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Activision Blizzard company history timeline

2008

The European Commission permitted the merger to take place in April 2008, approving that there weren't any EU antitrust issues in the merger deal.

On July 8, 2008, Activision announced that stockholders had agreed to merge, and the deal closed the next day for an estimated transaction amount of US$18.9 billion.

In 2008, Activision, Inc. merged with the games division of the French media conglomerate Vivendi, Vivendi Games, a holding company principally for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment.

Just before E3 2008 the project was canceled.

2010

After numerous delays, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty reached stores in July 2010, accompanied by an upgraded version of Battle.net.

In October 2010, almost six years after WoW’s release, the game boasted more than 12 million monthly subscribers.

By the end of 2010, Activision Blizzard was the largest video games publisher in the world.

In early 2010, the independent studio Bungie entered into a 10-year publishing agreement with Activision Blizzard.

2011

While future development of Guitar Hero titles was halted in 2011, other Activision properties remained strong.

2012

In 2012, King releases Candy Crush Saga, which became one of the highest-grossing mobile game franchises ever created.

2013

On July 25, 2013, Activision Blizzard announced the purchase of 429 million shares from owner Vivendi for $5.83 billion, dropping the shareholder from a 63% stake to 11.8% by the end of the deal in September.

On November 5, 2013, the company released Call of Duty: Ghosts, which was written by screenwriter Stephen Gaghan.

2014

Vivendi sold half its remaining stake on May 22, 2014, reducing its ownership to 5.8%. and completely exited two years later.

Activision Blizzard released a new title, Destiny, on September 9, 2014.

In 2014, Activision Blizzard was the fifth largest gaming company by revenue worldwide, with total assets of US$14.746 billion and total equity estimated at US$7.513 billion.

2015

Activision Blizzard joined the S&P 500 stock index on August 28, 2015, becoming one of only two companies on the list related to gaming, alongside Electronic Arts.

On September 15, 2015, Activision and Bungie released Destiny: The Taken King, the follow up to the Destiny saga.

In November 2015, Activision Blizzard announced the formation of Activision Blizzard Studios, a film production arm that would produce films and television series based on Activision Blizzard's franchises.

2016

While sequels to Blizzard’s various franchises remained in development limbo, in 2016 the company made its first foray into the first-person shooter market with Overwatch, a wildly successful team-based multiplayer game.

In 2016 Activision Blizzard purchased the mobile game company King Digital Entertainment for $5.9 billion.

In 2016, the Social gaming company King was acquired.

2017

In June 2017, Activision Blizzard joined the Fortune 500 becoming the third gaming company in history to make the list after Atari and Electronic Arts.

2020

The company announced that Daniel Alegre would replace Coddy Johnson as president of Activision Blizzard effective April 7, 2020, with Johnson transitioning to special advisory role.

During the second quarter of 2020, the company's net revenues from digital channels reached $1.44bn due to the growing demand for online games driven by COVID-19 lockdowns.

2021

By January 2021, the company's net value was estimated to be $72 billion based on its stock trading price due to the ongoing demand for video games from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Wall Street Journal report in November 2021 alleged that Kotick knew about misconduct and sexual harassment within the company without reporting them to the board of directors, leading to an increased pressure on Kotick to leave the company.

2022

On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced that it would be acquiring Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in an all-cash deal, or approximately $95 per share.

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2008
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Activision Blizzard competitors

Company NameFounded DateRevenueEmployee SizeJob Openings
Electronic Arts1982$7.4B9,800207
Zynga2007$2.8B1,77741
Riot Games2006$1.5B2,500129
Glu Mobile2001$540.5M80024
Daybreak Game2015$25.0M45016
Epic Games1991$500.0M1,001174
Take-Two Interactive Software1993$5.3B6,49544
Rockstar Games1998$63.0M2,00194
PlayStation1995$25.0B8,000144
NetApp1992$6.4B10,500131

Activision Blizzard history FAQs

Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Activision Blizzard, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Activision Blizzard. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Activision Blizzard. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Activision Blizzard. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Activision Blizzard and its employees or that of Zippia.

Activision Blizzard may also be known as or be related to Activision Blizzard, Activision Blizzard Inc, Activision Blizzard, Inc., Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., Silicon & Synapse, Blizzard Entertainment, activision and activision publishing, inc.