Activision facts for kids
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Former headquarters in Santa Monica in 2008
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Formerly
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | October 1, 1979 |
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| Headquarters | 2701 Olympic Blvd,
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US
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Products | List of Activision video games |
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| Subsidiaries | See § Studios |
Activision Publishing, Inc. is a famous American video game publisher. It is based in Santa Monica, California. Activision is the part of its parent company, Activision Blizzard, that publishes games. It works with many game development studios. Activision is one of the biggest video game publishers in the world. In 2016, it was the top publisher in the United States.
The company started as Activision, Inc. on October 1, 1979. It was founded in Sunnyvale, California. Former game developers from Atari started it. They were unhappy with how Atari treated them. They wanted to create their own games for the popular Atari 2600 console. Activision was the first independent company to make games for a console.
A big problem in the video game world happened in 1983. Many new companies tried to copy Activision's success. But they did not have the same experience. This "video game crash" hurt Activision's console game business. The company then started making games for home computers. They even bought another company called Infocom.
After some changes in leadership, the company was bought by Bobby Kotick and other investors around 1991. Kotick completely changed the company. He moved it to Los Angeles and brought back the Activision name. Under Kotick, Activision focused on publishing more games. They bought many studios and popular game series. These included Call of Duty and Guitar Hero.
In 2008, Activision joined with Vivendi Games. This created a new company called Activision Blizzard. Bobby Kotick became its CEO. Activision still manages many studios and publishes games. In October 2023, Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard. Activision continues to publish games developed by its studios.
How Activision Started
The Beginning (1979)
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In 1976, a company called Warner Communications bought Atari, Inc.. They wanted to help launch the Atari 2600 video game system. Atari started hiring programmers to create games for it. But Atari did not give bonuses to programmers for popular games. They also did not give them public credit. This was to stop other companies from hiring them.
In 1979, one programmer, David Crane, noticed something. The games he made brought in over $20 million for Atari. But he was only earning a $20,000 salary. Four programmers, including Crane, made 60% of Atari's game sales. These four were Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller, and Bob Whitehead. They became known as the "Gang of Four."
They met with Atari's CEO in May 1979. They asked for royalties and credit on game boxes. But the CEO reportedly called them "towel designers." He said anyone could make a game cartridge. So, the four decided to leave Atari. They wanted to start their own game company.
Back then, only console makers published games. The idea of independent game developers did not exist. But the four decided to create their own company. They met Jim Levy, who was helping new software businesses. Levy liked their idea. He helped them get about $1 million to start. They also planned for legal costs, as they knew Atari might sue them.
By August, Crane and Miller left Atari. Whitehead joined them soon after. Kaplan also left Atari but joined Activision later in December. Activision officially started on October 1, 1979. Levy became the CEO. They first called the company "Computer Arts, Inc." Levy suggested combining "active" and "television" to create "Activision."
Early Success (1980–1982)
Activision started in Crane's garage in late 1979. Each programmer worked on their own game. Their first games were Dragster, Fishing Derby, Checkers, and Boxing. These games were released in mid-1980. The founders knew the Atari 2600 very well. They used special tricks to make their games look different from Atari's.
Activision's game boxes were colorful. They showed screenshots of the game. The instruction manuals always credited the developer. Also, for many early games, players could send photos of their high scores. In return, they would get a special patch.
Activision showed their games at a big electronics show in 1980. They got good reviews. Atari was worried because their best developers had left. Atari tried to hurt Activision's reputation. They even threatened retailers who sold Activision games. By the end of 1980, Atari sued Activision. They claimed Activision stole trade secrets. The lawsuit was settled in 1982. Activision agreed to pay Atari some money. But this deal also made it okay for other companies to make games for consoles. In 2003, Activision's founders won an award. It was for being the first successful independent game developers.
After their first games, the founders made new games each year. Kaboom!, released in 1981, was a big hit. It sold over a million copies. Activision's most famous game was Pitfall! in 1982. Crane created it. More than four million copies of Pitfall! were sold.
By mid-1983, Activision's sales were huge. They had about 60 employees. One writer said, "I doubt that there is an active [Atari 2600] owner who doesn't have at least one Activision cartridge." In June 1983, Activision became a public company. This meant people could buy shares of their stock.
The Video Game Crash (1983–1988)
Activision's success led to many new game companies. Many tried to copy Activision but lacked experience. This was a big reason for the video game crash of 1983. For Activision, the crash caused problems in the years that followed. Many new companies went out of business. They left behind many unsold games. Retailers bought these games cheaply. They sold them for $5, while Activision's games cost $40. Even though people still wanted Activision games, they often bought the cheaper ones.
