Difference between revisions of "Activision"

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{{Company
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{{CompanyBob
 
| logo=Activision_logo.svg
 
| logo=Activision_logo.svg
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| width=300
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| founded=1979-10-01
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| founded=1979
 
 
| defunct=
 
| defunct=
 
| tseries=T-130
 
| tseries=T-130
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| mergedwith=
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| mergedwith=Vivendi Games (2008)
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| mergedinto=Vivendi (2008)
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| mergedinto=[[Microsoft]] (2023)
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| headquarters= Santa Monica, California, USA
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| headquarters=46000 Bohannon Dr., Suite 210, Menlo Park, California, 94025, United States{{magref|egrn|8|20}}
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| headquarters2=3100 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, California, 90405, United States{{fileref|E32001 Directory.pdf|page=73}}
 
}}
 
}}
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'''Activision''' was founded in 1979 by four programmers at [[Atari]] after they wanted more money and more recognition for the games that they created for the Atari 2600. A sales sheet, intended to list what type of games sold best so the programmers would make more like those, showed that the four of them made over 60% of the company's sales at the time, over $60 million. Atari president Ray Kassar dismissed their contract renegotiations and at that point they left.
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'''Activision Publishing, Inc.''' is an American video game publisher, and one of the largest companies of its type in the world.
  
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David Crane, Alan Miller, Robert Whitehead, Larry Kaplan, and former record industry executive Jim Levy founded Activision, and their games would have a biography and their signature at the end of the instruction booklets. This took off, and Activision made millions in sales. It also marked the start of third-party publishing and development, as previously the owner of the hardware also made all the games for it.
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==History==
 +
'''Activision, Inc.''' was founded in October 1979 by four programmers ([[David Crane]], Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Robert Whitehead) from [[Atari, Inc. (1972–1984)|Atari]]. After discovering their efforts represented 60% of the company's sales at the time (valued at over $60 million), they prompted Atari to start treating its staff like the music industry, paying programmers royalties and allowing them to be recognised for their work in the products sold, rather than just allowing Atari to take credit. Renegotiations failed and Activision was formed to fullfil their demands.
  
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The name of the company was chosen because they wanted a name that was higher up alphabetically than Atari in order to show that it was superior.
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Activision represented a number of firsts in the industry, being one of the first third-party game developers for the [[Atari 2600]] (and by extension, third-party software houses, period), the first to fully credit its staff in video game releases (albeit just in manuals at first due to technology restraints) and the first video game company to use a name earlier in the alphabet than "Atari" in order to be found more quickly (a practise also mirrored in later companies such as [[Accolade]], [[Acclaim]] and [[Absolute Entertainment]]).
  
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In 1984, sales began to fall as the video game crash happened (in late 1983), there was a split on the direction of the company on whether to keep going with video games or computer games. Over the next few year, key employees at Activision left and formed their own companies. Many of these new companies chose names alphabetically above Activision (such as [[Accolade]], [[Acclaim]] and [[Absolute Entertainment]].) With sales dropping and Jim Levy's style of crediting individuals in the games becoming less effective, he left the company in 1985.
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Activision was enormously successful in the early years, but was hit by the North American video game crash of 1983, which subsequently led to lower sales, employees leaving and a renewed focus on home computer games. It purchased struggling developer [[Infocom]] in 1986 (which it would close in 1989) and would attempt to diversify into other types of computer software aside from games. This change of pace caused the company to change its name to '''Mediagenic''', with "Activision" being retained as a brand for games (alongside Infocom).
  
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In 1989, they started focusing on other computer software and changed their name to Mediagenic. In 1991, Mediagenic filed for bankruptcy, eventually they changed their name back to Activision, and in 1993, they surfaced again. Since then, Activision has been turned into the second largest publishing company in the United States. Today the formal company name is Activision Publishing, Inc.
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In 1981 an "international" company had been set up as '''Activision (UK) Inc.''', and by 1983/1984 it was a success in its own right, supporting numerous European home computers. It was this branch of Activision (which for a while traded as '''Activision Entertainment Software''') which first interacted with [[Sega]], securing the license to publish several Sega arcade games for home computers.
  
