Blizzard Entertainment Chief Operating Officer Paul Sams is reassuring fans that Blizzard chose Activision to be its acquisition partner.
Sams stated at Blizzard’s Worldwide Invitational that the Starcraft studio was “on board” with the Activision acquisition from its inception at Vivendi.
“What people don’t realise is that Blizzard is absolutely, positively supportive of doing this,” he revealed. “I think maybe people believe that Activision and Vivendi got together and sat in a room, and thought it would be great, and then informed us. But the fact of the matter is that we felt doing something like this was a positive and important thing to have happen, and we were part of all those meetings.”
When asked who they should acquire, Blizzard reported to Vivendi that Activision was on the top of its list.
“The Vivendi people were there, but the reality is that in Vivendi Games, Blizzard is the crown jewel, so we needed to be on board and believe in it,” confirmed Sams. “And honestly, when [Vivendi] said to us they were thinking about exploring the possibility of something like this, we said that if we were going to do something like that, it should be with Activision – those words came from our mouth.”
The executives at Blizzard persist that the studio’s management structure and project schedule will remain unharmed. “Our focus at Blizzard Entertainment will remain the same – to continue making great games,” said CEO Mike Morhaime. With a bevy of big-name Blizzard brands being extended recently, such as Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, the company probably doesn’t have to worry about losing consumer support anytime soon.
Source: GamesIndustry
Published: Jul 1, 2008 02:54 pm