A few days ago, Vivendi made the announcement that they were interested in selling their 60% of Activision-Blizzard shares for $8.1 million dollars and of course the internet lit up with rumors as to who was interested in buying the company.  Thoes rumors include industry giant Microsoft and that they are in discussion with Vivendi to make that very special purchase that would not only impact the future of Microsoft’s Xbox franchise, but also Sony’s Playstation brand.

What would this mean for Sony if Microsoft were to go through with their rumored purchase?  Sony could be saying “buh-bye” to seeing a Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, James Bond, or  Crash Bandicoot (just to name a few)  game on their console again if Microsoft would turn the tables and make these games an Xbox exclusive.  Keep in mind that one of those series that happens to be the cash cow Call of Duty series brought in $1 million dollar worth of profits worldwide to Activision with it’s latest entry Modern Warfare 3 all with the first 16 days of it’s release.

Questions have also been raised regarding Blizzard’s PC series World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft.  What would Microsoft do with those popular franchises especially with Diablo III being rumored to eventually be releasing on consoles.  Microsoft would have the opportunity to make a console release of Diablo III an Xbox exclusive giving Sony the very frosty cold shoulder.

There are endless possibilities of the “what ifs” if this turns out to be true, but keep in mind that there other takers showing an interest in purchasing Activision-Blizzard such as Time Warner and China’s Tencent so it could go either way.  However if Microsoft happens to buy Activision-Blizzard it will be interesting to see what will happen with these franchises under Microsoft’s eye.

via Reuters

 

 

 

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MS seems a good fit for Blizzard/Activision. All three seem to be the greediest companies in the video game industry. When Diablo 3 comes to the 360, I'm willing to bet they'll place the same flawed Auction House that ruined the PC version. Only difference will be, instead of a Real Money Auction House (RMAH), they'll have a MSP Auction House.

I see it now... WoW running with GFWL...

Oh great, they're gonna ruin WoW too.

Avahra. Use imgur.com for your profile pics here. lol =p

Microsoft is really the only company I would see that could benefit the most out of this. Sure Time Warner has the Batman Arkham games with Warner Bros. Interactive, but Microsoft has the "power" and of course the console and games. I think Microsoft would be stupid if they let this go. This could possibly be a video game changing history moment when it comes to Sony as well if Microsoft does go through with it. Imagine all of the profits Sony potentially could be out on if Microsoft did this and made things exclusive.

I hate seeing game companies change hands, and I hate the idea of more exclusive titles. Bah to both.

lol - I wish Microsoft would buy EA

I wish EA would explode into a 100 smaller companies.