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.highmoonstudios.com\/\">High Moon Studios<\/a>) &#8211; August 28 (PS3, Xbox 360)<br \/>\n<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.skylanders.com\/giants\">Skylanders: Giants<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.toysforbob.com\/\">Toys For Bob<\/a>) &#8211; Fall (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, PC 3DS, Mac OS X)<br \/>\n<em>Call of Duty 9<\/em>\u00a0[Working Title] (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.treyarch.com\/\">Treyarch<\/a>) &#8211; Q4 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U, PS Vita, 3DS)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Curtis, Tom. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gamasutra.com\/view\/news\/40223\/Activision_Blizzard_reports_better_than_expected_2011_thanks_to_MW3_Skylanders.php\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Activision Blizzard reports better than expected 2011 thanks to\u00a0MW3,\u00a0Skylanders&#8221;<\/a>.\u00a0Gamasutra.<\/li>\n<li>Rose, Mike. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gamasutra.com\/view\/news\/166532\/Blizzard_Drop_in_WoW_subs_attributable_to_Star_Wars_The_Old_Republic.php\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Blizzard: Drop in\u00a0<em>WoW<\/em>\u00a0subs &#8216;attributable&#8217; to\u00a0<em>Star Wars: The Old Republic&#8221;<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0Gamasutra.<\/li>\n<li>Caoili, Eric. <a href=\"http:\/\/gamasutra.com\/view\/news\/163398\/Blizzard_cuts_600_employees_in_organizational_shift.php\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Blizzard cuts 600 employees in organizational shift&#8221;<\/a>. Gamasutra.<\/li>\n<li>Curtis, Tom. <a href=\"http:\/\/gamasutra.com\/view\/news\/129698\/Activision_CEO_Bobby_Kotick_joins_CocaColas_board_of_directors.php\">&#8220;Activision CEO Bobby Kotick joins Coca-Cola&#8217;s board of directors&#8221;<\/a>. Gamasutra.<\/li>\n<li>Hinkle, David. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.joystiq.com\/2012\/03\/06\/activision-hires-ex-microsoft-cfo-dennis-durkin\/\">&#8220;Activision hires ex-Microsoft CFO Dennis Durkin&#8221;<\/a>. Joystiq.<\/li>\n<li>Curtis, Tom. <a href=\"http:\/\/gamasutra.com\/view\/news\/168123\/World_of_Warcraft_Call_of_Duty_accused_of_violating_virtual_worlds_patent.php\">&#8220;<em>World of Warcraft<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Call of Duty<\/em>\u00a0accused of violating virtual worlds patent&#8221;<\/a>. Gamasutra.<\/li>\n<li>Thorsen, Tor. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gamespot.com\/news\/top-infinity-ward-devs-fired-for-insubordination-lawsuits-expected-6252657\">&#8220;Top Infinity Ward devs fired for &#8216;insubordination,&#8217; lawsuits &#8216;expected'&#8221;<\/a>. Gamespot.<\/li>\n<li>Pettersson, Edvard. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2012-03-05\/activision-wins-dismissal-of-one-of-two-former-executives-fraud-claims.html\">&#8220;Activision Wins Dismissal of One of Two Former Executives&#8217; Fraud Claims&#8221;<\/a>. Bloomberg.<\/li>\n<li>Navarro, Alex. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.giantbomb.com\/news\/robert-bowling-unexpectedly-announces-he-is-exiting-activision-updated\/4051\/\">&#8220;Robert Bowling Unexpectedly Announces He is Exiting Activision&#8221;<\/a>. Giant Bomb.<\/li>\n<li>Reilly, Jim. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/b\/news\/archive\/2012\/04\/23\/robert-bowling-opens-game-studio.aspx\">&#8220;Robert Bowling Opens Game Studio&#8221;<\/a>. Game Informer.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Picture Credits<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.videogameinvesting.com\/?page_id=162\">http:\/\/www.videogameinvesting.com\/?page_id=162<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/b\/news\/archive\/2012\/02\/16\/bobby-kotick-joins-coca-cola-39-s-board-of-directors.aspx\">http:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/b\/news\/archive\/2012\/02\/16\/bobby-kotick-joins-coca-cola-39-s-board-of-directors.aspx<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.giantbomb.com\/infinity-ward\/65-1526\/all-images\/52-201193\/infinityward_1_\/51-186905\/\">http:\/\/www.giantbomb.com\/infinity-ward\/65-1526\/all-images\/52-201193\/infinityward_1_\/51-186905\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Isaac Davis Formed in 2008 with the merging of Activision and Vivendi Games, Activision Blizzard is the second-largest video game publisher in North America. Board of Directors Robert A. Kotick &#8211; President and CEO Jean-Bernard L\u00e9vy &#8211; Chairman Brian &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/2012\/03\/19\/activisionblizzard\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27],"tags":[126,127,129,132,124,131,125,130,123,128],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13189,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions\/13189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}