Vivendi Games

Last updated

Vivendi Games
Formerly
  • CUC Software
  • (1996–1997)
  • Cendant Software
  • (1997–1998)
  • Havas Interactive
  • (1998–2001)
  • Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing
  • (2001)
  • Vivendi Universal Games
  • (2001–2006)
Company type Division
Industry Video games
FoundedJuly 24, 1996;28 years ago (1996-07-24) in Torrance, California
DefunctJuly 10, 2008;16 years ago (2008-07-10)
FateMerged with Activision
Successor Activision Blizzard
Headquarters
Los Angeles
,
US
Area served
North America, Europe
Key people
Bruce Hack (CEO)
Parent

Vivendi Games (formerly known as CUC Software, Cendant Software, Havas Interactive, Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing and Vivendi Universal Games) was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Associates and Sierra On-Line. Between 1997 and 2001, the company switched parents and names multiple times before ending up organized under Vivendi Universal (later renamed Vivendi). On July 10, 2008, Vivendi Games merged with Activision to create Activision Blizzard.

Contents

History

CUC/Cendant

On February 21, 1996, CUC International announced its intention to acquire Davidson & Associates (including Blizzard Entertainment) and Sierra On-Line, two American video game companies, in a US$1.8 billion stock swap. [1] The deal closed on July 24, 1996. [2] CUC International previously only operated membership shopping clubs, wherefore analysts were surprised by the company's move into the software industry. [1]

Subsequently, following the acquisitions, CUC International established CUC Software around the Torrance, California-based operations of Davidson & Associates to oversee the new video game properties. [3] Under that new umbrella, both Davidson & Associates and Sierra On-Line would act independently from CUC International. [4] Bob Davidson, co-founder of Davidson & Associates, became chairman and chief executive of the new establishment. [5] On November 5 that year, CUC International announced that they would additionally acquire Knowledge Adventure, another developer, in a stock deal valued between $50 million and US$100 million. [5] The acquisition was completed on February 3, 1997. [3] On February 10, Davidson announced that he had stepped down from his positions at CUC Software, and that his wife, Jan, ceased as president of Davidson & Associates, while both Davidsons stayed on CUC International's board of directors. [3] Christopher McLeod, an executive vice-president for CUC International, took over CUC Software in Bob Davidson's place. [3] In April 1997, CUC International acquired Berkeley Systems for an undisclosed sum. [6]

On May 28, 1997, CUC International announced plans to merge with Hospitality Franchise Systems to create a single, "one-stop" entity. [7] [8] The merger was finalized in December that year and created Cendant. [9] As a result of the merger, CUC Software was renamed Cendant Software. [10]

Havas/Vivendi

On November 20, 1998, French media company Havas (acquired by Vivendi earlier that year) announced that it would acquire Cendant Software for $800 million in cash, with up to an additional $200 million contingent on its performance. [11] [12] Subsequently, the division was renamed Havas Interactive. [13]

On May 16, 2001, Havas Interactive was renamed Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing, while Havas itself became Vivendi Universal Publishing. [14] The new name was likely due to the merger between Universal and Vivendi; the company also received ownership of properties from Universal Interactive Studios. Under the new name, the company was split into two parts: Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing North America and Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International, both of which took responsibility for their respective publishing regions. [14] On November 13, 2001, both parts were streamlined under the name Vivendi Universal Games. [15]

When Vivendi Universal sold all of its media operations to General Electric in October 2003, Vivendi Universal held on to Vivendi Universal Games, which was re-organized as a direct division of the conglomerate. [16] On March 3, 2006, with the sale completed, Vivendi Universal announced they would be dropping the "Universal" part of their name. [17] The same day, the company opened a mobile games division known as Vivendi Universal Games Mobile. [18]

Merger with Activision

In December 2007, American publisher Activision announced a proposed merger deal with Vivendi Games that would create a new holding company named Activision Blizzard. [19] [20] The deal was approved by Activision's shareholders on July 8, 2008, [20] and the merger was finalized on July 10, creating Activision Blizzard while dissolving Vivendi Games. [21] Bruce Hack, who served as chief executive officer of Vivendi Games, became vice-chairman and chief corporate officer of the new company. [21] Many of Vivendi Games' properties were later dropped by Activision, citing that they would not make for a good fit for the company's long-term strategy. [22]

