Biggest Merger in Video Game History
 

Word has come down that Activision and Vivendi are all set to merge into the single biggest independent game publisher in the world, Activision Blizzard.

Hoooolyyy sh*t!

God damn, son! And only a couple days after EA CEO John Riccitiello (sp?) said game industry mergers were drying up, the biggest one in the history of games is announced. What perfect timing. EA might actually have to start making decent games now.

I think it's funny to picture the guy in charge of Vivendi seeing what EA said and just being like "Man, **** that guy. I'm purchasing a controlling stake in Activision just despite him."

lol, yeah. I think this will bring nothing but good things for both companies involved (and gives EA a HUGE kick in the balls), but it sucks that we have entered the megacorporation period. The fewer options there are in game publishing, the less chance there is of a risky new idea getting off the ground--exactly like with the movie industry. The only difference there that independent film makers can avoid studios trying to rewrite their films and still get movies into theaters without a distributer. Its just harder and more risky. Console manufacturers won't even listen to you unless you've already got a publisher already lined up.

And don't cite downloadable content as a viable option because I haven't yet seen a DLC release that didn't feature a publisher's financial involvement (XBLA, PSN, and yes, even the Virtual Console).