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A Microsoft Europe executive has told VideoGamer.com of his reaction to the recent merger of Activision and Vivendi, saying “wow!”.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com at the launch of Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store in London yesterday, Stephen McGill, head of gaming and entertainment, said he thought both publishers “have an appetite to deliver some amazing gaming experiences” and he “can’t see that changing”.
On Sunday December 2 Activision and Vivendi, two of the world’s biggest third-party publishers, took the gaming world by surprise when they announced they were merging to form Activision Blizzard in a whopping $18.9 billion deal.
And perhaps echoing much of the game industry’s reaction to the merger, McGill told VideoGamer.com his first thought was: “Wow!”
He added: “One of my close friends who was head of PR has just gone and joined Activision, so my next thought was, is he OK? Has he still got a job? He’d just gone to the States to see his new team and stuff.
“I think they both have an appetite to deliver some amazing gaming experiences. I can’t see that changing. The more games, the bigger games, the better games that people can experience should be a good thing.”
At this point we can only begin to imagine what the unified Activision Blizzard will be able to bring to the Microsoft table. It appears, however, that the World of Warcraft developer won’t be bringing any of its games to consoles, so we can rule out its Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo franchises for the 360.
You can check out the rest of VideoGamer.com’s interview with Stephen McGill and Robin Burrowes, Xbox Live marketing manager, where they talk about Michael Bay and Europe’s recently launched Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store here.
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