Activision
Encyclopedia
Activision is an American publisher
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....

, majority owned by French conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...

 Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick
Robert Kotick
Robert A. Kotick , also known as Bobby Kotick, is the CEO, president, and a director of Activision Blizzard.- Early career :...

. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

. Its first products were cartridges for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...

 video console system published from July 1980 for the US market and from August 1981 for the international market (UK). Activision is now one of the largest third party video game publishers in the world and was also the top publisher for 2007 in the United States. On January 18, 2008, Activision announced they were the top US publisher in 2007, according to the NPD Group
NPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading North American market research company. The NPD Group consistently ranks among the top 25 market research companies in the independent Honomichl Top 50 report, which the media and the research industry acknowledge as a credible source of information on the market...

.

On December 2, 2007, it was announced that Activision would be acquired by Vivendi
Vivendi
Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...

, with Vivendi contributing its gaming division plus cash, in exchange for a majority stake in the new group. The merger between Activision and Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...

 took place on July 9, 2008, with the newly formed company known as Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., formerly Activision, Inc. is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, announced on December 2, 2007, in a...

. Activision will still exist as a subsidiary owned by Activision Blizzard, and it will still develop and publish games such as Call of Duty
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...

, along with some of Vivendi's owned IP
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

s, such as the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon series. As of June 15, 2010, Activision and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

, specifically the Interactive Entertainment division, have an exclusive multiyear agreement; Don Mattrick announced this on June 14, 2010 during Microsoft's 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo conference. On Feb. 9, 2011 Activision announced that it was cancelling the Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...

 franchise, and would no longer be developing or publishing future titles for the series and eventually clarified that the series was merely taking a break.

History of Activision

Before the formation of Activision, software for video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

s were published exclusively by makers of the systems for which the games were designed. For example, Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

 was the only publisher of games for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...

. This was particularly galling to the developers of the games, as they received no financial rewards for games that sold well, and did not receive credit for their games. This caused several programmers to resign from their jobs. Activision became the first third-party game publisher for game consoles.

The company was founded by former music industry executive Jim Levy
Jim Levy
Jim Levy was initially a music industry executive, but he is known better for his efforts as the founding Chief Executive Officer for Activision.. , Gamasutra. , Billboard ...

, venture capitalist Richard Muchmore, and former Atari programmers
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...

 David Crane
David Crane (programmer)
David Crane is a video game designer and programmer.Crane started his programming career at Atari, making games for the Atari 2600. After meeting co-worker Alan Miller in a tennis game, Miller told Crane about a plan he had to leave Atari and found a company that would give game designers more...

, Larry Kaplan
Larry Kaplan
Larry Kaplan is an American video game designer and programmer. He initially worked at Atari and was responsible for a lot of their sales. Due to the lack of recognition for his work, he left Atari and became one of the five co-founders of Activision....

, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead
Bob Whitehead
Bob Whitehead is a game designer and programmer. He is a renowned pioneer and entrepreneur of the video game industry, having been instrumental in forming two video game developers. One, Activision, was the first third-party video game developer.-Career:...

. Atari's company policy at the time was not to credit game creators for their individual contributions; Levy took the approach of crediting and promoting game creators along with the games themselves. The steps taken for this included devoting a page to the developer in their instruction manuals and challenging players to send in a high score (usually as a photograph, but sometimes as a letter) in order to receive an embroidered patch
Embroidered patch
An embroidered patch is a piece of art which is created by using a fabric backing thread and some form of a needle. Embroidered patches can be attached with a pin or can be sewn on, but some of the more modern methods of attachment include both an iron-on and Velcro backing...

. These approaches helped the newly formed company attract experienced talent. Crane, Kaplan, Levy, Miller, and Whitehead received the Game Developers Choice
Game Developers Choice Awards
The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was...

 "First Penguin" award in 2003, in recognition of this step.

The departure of the four programmers, whose titles made up more than half of Atari's cartridge sales at the time, caused legal action between the two companies that were not settled until 1982. As the market for game consoles started to decline, Activision branched out, producing game titles for home computers and acquiring smaller publishers.

In 1982, Activision released Pitfall!
Pitfall!
Pitfall! is a video game released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It is the second best selling game made for the Atari 2600, with over 4 million copies sold.-Gameplay:...

, a best selling title on the Atari 2600. Pitfall! was a huge success for the company and the developers. Due to this success, many clones of the game were introduced, including stand-up arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

s.

On June 13, 1986, Activision purchased struggling text adventure
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...

 pioneer Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....

. Jim Levy was a big fan of Infocom's titles and wanted the company to remain solvent. About six months after the "InfoWedding", Bruce Davis
Bruce Davis (video game industry)
Bruce L. Davis is an American businessman, currently CEO and chairman of Digimarc. Formerly the head of both Imagic and Activision, he is known for his role in the development of the video game industry....

 took over as CEO of Activision. Davis was against the merger from the start and was heavy-handed in its management. Eventually in 1989, after several years of losses, Activision closed down the Infocom studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

, extending to only 11 of the 26 employees an offer to relocate to Activision's headquarters in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...