Activision's income dropped a lot. They had to lay off many employees. They went from 400 workers to just 95. Because of this, Activision decided to make games for home computers. These included the Commodore 64 and Apple computers. This helped them avoid going out of business. Some talented people also left the company. Miller and Whitehead left in 1984 to start their own company, Accolade.
Activision focused on computer games like Little Computer People and Hacker. In 1986, Activision bought Infocom, a company known for text adventure games. But about six months later, Activision's board replaced CEO Jim Levy with Bruce Davis. Davis was not a fan of the Infocom purchase. David Crane also found Davis difficult to work with. Crane left Activision in 1986 to help start Absolute Entertainment.
Mediagenic and New Ownership (1988–1997)
In 1988, Activision started making other types of software. So, they changed their name to Mediagenic. This new name showed they were doing more than just video games. Mediagenic had four main groups:
- Activision: for video games.
- Infocom: for text adventure games.
- Gamestar: for sports video games.
- Ten Point O: for business software.
However, Mediagenic struggled financially. In 1989, they closed the Infocom studios. By 1991, Mediagenic was losing a lot of money. They had over $60 million in debt.
Bobby Kotick saw a chance to buy Mediagenic. He was interested in the video game industry. He knew the Activision name was still valuable because of its past hits like Pitfall!. Kotick and other investors bought Mediagenic for about $500,000 in 1991.
Kotick became the CEO. He made big changes right away. He let go of most employees, keeping only 8 out of 150. He moved the company to Los Angeles. He also worked out a plan to get rid of their debt. Kotick knew Mediagenic still had valuable things. These included the Infocom game library and Activision's way of distributing games. He also had licenses to make games for Nintendo and Sega. Kotick had the company re-release many old games. He also had them make a new Zork game, Return to Zork. These steps helped Mediagenic recover. By the end of 1992, Kotick changed the company name back to Activision. In October 1993, the new Activision became a public company again.
By 1995, Kotick had kept his promise to investors. The company was growing and breaking even. Then, he aimed to make the company profitable by 1997. Activision released MechWarrior 2 in 1995. It sold over $70 million worth of copies. They also got the license for another war game, Heavy Gear, in 1997. The Mechwarrior 2 game engine was also used for other Activision games. These included Interstate '76 and Battlezone.
Growing with New Studios (1997–2008)
With its own games doing well, Activision started buying other game development studios. They looked at what types of games were popular. Between 1997 and 2008, Activision bought about 25 companies. Many of these happened before 2001. This allowed them to buy studios at a lower price. In 2000, Activision reorganized. They created a parent company called Activision Holdings. This helped them manage Activision and its new studios better.
Here are some important studios Activision bought:
- Raven Software: Activision bought Raven in 1997. This helped Activision work closely with id Software, a famous game company.
- Neversoft: Activision worked with Neversoft on a skateboarding game. This became the first Tony Hawk's game. It was a huge success. Activision bought Neversoft in 2000. The Tony Hawk's series has made over $1.6 billion.
- Infinity Ward: In 2002, some developers left another company to form Infinity Ward. Kotick helped them start the studio. They wanted to make a game like Medal of Honor. Activision bought Infinity Ward in 2003. They published their first game, Call of Duty. The Call of Duty series has become one of the biggest in gaming. By 2016, it sold over 250 million copies and made over $12 billion.
- Treyarch: Activision bought Treyarch in 2001. They helped with Tony Hawk games and Spider-Man games. After Call of Duty became popular, Treyarch started helping with that series. Now, Infinity Ward and Treyarch often take turns making the main Call of Duty games each year.
- Gray Matter Studios: Activision bought Gray Matter in 2002. They helped with the Call of Duty series. In 2005, Gray Matter joined with Treyarch to work on Call of Duty 3.
- RedOctane: RedOctane helped make Guitar Hero. This game was a huge hit. Activision bought RedOctane in 2006 for almost $100 million. The Guitar Hero series has made over $2 billion.
- Toys for Bob: Activision bought Toys for Bob in 2005. They worked on Tony Hawk games and other licensed games. Later, Activision gave them the Spyro game series. Toys for Bob created the Skylanders series, which used real toys that came to life in the game.
Joining Vivendi Games (2008)
Activision was doing very well. But CEO Kotick wanted to get into online games. These games, like MMOs, could make money from subscriptions. Around 2006, Kotick talked to the CEO of Vivendi. Vivendi had a games division called Vivendi Games. It owned Blizzard Entertainment and its very popular game, World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft was making over $1 billion a year from subscriptions.
Vivendi's CEO offered to merge the companies. But Vivendi would own most of the new company. Kotick thought about this for a while. Some of Activision's games, like Tony Hawk's, were becoming less popular. But Blizzard also had a way to get their games into China, a huge market. Because of this big opportunity, Kotick agreed to the merger.