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==Softography==
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The firm had a confused presence during the late 1980s, trading as both Mediagenic (the official name) and Activision (the more well-known name) depending on the situation (after creating the [[Electric Dreams]] label in the UK, customers could find that for support, they were contacting not Electric Dreams, but "Mediagenic" headquartered at "Activision House" in London).
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{{multicol|
 
−
===Arcade===
 
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* ''[[Time Scanner]]'' (1987)
 
  
−
===[[SG-1000]]===
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Financial issues, including multi-million dollar patent infringement lawsuits, prompted the firm to be purchased by a group of investors led by Robert Kotick. Management filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, after which significant structural changes to the company occurred and the headquarters moved. The Mediagenic name would be dropped in 1992, with the company reverting back to Activision, and with this, a renewed focus on video games.
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* ''[[H.E.R.O.]]'' (1985)
 
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* ''[[Pitfall II: The Lost Caverns]]'' (1985)
 
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* ''[[Rock n' Bolt]]'' (1985)
 
  
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===[[Master System]]===
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Activision's subsequent success with the likes of the ''MechWarrior'' series of games led to rapid growth during the 1990s, resulting in more publishing and distribution deals, as well as developer acquisitions. In 2000 Activision Inc. became the name of a holding company to manage the group's subsidiaries, while the official name for the publisher changed to "Activision Publishing, Inc.". A merger with Vivendi Games (owner of [[Sierra]] and [[Blizzard]]) in 2008 led to the creation of a new holding company '''Activision Blizzard'''. Vivendi would own a stake in the company until 2016.
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* ''[[Ghostbusters (Master System)|Ghostbusters]]'' (1987)
 
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* ''[[Rampage]]'' (1988)
 
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* ''[[Shanghai]]'' (1988)
 
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* ''[[Bomber Raid]]'' (1989)
 
  
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===[[Mega Drive]]===
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Since the late-2000s, Activision and [[Electronic Arts]] have battled to be the largest video game publisher in the world. Activision owns such properties as ''[[Tony Hawk's Pro Skater]]'', ''Guitar Hero'' and most notably, ''Call of Duty''.
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* ''[[Slaughter Sport]]'' (as Mediagenic; 1991)
 
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* ''[[Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye]]'' (1994)
 
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* ''[[Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure]]'' (1994)
 
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* ''[[Radical Rex]]'' (1994)
 
  
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===[[Mega CD]]===
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For a time, Sega PC games were published by one of Activision's subsidiaries; [[Activision Value Publishing]].
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* ''[[Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure]]'' (1994)
 
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* ''[[Radical Rex]]'' (1994)
 
  
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===[[Sega 32X]]===
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In 2022, [[Microsoft]] announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68,7 billion.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20220118134856/https://news.microsoft.com/2022/01/18/microsoft-to-acquire-activision-blizzard-to-bring-the-joy-and-community-of-gaming-to-everyone-across-every-device/}} The acquisition was completed on August 13, 2023.
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* ''[[Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure]]'' (1995)
 
  
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===[[Saturn]]===
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==Softography==
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* ''[[Shanghai: Triple-Threat]]'' (1995)
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{{CompanyHistoryAll|Activision|Mediagenic}}
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* ''[[Blast Chamber]]'' (1996)
 
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* ''[[Return to Zork]]'' (1996)
 
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* ''[[MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat]]'' (1997)
 
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* ''[[Zork Collection]]'' (1998)
 
  
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===[[Dreamcast]]===
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==Logos==
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* ''[[Blue Stinger]]'' (1999)
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<gallery>
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* ''[[Disney/Pixar's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'' (2000)
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ActivisionEntertainmentSoftware logo.png|Activision Entertainment Software
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* ''[[Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!]]'' (2000)
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Activision logo.svg|Activision
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* ''[[Star Wars: Demolition]]'' (2000)
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</gallery>
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* ''[[Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2]]'' (2000)
 
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* ''[[Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense]]'' (2000)
 
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* ''[[Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram]]'' (2000)
 
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* ''[[Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX]]'' (2001)
 
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* ''[[Spider-Man (Dreamcast)|Spider-Man]]'' (2001)
 
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}}
 
  
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[[Category:Third-Party Development Companies]]
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==References==
 +
<references />
 +
{{clear}}
 +
{{NECRetro}}

Latest revision as of 13:42, 24 April 2024

https://retrocdn.net/images/3/3c/Activision_logo.svg

Activision logo.svg
Activision
Founded: 1979-10-01
T-series code: T-130
Merged with: Vivendi Games (2008)
Merged into: Microsoft (2023)
Headquarters:
46000 Bohannon Dr., Suite 210, Menlo Park, California, 94025, United States[1]
3100 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, California, 90405, United States[2]

Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher, and one of the largest companies of its type in the world.