. Five of them accepted this offer.

In 1988, Activision began involvement in other types of software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....

 besides video games, such as business applications. As a result, Activision changed its corporate name to Mediagenic to have a name that globally represented all its activities. Under the Mediagenic holding company, Activision continued to publish video games for various platforms notably the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

, the Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....

, the Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...

, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...

, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

 and Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

.

New Activision

Following a multi-million judgment on damages in a patent infringement
Patent infringement
Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may vary by jurisdiction, but it typically includes using or...

, suit wherein infringement had been determined many years prior during the Levy era, a financially weakened Mediagenic was taken over by an investor group led by Robert Kotick
Robert Kotick
Robert A. Kotick , also known as Bobby Kotick, is the CEO, president, and a director of Activision Blizzard.- Early career :...

 also known as Bobby Kotick. After taking over the company, the new management filed for a Chapter 11
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...

 reorganization. In the reorganization, the company merged Mediagenic with The Disc Company. While emerging from bankruptcy, Mediagenic continued to develop games for PCs
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...

 and video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

s, and resumed making strategic acquisitions. After emerging from bankruptcy, Mediagenic officially changed its entity name back to Activision on December 1992 and became a Delaware Corporation
Delaware corporation
The Delaware General Corporation Law is the statute governing corporate law in the state of Delaware. Delaware is well known as a corporate haven. Over 50% of U.S...

 (it was previously a California Corporation). At that point, Activision moved its headquarters from Mountain View
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...

 in the Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...

 to Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...

 in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

. Activision chose from then on to concentrate solely on video gaming.

In 1991, Activision packaged 20 of Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....

's past games into a CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....

 collection called The Lost Treasures of Infocom
The Lost Treasures of Infocom
The Lost Treasures of Infocom is a collection of 20 computer games from interactive fiction pioneer Infocom, released in 1991. It was available in MS-DOS, Apple Macintosh, Amiga, and Apple IIGS versions, as well as a cross-platform CD-ROM version. Infocom was closed in 1989 by its then-parent...

, without the feelie
Feelie
Infocom used the term feelie to refer to the extra content included with the boxed versions of their interactive fiction computer games. Feelies differed from game to game and were of the same theme as the game they came packaged with...

s Infocom was famous for. The success of this compilation led to the 1992 release of 11 more Infocom titles in The Lost Treasures of Infocom II.

Activision published the first-person perspective MechWarrior in 1989, based on FASA
FASA
FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001. Originally the name FASA was an acronym for "Freedonian Aeronautics and Space Administration", a joking allusion to the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup. This tongue-in-cheek attitude was...

's pen-and-pencil game BattleTech
BattleTech
BattleTech is a wargaming and science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2000, and owned since 2003 by Topps. The series began with FASA's debut of the board game BattleTech by Jordan Weisman and L...

. Activision released the sequel, MechWarrior 2, in 1995 after two years of delays and internal struggles. Because of these delays, FASA decided against renewing their licensing deal with Activision. To counter, Activision released several more games bearing the MechWarrior 2 name, which did not violate their licensing agreement. These included NetMech, MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bears Legacy, and MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries. The entire MechWarrior 2 game series accounted for more than in sales.

Activision procured the license to another pen-and-paper-based war-game, Heavy Gear
Heavy Gear
Heavy Gear is a game universe published since 1994 by Canadian publisher Dream Pod 9. It includes a tabletop tactical wargame, a role-playing game and a lesser known combat card game...

, in 1997. It was well received by critics, with an 81.46% average rating on gamerankings.com and being considered the best game of the genre at the time by GameSpot. The Mechwarrior 2 engine was also used in other Activision games, including 1997's Interstate '76
Interstate '76
Interstate '76 is a vehicular combat video game for Windows. It was developed and published by Activision and released in March 1997.-Gameplay:...

and finally 1998's Battlezone.

Acquisitions and partnerships

Year Acquisition
1997 Raven Software
Raven Software
Raven Software is an American video game developer. The company was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them...

 made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequentally acquired by them. This partnership resulted in Hexen II
Hexen II
Hexen II is a first-person shooter developed by Raven Software from 1996 to 1997, published by id Software and distributed by Activision. It was the third game in the Hexen/Heretic series, and the last in the Serpent Riders trilogy. It was made available on Steam on August 3, 2007...

, Heretic II
Heretic II
Heretic II is a fantasy action-adventure game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in 1998 continuing the story of Corvus, the main character from its predecessor, Heretic....

, Soldier of Fortune, its sequel
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix is a video game created by Raven Software, a sequel to Soldier of Fortune. It was developed using the Quake III: Team Arena engine. Once again, Raven hired John Mullins to act as a consultant on the game...

 and Quake 4
Quake 4
Quake 4 is the fourth title in the series of Quake first-person shooter computer games. The game was developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. Raven Software has collaborated with id Software, the creators and historical developers of preceding Quake games...