Activision's board approved the merger in December 2007. The merger was finished in July 2008. The new company was named Activision Blizzard. Kotick became its CEO. Vivendi owned 52% of the company. The new company was worth about $18.9 billion. This made it bigger than Electronic Arts.
After the Merger (2009–Present)
Activision Publishing is still a part of Activision Blizzard. It makes, produces, and distributes games from its studios. In 2010, Eric Hirshberg became Activision Publishing's CEO.
Activision Publishing started Sledgehammer Games in 2009. Sledgehammer was going to make a Call of Duty spin-off game. But in 2010, some problems happened with Infinity Ward. Many people left that studio. So, Activision asked Sledgehammer to help Infinity Ward make the next big Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 3. Now, Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch all work on the main Call of Duty series. Other studios also help them.
In 2010, Activision Blizzard reported losing money. This was because Guitar Hero sales slowed down. Activision Publishing then closed some studios. These included Red Octane, Luxoflux, and Underground Development. They also laid off some staff at Neversoft. Later, Activision closed Budcat Creations in 2010 and Bizarre Creations in 2011.
Eric Hirshberg left his CEO role in March 2018.
In the 2020s, Activision focused even more on the Call of Duty games. They released a free-to-play game called Call of Duty: Warzone in 2020. By April 2021, all of Activision's studios were working on some part of the Call of Duty series. They even made a new studio, Activision Mobile, just for the Call of Duty Mobile game.
In 2021, Activision and Activision Blizzard moved out of their main headquarters in Santa Monica. They found a smaller office space in Santa Monica. In October 2023, Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard. Activision Publishing is now a separate part of Microsoft Gaming.
On March 8, 2024, 600 Activision game testers formed a union. This was the biggest union in the North American game development industry.
Studios
- Activision Shanghai Studio in Shanghai, China, started in 2009.
- Beenox in Québec City, Québec, Canada, started in 2000, bought in 2005.
- Demonware in Dublin, Republic of Ireland and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, started in 2003, bought in 2007.
- Digital Legends Entertainment in Barcelona, Spain, started in 2001, bought in 2021.
- High Moon Studios in Carlsbad, California, started in 2001, bought by Vivendi Games in 2006.
- Infinity Ward in Woodland Hills, California, started in 2002, bought in 2003.
- Raven Software in Madison, Wisconsin, started in 1990, bought in 1997.
- Sledgehammer Games in Foster City, California, started in 2009.
- Solid State Studios in Santa Monica, California, started in 2021.
- Treyarch in Santa Monica, California, started in 1996, bought in 2001.
Former studios
- 7 Studios in Los Angeles, California, started in 1999, bought in 2009, closed in 2011.
- Beachhead Studio in Santa Monica, California, started in 2011.
- Bizarre Creations in Liverpool, England, started in 1987, bought in 2007, closed in 2011.
- Budcat Creations in Iowa City, Iowa, started in 2000, bought in 2008, closed in 2010.
- FreeStyleGames in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, started in 2002, bought in 2008, sold to Ubisoft in 2017.
- Gray Matter Studios in Los Angeles, California, started in the 1990s, bought in 2002, joined with Treyarch in 2005.
- Infocom in Cambridge, Massachusetts, started in 1979, bought in 1986, closed in 1989.
- Luxoflux in Santa Monica, California, started in 1997, bought in 2002, closed in 2010.
- Massive Entertainment in Malmö, Sweden, started in 1997, bought by Vivendi Universal Games in 2002, sold to Ubisoft in 2008.
- Neversoft in Los Angeles, California, started in 1994, bought in 1999, joined with Infinity Ward in 2014.
- Radical Entertainment in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, started in 1991, bought by Vivendi Games in 2005.
- RedOctane in Mountain View, California, started in 2005, bought in 2006, closed in 2010.
- Shaba Games in San Francisco, California, started in 1997, bought in 2002, closed in 2009.
- Swordfish Studios in Birmingham, England, started in 2002, bought by Vivendi Universal Games in 2005, sold to Codemasters in 2008.
- The Blast Furnace in Leeds, United Kingdom, started in 2011, closed in 2014.
- Toys for Bob in Novato, California, started in 1989, bought in 2005, became independent from Activision in 2024.
- Underground Development in Redwood Shores, California, started in 1994, bought in 2002, closed in 2010.
- Vicarious Visions in Menands, New York, started in 1990, bought in 2005, moved to Blizzard Entertainment in 2021. It was renamed Blizzard Albany in 2022.
- Wanako Games in Santiago, Chile, started in 2005, bought by Vivendi Games in 2007, sold in 2008.
Popular Games Published
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See Also
In Spanish: Activision para niños
- List of video game companies
