Activision Blizzard, a publicly owned company headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and a subsidiary of Microsoft, was founded in 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. and Vivendi Games. Employing approximately 2,030 individuals, the company reported $7.9 billion in revenue as of 2024. The company specializes in consumer gaming, functioning as a video game holding company that operates with subsidiaries including Blizzard Entertainment and Infinity Ward. Since 2015, Activision Blizzard has been a member of the S&P 500 Index.
Former Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan revealed on March 13 that the pressure to achieve recurring revenue for Overwatch convinced him to leave Activision Blizzard after 19 years. In a podcast interview with Lex Fridman, Kaplan explained that a Blizzard CFO told him that if Overwatch did not reach recurring revenue in 2021, thousands of people would be laid off, with the blame placed on Kaplan. Kaplan previously elaborated on March 12 that his breaking point at Blizzard came during a conversation with the CFO regarding Overwatch’s success. He departed Blizzard Entertainment in 2021 after 19 years, identifying corporate meddling and unchecked greed by parent company Activision Blizzard as the catalyst for his exit, despite having once intended to retire from the company. Earlier on March 12, it was reported that Kaplan's lengthy interview with Fridman also candidly discussed the significant pressure he faced from Activision Blizzard higher-ups during the development of the hero shooter. This follows Kaplan’s earlier revelations on March 12 that he received an ultimatum to meet aggressive revenue targets or face the potential loss of 1,000 jobs, characterizing this as a symptom of a systemic shift where nearly 70% of AAA game projects now face mid-development pivots due to projected revenue shortfalls.
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Activision Blizzard offers products in the media and telecoms services industry. Activision Blizzard's product portfolio comprises of consumer gaming.
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Activision Blizzard's revenues were $7.9B in 2024. All the revenue comes from video games.
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