. That same year, Activision acquired CentreSoft Ltd., (an independent distributor in the United Kingdom) and NBG Distribution (a German distributor).
1998 Pandemic Studios
Pandemic Studios
Pandemic Studios was founded as an independent developer in 1998, it became an Electronic Arts-owned developer from 2007 to 2009, when it was officially closed. It was an Australian and American video game developer with offices in Brisbane, Australia and Los Angeles, California...

 was founded with an equity investment by Activision. Pandemic's first two games, Battlezone II: Combat Commander
Battlezone II: Combat Commander
Battlezone II: Combat Commander, often abbreviated to BZII or BZ2, is a 1999 computer game released by Pandemic Studios as a sequel to Activision's 1998 Battlezone. Like Activision's Battlezone, Battlezone II is a hybrid tank shooter, first-person shooter and real-time strategy game...

and Dark Reign 2
Dark Reign 2
Dark Reign 2 is a 3D real-time strategy PC game released on June 30, 2000 by Activision and Pandemic Studios. Being a prequel to Dark Reign: The Future of War PC game, Dark Reign 2s storyline focuses on what has come before the conflict in the first Dark Reign...

, were both sequels to Activision games. That same year, Activision also inked deals with Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC , formerly Marvel Enterprises and Toy Biz, Inc., is an American entertainment company formed from the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and Toy Biz, Inc....

, Head Game Publishing, Disney Interactive, LucasArts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...

 Entertainment and CD Contact Data.
1999 Activision acquired Neversoft
Neversoft
Neversoft Entertainment is an American video game developer, founded in 1994 by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward. Neversoft is best recognized for their line of Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk skateboarding games, known as the Tony Hawk's series...

, best recognized for their line of Tony Hawk
Tony Hawk
Anthony Frank "Tony" Hawk , nicknamed "The Birdman" is an American retired professional skateboarder and actor. Hawk gained significant fame for completing the first 900 as well as his licensed video game titles distributed by Activision...

 skateboarding games. That same year, Activision acquired Expert Software (maker of Home Design 3D).
2000 Activision made an equity investment in Gray Matter Interactive
Gray Matter Interactive
Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc. was a computer game developer, which was acquired by Activision in January 2002. Gray Matter was previously known as Xatrix Entertainment, Inc....

, to develop the follow-up to id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...

's Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...

.
2001 Activision acquired rights to Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...

' feature film Spider-Man
Spider-Man (film)
Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp...

. That same year, Activision also acquired Treyarch
Treyarch
Treyarch is an American video game developer company, founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Doğan Köslü , and acquired by Activision in 2001...

.
2002 Activision made an equity investment in Infinity Ward
Infinity Ward
Infinity Ward is an American video game developer. Infinity Ward is responsible for the development of the video game Call of Duty and four other installments in the Call of Duty franchise....

, a newly formed studio comprising 22 of the individuals who developed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 2015, Inc. and created by Steven Spielberg. It is the 3rd installment of the Medal of Honor series...

. That same year, Activision acquired Z-Axis Ltd. (the studio behind Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX is a video game released in 2000 featuring Dave Mirra and other professional BMX riders. It was developed by Z-Axis Ltd. and published by Acclaim, and was released on the PlayStation, Dreamcast, Game Boy Color and the Windows PC...

) and Luxoflux
Luxoflux
Luxoflux was an American video game developer. It was founded by Peter Morawiec and Adrian Stephens in January 1997, and was based in Santa Monica, California.-History:...

 Corporation.
2003 Activision and DreamWorks SKG
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...

 inked a multi-year, multi-property publishing agreement. That same year, Activision also formed a partnership with Valve
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...

 and acquired both Infinity Ward
Infinity Ward
Infinity Ward is an American video game developer. Infinity Ward is responsible for the development of the video game Call of Duty and four other installments in the Call of Duty franchise....

 (developers of the Call of Duty
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...

franchise) and software developer Shaba Games
Shaba Games
Shaba Games was a video game developer founded in September 1997, located in San Francisco, California, and acquired by Activision in 2002. Activision closed the studio on October 8, 2009.-Developed games:*Grind Session*Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3...

 LLC.

Activision and Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

 made a deal to publish the US releases of PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 versions of some titles, especially Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut.

Activision, along with several other game software publishers, was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its accounting practices
Standard accounting practice
Standard accounting practices require publicly-traded companies to follow certain accounting rules when presenting financial statements so that the readers of the statements can easily compare different companies...

, namely the use of the "return reserve" to allegedly smooth quarterly results.
2004 The company marked its 25th anniversary, and stated that it had posted record earnings
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...

 and the twelfth consecutive year of revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....

 growth.
2005 Activision acquired ShaderWorks, acquired game developers Vicarious Visions
Vicarious Visions
Vicarious Visions is an American video game developer founded by the high school brothers Karthik and Guha Bala in 1990, which developed some PC and Game Boy Color games in late 90's and 2000. They later developed Terminus, which won two Independent Games Festival Awards in 1999...

, Toys For Bob
Toys For Bob
Toys For Bob is a small video game developer founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. They are most known for creating Star Control and its sequel Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters, but they were not involved in the development of Star Control 3...

 and Beenox
Beenox
Beenox is a video game developer, established in Québec City, Québec. Founded in 2000 by Dominique Brown. Beenox has been awarded with the Quebec's Best Employer 2008 title and is among the Top 50 of the World’s best video game developers published in March 2008 by the Game Developers Research...