Subsidiaries

Publishers

NameFounded or acquiredRef.
Black Label GamesAugust 2002 [23] [24]
Fox Interactive March 2003 [lower-alpha 1] [25]
NDA ProductionsMarch 2002 [26] [27]
Sierra Entertainment July 1996 [28]
Universal Interactive June 2000 [lower-alpha 2] [29] [30]
Vivendi Games MobileMarch 2006 [31]

Former

CenterscoreSeptember 2006 [32] [33]

Developers

NameFounded or acquiredRef.
Blizzard Entertainment March 1994 [34]
Berkeley Systems April 1997 [35]
Davidson & Associates July 1996 [36]
High Moon Studios January 2006 [37]
Massive Entertainment October 2002 [38] [39]
Radical Entertainment March 2005 [40] [41]
Swordfish Studios June 2005 [42]
Wanako Games February 2007 [43] [44] [45]

Former

Knowledge Adventure February 1997 [46] [47]
Coktel Vision 1996

Games

Notes

  1. ↑ Acquired from News Corporation in March 2003, became label.
  2. ↑ Absorbed through the Vivendi–Universal merger in June 2000, became label.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blizzard Entertainment</span> American video game publisher and developer

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded in February 1991 as Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles: Michael Morhaime, Frank Pearce and Allen Adham. The company originally concentrated on the creation of game ports for other studios' games before beginning development of their own software in 1993, with games like Rock n' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings. In 1993, the company became Chaos Studios, Inc., and then Blizzard Entertainment soon after being acquired by distributor Davidson & Associates early in the following year. Shortly after, Blizzard released Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Activision</span> American video game publisher

Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world and was the top United States publisher in 2016.

Sierra Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, including the first such game, Mystery House. It is known for its graphical adventure game series King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry, and Quest for Glory, and as the original publisher of Valve's Half-Life series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JumpStart Games</span> American educational software developer

JumpStart Games, Inc., formerly Knowledge Adventure, Inc., was an American edutainment video game company based in Torrance, California. Founded in 1991, it was acquired by Chinese holding company NetDragon Websoft in 2017.

Davidson & Associates, Inc. was an American developer of educational software based in Torrance, California. The company was founded in 1984 by husband-and-wife Bob and Jan Davidson, the latter of whom led the company as president until January 1997. Specializing in the production of edutainment software, the company was acquired by CUC International in February 1996 and served as the base for CUC's CUC Software division, being made responsible for the sales and distribution of the combined company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubisoft</span> French video game company

Ubisoft Entertainment SA is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include Assassin's Creed, Driver, Far Cry, Just Dance, Prince of Persia, Rabbids, Rayman, Tom Clancy's, and Watch Dogs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebellion Developments</span> Video game company

Rebellion Developments Limited is a British video game developer based in Oxford, England. Founded by Jason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known for its Sniper Elite series and multiple games in the Alien vs. Predator series. Sister company Rebellion Publishing has published comic books since 2000, when it purchased 2000 AD, the publisher of characters such as Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cendant</span> Defunct American company

Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New York City, the majority of its headquarters employees were in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivendi</span> French mass media holding company

Vivendi SE is a French mass-media holding company headquartered in Paris. It owns Groupe Canal+, Havas, Gameloft, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village, and Dailymotion, and is a majority owner of the Lagardère Group. The company has activities in television, film, video games, book publishing, print press, communication, tickets, and video hosting services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gameloft</span> French video game company

Gameloft SE is a French video game company based in Paris, founded in December 1999 by Ubisoft co-founder Michel Guillemot. The company operates 18 development studios worldwide, and publishes games for the mobile devices, consoles and PC. Formerly a public company traded at the Paris Bourse, Gameloft was acquired by media conglomerate Vivendi in 2016.

CUC (Comp-U-Card) International Inc. was a membership-based consumer services conglomerate with travel, shopping, auto, dining, home improvement and financial services offered to more than 60 million customers worldwide based in Stamford, Connecticut, US, and founded in 1973 by Kirk Shelton and Walter Forbes. In 1998, it became involved in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into what, at the time, was the biggest accounting scandal in corporate history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coktel Vision</span> French video game developer and publisher

Coktel Vision was a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. It was best known for its educational and adventure games.