History

Activision, Inc. was founded in October 1979 by four programmers (David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Robert Whitehead) from Atari. After discovering their efforts represented 60% of the company's sales at the time (valued at over $60 million), they prompted Atari to start treating its staff like the music industry, paying programmers royalties and allowing them to be recognised for their work in the products sold, rather than just allowing Atari to take credit. Renegotiations failed and Activision was formed to fullfil their demands.

Activision represented a number of firsts in the industry, being one of the first third-party game developers for the Atari 2600 (and by extension, third-party software houses, period), the first to fully credit its staff in video game releases (albeit just in manuals at first due to technology restraints) and the first video game company to use a name earlier in the alphabet than "Atari" in order to be found more quickly (a practise also mirrored in later companies such as Accolade, Acclaim and Absolute Entertainment).

Activision was enormously successful in the early years, but was hit by the North American video game crash of 1983, which subsequently led to lower sales, employees leaving and a renewed focus on home computer games. It purchased struggling developer Infocom in 1986 (which it would close in 1989) and would attempt to diversify into other types of computer software aside from games. This change of pace caused the company to change its name to Mediagenic, with "Activision" being retained as a brand for games (alongside Infocom).

In 1981 an "international" company had been set up as Activision (UK) Inc., and by 1983/1984 it was a success in its own right, supporting numerous European home computers. It was this branch of Activision (which for a while traded as Activision Entertainment Software) which first interacted with Sega, securing the license to publish several Sega arcade games for home computers.

The firm had a confused presence during the late 1980s, trading as both Mediagenic (the official name) and Activision (the more well-known name) depending on the situation (after creating the Electric Dreams label in the UK, customers could find that for support, they were contacting not Electric Dreams, but "Mediagenic" headquartered at "Activision House" in London).

Financial issues, including multi-million dollar patent infringement lawsuits, prompted the firm to be purchased by a group of investors led by Robert Kotick. Management filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, after which significant structural changes to the company occurred and the headquarters moved. The Mediagenic name would be dropped in 1992, with the company reverting back to Activision, and with this, a renewed focus on video games.

Activision's subsequent success with the likes of the MechWarrior series of games led to rapid growth during the 1990s, resulting in more publishing and distribution deals, as well as developer acquisitions. In 2000 Activision Inc. became the name of a holding company to manage the group's subsidiaries, while the official name for the publisher changed to "Activision Publishing, Inc.". A merger with Vivendi Games (owner of Sierra and Blizzard) in 2008 led to the creation of a new holding company Activision Blizzard. Vivendi would own a stake in the company until 2016.

Since the late-2000s, Activision and Electronic Arts have battled to be the largest video game publisher in the world. Activision owns such properties as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Guitar Hero and most notably, Call of Duty.

For a time, Sega PC games were published by one of Activision's subsidiaries; Activision Value Publishing.

In 2022, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68,7 billion.[3] The acquisition was completed on August 13, 2023.

Softography

System 1

Sega Titan Video

NAOMI GD-ROM

SG-1000

Master System

Mega Drive

Game Gear

Mega-CD

32X

Saturn

Dreamcast

PlayStation 4

Nintendo Switch

Nintendo DS

Nintendo 3DS

Amiga

Amstrad CPC

Atari ST

Commodore 64

IBM PC

MSX

ZX Spectrum

Logos

  • Activision Entertainment Software

  • Activision

References

  1. ↑ Electronic Gaming Retail News, "January 1992" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 20
  2. ↑ E3 2001 Directory, page 73
  3. ↑ https://news.microsoft.com/2022/01/18/microsoft-to-acquire-activision-blizzard-to-bring-the-joy-and-community-of-gaming-to-everyone-across-every-device/ (Wayback Machine: 2022-01-18 13:48)
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