.
2006 Activision secured the video game license to make games based on the world of James Bond from MGM Interactive
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

. An exclusive agreement between the two begins in September 2007 with Activision's first game set for release in May 2008 being developed by Treyarch
Treyarch
Treyarch is an American video game developer company, founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Doğan Köslü , and acquired by Activision in 2001...

, Beenox
Beenox
Beenox is a video game developer, established in Québec City, Québec. Founded in 2000 by Dominique Brown. Beenox has been awarded with the Quebec's Best Employer 2008 title and is among the Top 50 of the World’s best video game developers published in March 2008 by the Game Developers Research...

 and Vicarious Visions
Vicarious Visions
Vicarious Visions is an American video game developer founded by the high school brothers Karthik and Guha Bala in 1990, which developed some PC and Game Boy Color games in late 90's and 2000. They later developed Terminus, which won two Independent Games Festival Awards in 1999...

. Also in 2006, Activision acquired publisher RedOctane, Inc.
RedOctane
RedOctane was an American electronic entertainment company perhaps best known for producing the Guitar Hero series beginning in November 2005. RedOctane became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision in 2006...

 (the publisher of the Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...

franchise).
2007 Activision acquired the control of games developer Bizarre Creations
Bizarre Creations
Bizarre Creations was a video game development studio, best known for their racing titles: Metropolis Street Racer and the followup Project Gotham Racing series . The company has also developed games in other genres, including the Geometry Wars arcade series, plus third-person shooters Fur...

.

Activision acquired Irish multiplayer technology company Demonware
Demonware
DemonWare is a software development company and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. It was originally founded in 2003 by Dylan Collins and Sean Blanchfield. They were purchased in May 2007 by Activision, the deal also included Demonware's management and employees signing long-term contracts...

.
2008 Merger with Vivendi (who owned Blizzard) to become Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., formerly Activision, Inc. is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, announced on December 2, 2007, in a...

.
2008 Activision acquired UK games studio FreeStyleGames
FreeStyleGames
FreeStyleGames Ltd. is a British video game development company with approximately 100 staff based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. The company was originally formed by Ex-Codemasters and Ex-Rare staff in late 2002, and has developed over the last 5 years into a well-respected development...

.
2009 Activision acquired Los Angeles based developer 7 Studios
7 Studios
7 Studios was a video game developer in West Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1999 by Lewis Peterson, 7 Studios created console video games based on the Fantastic Four and Shrek the Third movies....

.
2010 Partnership with Bungie
Bungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...

.

Activision announced that Sledgehammer Games
Sledgehammer Games
Sledgehammer Games is an American video game developer, formed in 2009 by industry veterans Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, both of whom formerly worked at Visceral Games, and are responsible for the award-winning Dead Space franchise.-History:...

 will be making Call of Duty games.

Merger with Vivendi

In December 2007, it was announced that Activision would merge with Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...

, which owns fellow games developer and publisher Blizzard
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...

, and the merger would close in July 2008. The new company is called Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., formerly Activision, Inc. is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, announced on December 2, 2007, in a...

and is headed by Activision's former CEO, Robert Kotick
Robert Kotick
Robert A. Kotick , also known as Bobby Kotick, is the CEO, president, and a director of Activision Blizzard.- Early career :...

. Vivendi
Vivendi
Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...

 is the biggest shareholder in the new group. The new company is estimated to be worth , ahead of Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...

, which is valued at .

Post-merger developments

Sledgehammer Games
Sledgehammer Games
Sledgehammer Games is an American video game developer, formed in 2009 by industry veterans Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, both of whom formerly worked at Visceral Games, and are responsible for the award-winning Dead Space franchise.-History:...

 was founded on November 17, 2009 by Glen Schofield
Glen Schofield
Glen A. Schofield is currently the V.P., GM for Sledgehammer Games and the former V.P., GM at EA Visceral Games and was the creator and Executive Producer of the third-person shooter Dead Space.-Early and professional life:...

 and Michael Condrey, who left Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...

 subsidiary, Visceral Games
Visceral Games
Visceral Games is a video game development studio internally owned by Electronic Arts. They are perhaps best known for the critically acclaimed Dead Space series.-History:...

.

The Sledgehammer Games micro site went live on December 8, 2009 with information on the studio development team, location, and current job openings. Speculation on the studio's next game has been offered by industry sites, Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...

 and Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...

. The studio's first game was originally planned to be a first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...

 in the Call of Duty
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...

series, with rumors of MMO
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...

 aspects, as revealed on their website on June 19, 2010. However, after the resignation of many Infinity Ward employees, Sledgehammer Games was brought in to help with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, with Raven Software having assisted in development...

.