Radical Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver. The studio is best known for developing The Simpsons: Hit & Run (2003), Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006), Prototype (2009) and Prototype 2 (2012), as well as entries in the Crash Bandicoot franchise. Radical Entertainment was founded in September 1991 by Rory Armes, Dave Davis, and Ian Wilkinson. It was acquired by Vivendi Games in 2005 and transferred to Activision in 2008. The studio faced significant layoffs in 2010 and 2012, with the latter causing it to cease development of original games and only support other Activision studios.

Germany has the second-largest video games player base in Europe, with 44.3 million gamers in 2018, after Russia. Consumers in Germany spent €5.87 billion on video games over the course of 2021, a 3 percent year-on-year increase from 2020. The video game market in Germany grew by 6 percent to €6.2 billion in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Behaviour Santiago</span>

Behaviour Interactive Chile Ltda. was a Chilean video game developer based in Santiago. The company was founded as Wanako Games in 2002, by Esteban Sosnik, Tiburcio de la Cárcova, Santiago Bilinkis, Wenceslao Casares. The studio was first acquired by Vivendi Games in February 2007 and ended up under Artificial Mind and Movement in December 2008. When Artificial Mind and Movement was renamed Behaviour Interactive in 2010, Wanako Games was renamed Behaviour Santiago. Behaviour Santiago was shut down on 20 November 2017.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. Activision Blizzard currently includes five business units: Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, King, Major League Gaming, and Activision Blizzard Studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Kotick</span> American businessman and former CEO of Activision Blizzard

Robert A. Kotick is an American businessman who served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Activision Blizzard and previously Activision from 1991 to 2023. He became the CEO of Activision after purchasing a company stake the previous year. Kotick engineered a merger between Activision and Vivendi Games during the late 2000s, which led to the creation of Activision Blizzard in 2008 and him being named the company's inaugural CEO. He has also served on several boards, including The Coca-Cola Company from 2012 to 2022, and Yahoo! from 2003 to 2008. Following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, Kotick retired from the company on December 29, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Interactive</span> Defunct American video game publisher

Universal Interactive was an American video game publisher. The company was established on January 4, 1994, and led by Skip Paul and Robert Biniaz of MCA. It was best known for producing the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro platform game franchises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video games in the United States</span>

Video gaming in the United States is one of the fastest-growing entertainment industries in the country. The American video game industry is the largest video game industry in the world. According to a 2020 study released by the Entertainment Software Association, the yearly economic output of the American video game industry in 2019 was $90.3 billion, supporting over 429,000 American jobs. With an average yearly salary of about $121,000, the latter figure includes over 143,000 individuals who are directly employed by the video game business. Additionally, activities connected to the video game business generate $12.6 billion in federal, state, and local taxes each year. World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025 the American gaming industry will reach $42.3 billion while worldwide gaming industry will possibly reach US$270 billion. The United States is one of the nations with the largest influence in the video game industry, with video games representing a significant part of its economy.

