EU says OK to Acti-Blizzard union
"Today, Activision and Vivendi Games cleared yet one more hurdle lying in the path of their $18.9 billion merger. The European Commission, which is part of the European Union, has approved the deal under its antitrust guidelines, concluding that an Activision Vivendi mash-up ""would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it."" According to the EC's report, the merger's reach was measured on both a horizontal and vertical scale. In terms of horizontal competition, the EC deemed the Vivendi-Activision union would ""continue to face several strong, effective competitors, such as Electronic Arts, and the game console manufacturers, such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft."" Addressing vertical synergies, the EC noted that Vivendi's ownership of Universal Music Group would give Activision an advantage in licensing music but concluded that other publishers would continue to have access to a ""sufficiently large portfolio of music rights from alternative suppliers."" The EC also noted that the merger would not impact wholesale distribution competition of PC games in the UK. In February, soon-to-be Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said that the merger was progressing as anticipated and was expected to conclude by June. To secure its 52 percent controlling stake in the newly formed conglomerate, Vivendi has undertaken several financing initiatives, including securing loans to the tune of €4 billion (about $6.3 billion) by January as well as banking an additional $1.4 billion earlier this month from the issuance of corporate bonds to various banking institutions. Au Contraire, naive conservative one... In case you haven't seen the latest statistics, the current economic system has only worked to widen the increasingly growing gap between the rich and the poor. The middle and lower-income brackets have been taking it up the (you know what, rhymes with ga$) for the past two centuries as the rich get rich, and the poor -- poorer.
It is precisely mergers like these that concentrate wealth in increasingly fewer hands.. (And, I might add, lead to increasingly shoddy and unoriginal production value in videogames -- See: EA buying out Westwood Studios, EA in general, ...) I fail to see how the EU does not see this merger as a significant threat to decent competition in the industry.. Oh no, they'll face competition from ONE company EA..... That sounds like a credible threat that will server the consumers interests.. Right. WRONG! There is nothing to prevent these two companies from driving up prices by acting in unison for both their mutual interests, either as a cartel or not... wow po The industry WILL be stifled... One more reason for me to support the small, break-away start-ups like ArenaNet (that broke away from Blizzard a few years ago...) " "ANAHEIM, Calif.--Following two very public leaks in Germany and the US, Blizzard Entertainment surprised virtually no one today when it announced the second expansion to its wildly popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft. Titled the Wrath of the Lich King, the expansion will add a passel of new content to the game, which now boasts a staggering 9 million players worldwide. The announcement was made by Blizzard's Frank Pierce this morning at BlizzCon, the Vivendi Games-owned publisher's annual fan event. wow First, he briefly talked about some content updates that introduce guild banks and integrated voice chat via live content updates. Then he discussed Zuluman, a new 10-person instance in the Ghost Lands featuring Forest Trolls battling against Blood Elves. He looks like an understanding fellow... Then, after coyly mentioning that Blizzard's ""dev team has been working on bigger things,"" Pierce officially unveiled Wrath of the Lich King. guild wars gold The expansion will open up the continent of Northrend--first seen in Warcraft III--to WOW players for the first time.
The expansion's storyline will center on the lich king Arthas Menethil, who was prominently featured in the expansion Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Arthas has ""merged with the spirit"" of another lich king, Ner'zhul, the former orc shaman and Undead Scourge leader introduced in Warcraft II: The Tides of Darkness. gold für wow kaufen Now, the joined ghostly monarchs have ""set things in motion that could threaten all life in Azeroth,"" according to Pierce. Wowhead and Thottbot on Ad Strike Apparently, players will be introduced to the story as soon as they set foot into Northrend. BlizzCon venue, the Anaheim Convention Center. Wrath of the Lich King will raise the level cap in WOW to 80 and will add new abilities and talents to all classes. wow gold It will also introduce the Death Knight hero class and a new profession--inscription--that will let players permanently enhance spells and abilities. The expansion will also add new character-customization options, such as hairstyles and dances.
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