On Feb. 9, 2011 Activision announced that it was shuttering its once profitable Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...

franchise, in the process doing a reduction in force of appox. 500 people. At the same time it announced that it was discontinuing development of True Crime: Hong Kong
True Crime: Hong Kong
True Crime: Hong Kong is a video game in development by United Front Games and is to be published by Square Enix. It was going to be the third installment and a reboot of the True Crime series, and would not be developed by Luxoflux, largely due to the studio being closed in February 2010.The game...

, and that it was refocusing its efforts into a new online service (dubbed "BeachHead") for its IP Call of Duty
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...

. At the same meeting these announcements were made, Activision reported net losses of $233-million for fourth quarter 2010.

As of recent, Activision has restarted its in-house development team. Their first game that they will launch as a developer and not a publisher is set to be Generator Rex: Agent of Providence
Generator Rex: Agent of Providence
Generator Rex: Agent of Providence is an action adventure video game based on the Cartoon Network television series Generator Rex. The game was developed and published by Activision. A release date is set for November 1, 2011 in North America and for November 18, 2011 in Europe. In Canada the game...

.

Current

  • Beachhead Studios in Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

    , founded in February 2011.
  • Beenox
    Beenox
    Beenox is a video game developer, established in Québec City, Québec. Founded in 2000 by Dominique Brown. Beenox has been awarded with the Quebec's Best Employer 2008 title and is among the Top 50 of the World’s best video game developers published in March 2008 by the Game Developers Research...

     in Quebec City
    Quebec City
    Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

    , founded in May 2000, acquired on May 25, 2005.
  • DemonWare
    Demonware
    DemonWare is a software development company and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. It was originally founded in 2003 by Dylan Collins and Sean Blanchfield. They were purchased in May 2007 by Activision, the deal also included Demonware's management and employees signing long-term contracts...

     in both Dublin, Republic of Ireland and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vancouver
    Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

    , founded in 2003, acquired on May 2007.
  • FreeStyleGames
    FreeStyleGames
    FreeStyleGames Ltd. is a British video game development company with approximately 100 staff based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. The company was originally formed by Ex-Codemasters and Ex-Rare staff in late 2002, and has developed over the last 5 years into a well-respected development...

     in Leamington, England, United Kingdom
    Leamington Spa
    Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...

    , founded in 2002, acquired September 12, 2008.
  • High Moon Studios
    High Moon Studios
    High Moon Studios is an American video game developer, that used to be a part of Sierra Entertainment. After a period as independent studio, the developer was acquired by Vivendi Games in January 2006 and retained the current name...

     in San Diego, founded as Sammy Entertainment in April 2001, acquired by Vivendi Games
    Vivendi Games
    Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...

     in January 2006.
  • Infinity Ward
    Infinity Ward
    Infinity Ward is an American video game developer. Infinity Ward is responsible for the development of the video game Call of Duty and four other installments in the Call of Duty franchise....

     in Encino, California, founded in 2002, acquired in October 2003.
  • Neversoft
    Neversoft
    Neversoft Entertainment is an American video game developer, founded in 1994 by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward. Neversoft is best recognized for their line of Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk skateboarding games, known as the Tony Hawk's series...

     in Los Angeles, founded in July 1994, acquired October 1999.
  • Radical Entertainment
    Radical Entertainment
    Radical Entertainment is a video game developer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1991 and previously developed games for game publishers such as THQ, Microsoft and Fox Interactive. It is now an entirely owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard after being acquired by...

     in Vancouver, Canada, founded in 1991, acquired by Vivendi Games
    Vivendi Games
    Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...

     in 2005.
  • Raven Software
    Raven Software
    Raven Software is an American video game developer. The company was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them...

     in Madison, Wisconsin
    Madison, Wisconsin
    Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

    , founded in 1990, acquired in 1997.
  • Sledgehammer Games
    Sledgehammer Games
    Sledgehammer Games is an American video game developer, formed in 2009 by industry veterans Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, both of whom formerly worked at Visceral Games, and are responsible for the award-winning Dead Space franchise.-History:...

     in Foster City, California
    Foster City, California
    Foster City is an affluent planned city located in San Mateo County, California, 94404. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 30,567. Forbes ranked Foster City #10 on their 2009 list of America's Top 25 Towns to Live Well. Money has also recognized Foster City multiple times as...

    , founded July 21, 2009.
  • Toys For Bob
    Toys For Bob
    Toys For Bob is a small video game developer founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. They are most known for creating Star Control and its sequel Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters, but they were not involved in the development of Star Control 3...

     in Novato, California
    Novato, California
    Novato is a city located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in northern Marin County. Novato is located about north-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 30 feet above sea level . The 2010 U.S. Census estimated the city population to be about 51,904. Novato is about ...

    , founded in 1989, acquired May 3, 2005.
  • Treyarch
    Treyarch
    Treyarch is an American video game developer company, founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Doğan Köslü , and acquired by Activision in 2001...

     in Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

    , founded in 1996, acquired 2001.
  • Vicarious Visions
    Vicarious Visions
    Vicarious Visions is an American video game developer founded by the high school brothers Karthik and Guha Bala in 1990, which developed some PC and Game Boy Color games in late 90's and 2000. They later developed Terminus, which won two Independent Games Festival Awards in 1999...

     in Albany, New York
    Albany, New York
    Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

    , founded in 1990, acquired January 2005.