References

  1. 1 2 Lewis, Peter H. (February 21, 1996). "CUC Will Buy 2 Software Companies for $1.8 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  2. ↑ "CUC INTERNATIONAL INC. COMPLETES ACQUISITIONS OF DAVIDSON & ASSOCIATES, INC. AND SIERRA ON-LINE, INC". PR Newswire. July 24, 1996.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Kaplan, Karen (February 10, 1997). "Davidson Founders Make Quiet Exit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  4. ↑ Helm, Leslie (February 21, 1996). "Marketer CUC to Buy Davidson & Associates". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  5. 1 2 Kaplan, Karen (November 6, 1996). "CUC Will Buy Knowledge Adventure". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  6. ↑ Quistgaard, Kaitlin (April 2, 1997). "CUC Buys Content Maker Berkeley Systems". Wired. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  7. ↑ Bagli, Charles V. (May 28, 1997). "$11 Billion Merger Plan Would Join HFS and CUC". The New York Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  8. ↑ "CUC-HFS Merger Deal to Create Strong One-Stop-Shopping Entity". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. May 28, 1997. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  9. ↑ Jebens, Harley (April 28, 2000). "CUC Gets Renamed". gamespot.com. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  10. ↑ "CUC Now Cendant". Game Developer . UBM TechWeb. March 1998. p. 13.
  11. ↑ Hansell, Saul (November 20, 1998). "Cendant Said to Near Sale of Software Division". The New York Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Cendant Sells Software Unit". Wired. November 20, 1998. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  13. ↑ Rose, Frank (December 1, 2000). "Vivendi's High Wireless Act". Wired. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  14. 1 2 "Havas Interactive Changes Name To Vivendi". gamasutra.com. May 16, 2001. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  15. ↑ Graser, Marc (November 15, 2001). "Viv U streamlines games". variety.com. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  16. ↑ Fahey, Rob (October 8, 2003). "General Electric buys Vivendi media empire". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  17. ↑ Gibson, Ellie (March 3, 2006). "Vivendi Universal to shorten company name". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  18. ↑ Maragos, Nich (March 3, 2006). "Gamasutra - The Art & Business of Making Games". gamasutra.com. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  19. ↑ Rosmarin, Rachel (December 2, 2007). "Vivendi To Merge With Activision". forbes.com. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  20. 1 2 Alexander, Leigh (July 8, 2008). "Activision Blizzard Merger Official". kotaku.com. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  21. 1 2 Alexander, Leigh (July 10, 2008). "Activision Blizzard Merger Finalized". kotaku.com. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  22. ↑ Pattison, Narayan (July 29, 2008). "Activision Drops Several Vivendi Games". IGN .
  23. ↑ Varanini, Giancarlo (August 13, 2002). "Vivendi creates new studio". gamespot.com. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  24. ↑ IGN Staff (August 13, 2002). "VU Creates Black Label Games". ign.com. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  25. ↑ Pham, Alex (March 11, 2003). "Fox Sells Video Game Division to Vivendi". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Un nuovo team per Vivendi Universal". multiplayer.it (in Italian). March 27, 2002.
  27. ↑ IGN Staff (November 13, 2002). "Europe Gets Hard Early". ign.com. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  28. ↑ Lewis, Peter H. (February 21, 1996). "CUC Will Buy 2 Software Companies for $1.8 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  29. ↑ Stokes, Ian (June 26, 2018). "Buy Low, Sell High: Vivendi's History in Video Games". Kotaku UK. Archived from the original on July 21, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  30. ↑ Teather, David (June 19, 2000). "Vivendi seals merger". The Guardian. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  31. ↑ Maragos, Nich (March 3, 2006). "Gamasutra - The Art & Business of Making Games". gamasutra.com. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Vivendi acquires Centerscore". gamesindustry.biz. September 13, 2006. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  33. ↑ Dobson, Jason (September 12, 2006). "Vivendi Acquires Centerscore, Expands Mobile Portfolio". gamasutra.com. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  34. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (March 1, 1994). "Technology". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  35. ↑ "2K Madrid". 2K Madrid. Archived from the original on April 1, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  36. ↑ Lewis, Peter H. (February 21, 1996). "CUC Will Buy 2 Software Companies for $1.8 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  37. ↑ Gibson, Ellie (January 6, 2006). "Vivendi Universal acquires High Moon Studios". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  38. ↑ "Vivendi Universal Publishing announces the acquisition of Massive Entertainment". bluesnews.com. October 3, 2002. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  39. ↑ Parker, Sam (October 3, 2002). "Vivendi Universal acquires Massive Entertainment". gamespot.com. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  40. ↑ Fahey, Rob (March 23, 2005). "VU Games acquires Simpsons: Hit & Run developer Radical Entertainment". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  41. ↑ Jenkins, David (March 23, 2005). "Vivendi Universal Acquires Simpsons: Hit & Run Developer". gamasutra.com. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  42. ↑ Fahey, Rob (June 15, 2005). "Vivendi nets Swordfish in new acquisition deal". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  43. ↑ Arendt, Susan (February 20, 2007). "Vivendi Acquires Assault Heroes Developer". Wired. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  44. ↑ Boyer, Brandon (February 20, 2007). "Vivendi Acquires Wanako Games". gamasutra.com. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  45. ↑ Kietzmann, Ludwig (February 20, 2007). "Vivendi acquires Wanako Games". engadget.com. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  46. ↑ Kaplan, Karen (February 10, 1997). "Davidson Founders Make Quiet Exit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  47. ↑ Fahey, Rob (October 6, 2004). "Vivendi Universal sells educational games division". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.