Vivendi Games

On February 21, 1996, CUC International announced its intention to acquire Davidson & Associates (including Blizzard Entertainment) and Sierra On-Line, two American video game companies, in a US$1.8 billion stock swap.[1] The deal closed on July 24, 1996.[2] CUC International previously only operated membership shopping clubs, wherefore analysts were surprised by the company's move into the software industry.[1]

Subsequently, following the acquisitions, CUC International established CUC Software around the Torrance, California-based operations of Davidson & Associates to oversee the new video game properties.[3] Under that new umbrella, both Davidson & Associates and Sierra On-Line would act independently from CUC International.[4] Bob Davidson, co-founder of Davidson & Associates, became chairman and chief executive of the new establishment.[5] On November 5 that year, CUC International announced that they would additionally acquire Knowledge Adventure, another developer, in a stock deal valued between $50 million and US$100 million.[5] The acquisition was completed on February 3, 1997.[3] On February 10, Davidson announced that he had stepped down from his positions at CUC Software, and that his wife, Jan, ceased as president of Davidson & Associates, while both Davidsons stayed on CUC International's board of directors.[3] Christopher McLeod, an executive vice-president for CUC International, took over CUC Software in Bob Davidson's place.[3] In April 1997, CUC International acquired Berkeley Systems for an undisclosed sum.[6]

On May 28, 1997, CUC International announced plans to merge with Hospitality Franchise Systems to create a single, "one-stop" entity.[7][8] The merger was finalized in December that year and created Cendant.[9] As a result of the merger, CUC Software was renamed Cendant Software.[10]

On November 20, 1998, French media company Havas (acquired by Vivendi earlier that year) announced that it would acquire Cendant Software for $800 million in cash, with up to an additional $200 million contingent on its performance.[11][12] Subsequently, the division was renamed Havas Interactive.[13]

On May 16, 2001, Havas Interactive was renamed Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing, while Havas itself became Vivendi Universal Publishing.[14] The new name was likely due to the merger between Universal and Vivendi; the company also received ownership of properties from Universal Interactive Studios. Under the new name, the company was split into two parts: Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing North America and Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International, both of which took responsibility for their respective publishing regions.[14] On November 13, 2001, both parts were streamlined under the name Vivendi Universal Games.[15]

When Vivendi Universal sold all of its media operations to General Electric in October 2003, Vivendi Universal held on to Vivendi Universal Games, which was re-organized as a direct division of the conglomerate.[16] On March 3, 2006, with the sale completed, Vivendi Universal announced they would be dropping the "Universal" part of their name.[17] The same day, the company opened a mobile games division known as Vivendi Universal Games Mobile.[18]

In December 2007, American publisher Activision announced a proposed merger deal with Vivendi Games that would create a new holding company named Activision Blizzard.[19][20] The deal was approved by Activision's shareholders on July 8, 2008,[20] and the merger was finalized on July 10, creating Activision Blizzard while dissolving Vivendi Games.[21] Bruce Hack, who served as chief executive officer of Vivendi Games, became vice-chairman and chief corporate officer of the new company.[21] Many of Vivendi Games' properties were later dropped by Activision, citing that they would not make for a good fit for the company's long-term strategy.[22]