Defunct

  • Gray Matter Interactive
    Gray Matter Interactive
    Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc. was a computer game developer, which was acquired by Activision in January 2002. Gray Matter was previously known as Xatrix Entertainment, Inc....

     in Southern California
    Southern California
    Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

    , founded in the 1990s as Xatrix Entertainment, acquired January 2002, merged into Treyarch in 2005.
  • Infocom
    Infocom
    Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....

     in Cambridge, Massachusetts
    Cambridge, Massachusetts
    Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

    , founded on June 22, 1979, acquired in 1986, closed in 1989.
  • Luxoflux
    Luxoflux
    Luxoflux was an American video game developer. It was founded by Peter Morawiec and Adrian Stephens in January 1997, and was based in Santa Monica, California.-History:...

     in Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

    , founded in January 1997, acquired October 2002, closed February 11, 2010.
  • Shaba Games
    Shaba Games
    Shaba Games was a video game developer founded in September 1997, located in San Francisco, California, and acquired by Activision in 2002. Activision closed the studio on October 8, 2009.-Developed games:*Grind Session*Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3...

     in San Francisco, California, founded in September 1997, acquired in 2002, and closed on October 8, 2009.
  • RedOctane
    RedOctane
    RedOctane was an American electronic entertainment company perhaps best known for producing the Guitar Hero series beginning in November 2005. RedOctane became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision in 2006...

     in Mountain View, California
    Mountain View, California
    -Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...

    , founded November 2005, acquired in 2006, closed February 11, 2010.
  • Sierra Entertainment
    Sierra Entertainment
    Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...

     in Los Angeles, founded in 1979 as On-line Systems, acquired from the merger with Vivendi Games, closed in 2008.
  • Underground Development in Foster City, California
    Foster City, California
    Foster City is an affluent planned city located in San Mateo County, California, 94404. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 30,567. Forbes ranked Foster City #10 on their 2009 list of America's Top 25 Towns to Live Well. Money has also recognized Foster City multiple times as...

    , founded as Z-Axis in 1994, acquired in May 2002, closed February 11, 2010.
  • Budcat Creations
    Budcat Creations
    Budcat Creations was a video game developer based in Iowa City, Iowa, United States and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision, though they formerly had partnerships with Electronic Arts and Majesco. They were largely responsible for porting titles to non-target consoles...

     in Las Vegas, Nevada
    Las Vegas metropolitan area
    The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

    , founded September 2000, acquired on November 10, 2008. Closed November 2010.
  • 7 Studios
    7 Studios
    7 Studios was a video game developer in West Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1999 by Lewis Peterson, 7 Studios created console video games based on the Fantastic Four and Shrek the Third movies....

     in West Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah
    Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

     and Taipei, Taiwan, founded in 1999, acquired on April 6, 2009. Closed in February 2011.
  • Bizarre Creations
    Bizarre Creations
    Bizarre Creations was a video game development studio, best known for their racing titles: Metropolis Street Racer and the followup Project Gotham Racing series . The company has also developed games in other genres, including the Geometry Wars arcade series, plus third-person shooters Fur...

     in Liverpool
    Liverpool
    Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

    , England, founded as Raising Hell Productions in 1987 and changed name in 1994, acquired on September 26, 2007. Closed February 18, 2011.

Sold

  • Wanako Studios
    Wanako Studios
    Wanako Studios is a Chilean video game developer wholly owned by Artificial Mind and Movement. It currently develops downloadable games for Microsoft Windows, the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation 3's Playstation Network, and the Nintendo Wii...

     in New York City, founded in 2005, acquired by Vivendi Games
    Vivendi Games
    Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...

     on February 20, 2007, sold to Artificial Mind and Movement
    Artificial Mind and Movement
    Behaviour Interactive [formerly Artificial Mind and Movement ], founded in 1992 in Québec City, Québec as Megatoon Entertainment Group, is the largest independent game development studio in Canada, specializing in the production of 2D and 3D action/adventure games for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3,...

     on November 20, 2008.
  • Swordfish Studios
    Swordfish Studios
    Swordfish Studios was a British software development company based in Birmingham founded by Rage executive director Trevor Williams and Joan Finnegan in September 2002....

     in Birmingham, England, founded in September 2002, acquired by Vivendi Universal Games in June 2005, sold to Codemasters
    Codemasters
    The Codemasters Software Company Limited, or Codemasters is a British video game developer founded by Richard and David Darling in 1986...

     on November 14, 2008.
  • Massive Entertainment
    Massive Entertainment
    Massive - A Ubisoft Studio is a Swedish video game company based in Malmö, Sweden. The company is fully owned by Ubisoft. They are best known for the Ground Control series of real-time tactics video games. They were acquired by Vivendi Universal Games in 2002...

     in Malmö, Sweden, founded in 1987, acquired by Vivendi Universal Games in 2002, sold to Ubisoft
    Ubisoft
    Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....

     on November 10, 2008.

