Vivendi Games
| Vivendi Games | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | |
| Industry | Computer and video game industry |
| Products | video games |
| Revenue | Revenues 804 million euros (2006) |
| Employees | 3,400 |
| Parent | Vivendi SA |
Vivendi Games (formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games) is a global developer, publisher and distributor of
interactive entertainment. Vivendi Games is a 100% subsidiary of
Vivendi Games owns the rights to such franchises as Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo and World of Warcraft as well as others like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Empire Earth, Leisure Suit Larry, Ground Control and Tribes.
History
The history of Vivendi Games begins in February 1996, when a large mail order and subscription company called CUC International offered to acquired entertainment software developer Sierra On-Line. Headquarted in Bellevue, Washington, Sierra was the leading developer and publisher of computer games and was famous for its adventure game seires such as King's Quest, Gabriel Knight, Space Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry. Sierra was a public company headed and founded by Ken Williams, who acted as CEO and Chairman. Sierra employed roughly 1,000 employees at 12 different acquired studios. CUC offered to absorb Sierra's stock shares at a price roughly 90% higher than what Sierra was trading, which left the decision in the hands of Sierra's shareholders, and on July 24th 1996, Sierra became a wholly owned subsidiary of CUC.
At the same time, CUC also approached Davidson & Associates, the leading publisher and distributor of educational software, with an offer of a similar stock swap. Headquarted in Torrance, California, Davidson was famous for its Math Blaster series, and also for Warcraft and Diablo. While mainly a game publisher, Davidson also had a major in-house developer in the form of Blizzard Entertainment, which Davidson had acquired in 1994, and employed over 800 employees as of February 1996. Davidson was also a public company, founded and headed by Bob Davidson, who acted as CEO, and also by Jan Davidson, who acted as President.
After acquiring these companies, CUC quickly integrated these two new divisions into the main CUC organization by announcing in September 1996 the creation of CUC Software, a holding company which would consolidate the finance, distribution, manufacturing, accounting, sales, R&D and overall management of CUC's software companies.
Soon after its creation, CUC Software acquired in January 1997 Knowledge Adventure, a leading developer of educational software, famous for its Jumpstart series of child oriented programs. CUC also acquired Gryphon Software, another educational software company. Davidson & Associates and Gryphon were then absorbed into Knowledge Adventure, and Blizzard Entertainment was made a separate division of CUC Software. In 1997, CUC Software also acquired Berkely Systems, a California based developer famous for its You Don't Know Jack! series, and integrated Berkely into Sierra On-Line.
In 2004, Vivendi Games sold one of its divisions, Knowledge Adventure to a group of private investors.
In 2005 Vivendi's revenues made 641 million euros with earnings from operations equaling to 41 million euros.
In 2006 Vivendi Games created a new mobile division Vivendi Games Mobile, which was promised to begin publishing and distributing games in 2006 through mobile carriers and portals.
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment is a world-renowned development studio best known for creating World of Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, and Warcraft. World of Warcraft , the world’s most popular game in the MMORPG category, has taken the gaming world by storm with over 9 million subscribers.
Headquarted in Irvine, California, Blizzard employs hundreds of developers, programmers and writers all dedicated to the creation of innovative, exciting games.
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment creates and publishes software for consoles, handheld gaming devices and personal computers.
Sierra Entertainment features a portfolio of titles based on original intellectual property and popular licenses from industry-leading content partners, including F.E.A.R., Crash Bandicoot, Spyro The Dragon, Scarface, and Ice Age.
Operated out of Los Angeles, California, Sierra employs over 700 in development and has four wholly owned studios providing creative talents and development capabilities across multiple gaming genres:High Moon Studios, Radical Entertainment, Swordfish Studios and Massive Entertainment.
Sierra Online
Sierra Online, a newly created divsion, focuses on developing and publishing high quality short and mid-session casual online games for PC, Xbox Live Arcade and a range of other platforms.
Sierra Online’s titles include Assault Heroes, an award-winning game for Xbox Live Arcade, and the upcoming FreeStyle Street Basketball, an online PC game from leading Korean developer JC Entertainment, Inc.
The division is also developing a variety of other Xbox Live Arcade and PC online games targeting the mass market.
Vivendi Games Mobile
Vivendi Games Mobile, a newly formed division, creates and publishes games for the worldwide mobile market. The division publishes games based on original intellectual property, popular entertainment licenses and classic Sierra Entertainment intellectual property games which are distributed by more than 90 operators and dozens of Web portals in more than 60 countries.
Vivendi Games Mobile has launched a number of award-winning titles, including SWAT Force which was named “Best Wireless Game of the Year” by Spike TV in December 2006.
Executive Management
René Pénisson, Chairman, Vivendi Games
Bruce Hack, CEO, Vivendi Games
Pascal Brochier, President, Global Retail
Cindy Cook, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer
Terri Durham, Executive Vice President, Business Development and Global General Counsel
Jean-François Grollemund, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mark Halacy, Executive Vice President, Global Human Resources
Divisional Management
Mike Morhaime, President, Blizzard Entertainment
Martin Tremblay, President Worldwide Studios, Sierra Entertainment
Al Simone, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing Sierrra Entertainment
Ed Zobrist. President, Sierra Online
Paul Maglione, President, Vivendi Games Mobile
See also
External links
- Vivendi.com - Official site of Vivendi
- VUgames.com - Official site of Vivendi games, redirects to Sierra Entertainment official site.
- Vivendi games at Vivendi.com — Vivendi Games page at vivendi.com.
| Vivendi | |
|---|---|
| Directors: | Jean-René Fourtou | Henri Lachmann | Claude Bébéar | Gérard Brémond | Fernando Falcó y Fernández de Córdova | Sarah Franck | Gabriel Hawawini | Patrick Kron | Andrzej Olechowski | Pierre Rodocanachi | Karel Van Miert |
| [[Canal+ Group]]: | [[Canal+]] | CanalSat | StudioCanal |
| Maroc Telecom: | Maroc Telecom | Gabon Telecom | Menara, Maroc Telecom | Mauritel | Onatel |
| SFR: | SFR |
| Universal Music Group: | Universal Music Publishing Group | |
| Vivendi Games: | Blizzard Entertainment | Sierra Entertainment |
| Other assets: | NBC Universal (20%) | Neuf Cegetel
(35%)
Employees: 34,031 (2005) · Stock Symbol: (Euronext: VIV) · Website: www.vivendi.com |
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