1980s

  • Fishing Derby
    Fishing Derby
    Fishing Derby is an Atari 2600 video game created by Activision programmer David Crane based on the sport of fishing.In Fishing Derby, two fishermen sit on opposite docks over a lake filled with fish . Using the joystick the player is able to move his line left right and up and down in the water...

    (1980)
  • Skiing
    Skiing (Atari 2600)
    Skiing is a video game cartridge for the Atari 2600 console. It was authored by Bob Whitehead, and released by Activision in 1980.Skiing is a single player only game, in which the player uses the joystick to control the direction and speed of a stationary skier at the top of the screen, while the...

    (1980)
  • Freeway
    Freeway (video game)
    Freeway is a video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 video game console. It was published by Activision in 1981.Freeway was one of the first titles released by Activision in their effort to publish independent games for the Atari 2600...

    (1981)
  • Ice Hockey (1981)
  • Kaboom! (1981)
  • Stampede
    Stampede (video game)
    Stampede is a video game cartridge which was released in 1981 for the Atari 2600 video game console, and the Intellivision video game console in 1982. The game is a left-to-right side-scroller with an overhead, third-person view...

    (1981)
  • Barnstorming
    Barnstorming (video game)
    Barnstorming is an Atari 2600 video game designed by Steve Cartwright and published by Activision in 1982. Barnstorming was the first game designed by Cartwright...

    (1982)
  • Chopper Command
    Chopper Command
    Chopper Command is a video game by Activision released for the Atari 2600 game console in June 1982. The game was successful due to its perceived superiority to Atari's home version of Defender; Chopper Command shares many similarities in gameplay to Defender...

    (1982)
  • Pitfall!
    Pitfall!
    Pitfall! is a video game released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It is the second best selling game made for the Atari 2600, with over 4 million copies sold.-Gameplay:...

    (1982)
  • River Raid
    River Raid
    River Raid is a scrolling shooter videogame and was released in 1982 by Activision for the Atari 2600, and later the Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, C64, ColecoVision, IBM PCjr, Intellivision, ZX Spectrum, and MSX...

    (1982)
  • Robot Tank
    Robot Tank
    Robot Tank is a 1983 video game for the Atari 2600. It was designed and programmed by Alan Miller and published by the then-fledgling Activision.-Description:...

    (1983)
  • H.E.R.O.
    H.E.R.O.
    H.E.R.O. is a single-player video game published by Activision. First developed for the Atari 2600 and released in March 1984, the game was ported to many of the home computers and gaming consoles of that era...

    (1984)
  • Enduro
    Enduro
    Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...

    (1982)

1990s

  • Popeye 2
    Popeye 2
    is a 1991 2D platform game, developed by Copya System and published by Sigma Enterprises for the Game Boy handheld. It was later published in North America and Europe by Activision.It is a sequel to Popeye, released exclusively in Japan in 1990....

    (1994)
  • MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat (1995)
  • The Quake series
    Quake (series)
    The Quake series is a line of first-person shooter video games produced by id Software.-Overview:The Quake series is somewhat unusual in that its focus changes frequently; the story of Quake II has nothing to do with Quake, and Quake III Arena has little to do with either of its predecessors...

     (with the exception of the first Quake)
  • Interstate '76
    Interstate '76
    Interstate '76 is a vehicular combat video game for Windows. It was developed and published by Activision and released in March 1997.-Gameplay:...

    (1997)
  • Battlezone (1998)
  • Civilization: Call to Power
    Civilization: Call to Power
    Civilization: Call to Power is a PC turn-based strategy game developed by Activision as a successor to the extremely successful Civilization computer game by Sid Meier. It was ported to Linux by Loki Software....

    (1999)
  • Tony Hawk series (1999–present)


2000s

  • X-Men series (2000 – present) (with the exception of X-Men: Mutant Academy 2
    X-Men: Mutant Academy 2
    X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 is a PlayStation video game, the sequel to X-Men: Mutant Academy. Both feature the X-Men in a 3-D fighting arena similar to Mortal Kombat 4. Like its predecessor, the game allows the player to select from several heroes and villains and includes many of the signature moves...

    )
  • Star Trek series
    Star Trek games
    The enduring popularity of the Star Trek science fiction franchise has led to numerous games in many different formats, beginning in 1967 with a board game based on The Original Series and continuing through 2010 with online and DVD games.- Board games :...

    (2000–2002)
  • Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
    Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
    Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX is a BMX video game developed by Runecraft and published by Activision. It was released in 2001 for various systems, including the Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Game Boy Advance. It was also released for Windows. The game was followed by Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2...

    (2001)
  • The Weakest Link
    The Weakest Link (video game)
    The Weakest Link is a quiz gameshow video game for PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Activision.-Reception:...

    (2001)
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
    Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
    Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, often abbreviated JK2 or JO, is a first- and third-person action game developed by Raven Software and published by LucasArts and Activision. The PC version was released in March and the Mac OS X, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube versions were released in November...

    (2002)
  • Spider-Man movie series (2002–present)
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
    Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
    Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is a first and third-person shooter action game set in the Star Wars universe. It was developed by Raven Software and published, distributed and marketed by LucasArts in North America and by Activision in the rest of the world. Jedi Academy was released in...

    (2003)
  • True Crime
    True Crime (series)
    True Crime is a series of action games set from the perspective of law enforcement and published by Activision.The first two games were developed by Luxoflux and are known for their GPS-accurate open world recreations of Los Angeles and New York City and "street crime" missions that randomly...

     series
    (2003–2011)
  • Call of Duty
    Call of Duty (series)
    Call of Duty is a first-person and third-person shooter video game series franchise, created by Ben Chichoski. The series began on the PC, and later expanded to consoles and handhelds. Several spin-off games have also been released...

    series (2003–present)
  • Doom 3
    Doom 3
    Doom 3 is a science fiction horror video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. An example of the first-person shooter genre, Doom 3 was first released for Microsoft Windows on August 3, 2004. The game was later adapted for Linux, as well as being ported by Aspyr Media for Mac...

    (2004)
  • Rome: Total War
    Rome: Total War
    Rome: Total War is a PC strategy game developed by The Creative Assembly and released on by Activision...

    (2004)
  • Gun (2005)
  • Guitar Hero
    Guitar Hero
    Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...

    series (2006–2011) (with some exceptions)
  • Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
    Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
    Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is an action role-playing game developed for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox and Xbox 360 by Raven Software and published by Activision. The game was simultaneously ported to the PlayStation Portable and Wii by Vicarious Visions, and to Microsoft Windows by Beenox...

    series (2006–present)
  • Quantum of Solace: The Game
    Quantum of Solace (video game)
    007: Quantum of Solace is a first-person shooter video game based on the films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360...

     (2008)
  • Prototype
    Prototype (video game)
    Prototype is an open world action video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Activision. The game was released in North America on June 9, 2009, and in southwestern parts of North America as well as Oceania on June 10, and was released in Europe on June 12.The game is set in New...

    series (2009–present)
  • Wolfenstein (2009)
  • DJ Hero
    DJ Hero
    DJ Hero is a music video game, developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision as a rhythm game spin-off of the Guitar Hero franchise. It was released on October 27, 2009 in North America and on October 29, 2009 in Europe...

    series (2009–2011)

2010s

  • Blur
    Blur (video game)
    Blur is an arcade racing video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Activision in North America and Europe...

    (2010)
  • Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011
    Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011
    Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 is a hunting video game published by Activision for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. It was released in the US for the DS, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on October 19, 2010, and for the Wii on October 26, 2010; special editions of the game were released...

    (2010)
  • Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 (2010)
  • GoldenEye 007
    GoldenEye 007 (2010 video game)
    GoldenEye 007 is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by Eurocom and published by Activision for the Wii video game console, and the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is a reimagining of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, and the 1997 Nintendo 64 video game GoldenEye 007...

    (2010)
  • James Bond 007: Blood Stone
    James Bond 007: Blood Stone
    James Bond 007: Blood Stone is an action-adventure video game, developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Activision for the Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. It is the 24th game in the James Bond series although it is not a direct sequel to any game; it is...

    (2010)
  • Singularity
    Singularity (video game)
    Singularity received generally favorable reviews. On review aggregator website Metacritic, Singularity received a rating of 76 for the PC and Xbox 360 versions, and 77 for the PlayStation 3 version...

    (2010)
  • Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
    Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
    Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is a video game featuring Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions blends together four universes from the Marvel Comics multiverse, allowing the player to play as four different Spider-Men...

    (2010)
  • Transformers: War for Cybertron
    Transformers: War for Cybertron
    Transformers: War for Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. It was released in North America on June 22, 2010 and in PAL regions on June 25, 2010 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Two portable versions were released for the...

     
    (2010)
  • NASCAR The Game 2011
    NASCAR The Game 2011
    NASCAR The Game: 2011, also known as NASCAR 2011: The Game, is the first edition of the NASCAR The Game racing simulator series. Developed by Eutechnyx and published by Activision, it was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 29, 2011, then for Wii on May 24...

    (2011)
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon (video game)
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a third-person shooter video game which was released on June 14, 2011 in North America. The game is a tie-in and prequel to the film of the same name. Transformers: Dark of the Moon was first revealed on February 12, 2011 along the release of the trailer for the game...

    (2011)
  • Goldeneye 007: Reloaded (2011)
  • NASCAR Unleashed
    NASCAR Unleashed
    NASCAR Unleashed is a racing video game developed by Firebrand Games and published by Activision. It was released on November 1, 2011 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS.-Features:...

    (2011)
  • Generator Rex: Agent of Providence
    Generator Rex: Agent of Providence
    Generator Rex: Agent of Providence is an action adventure video game based on the Cartoon Network television series Generator Rex. The game was developed and published by Activision. A release date is set for November 1, 2011 in North America and for November 18, 2011 in Europe. In Canada the game...

  • Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
    Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
    Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is a spin-off game in the Spyro series. It was published by Activision and developed by Toys for Bob. Vicarious Visions developed the Nintendo 3DS release. It was released on October 12, 2011 in Australia for the PC and October 13, 2011 on other consoles. The game was...

    (2011)


External links

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