Vivendi Sells Off $427 Million of Activision Blizzard Stock

[TheDickWard]

They're still majority shareholders in the game company, but analysts are questioning the move.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/11/16/vi...lizzard-stock/

[KTA]

Sell while you're at your peak? I guess it makes sense, I don't doubt they're predicting a decline in COD in the next few years. They're probably banking on Bungie to bail them out of that boat.

[gamma626]

Yeah, I have a strong feeling either this year or the next will be the peak for CoD. I know I'm done now. I'll rent Blops 2. I realized Halo 4 comes out next year. Who needs CoD?

[CorruptedDragon]

The only reason they sold off 3% of the stock was to have more liquid cash after their purchase of some music company. There is really no downside to their selling off. They still own 60% and are in no danger obviously of not being the majority owner. 3% when you still own 60% is not as big a deal as game news is making it.

[Badger3920]

3% is not really a huge deal for them. If it were more, then maybe one could speculate that they anticipate various types of disharmony in the market. I'd bet acti/blizzard will have a great year next year between cod and very likely the next installment of Starcraft 2

[Bane]

Not to mention the next WoW expansion.

[Snadinator]

I think Wow's days are behind it. I doubt another expansion will do much. I think TOR will be the new king for a little while.

[rm082e]

The only reason they sold off 3% of the stock was to have more liquid cash after their purchase of some music company. There is really no downside to their selling off. They still own 60% and are in no danger obviously of not being the majority owner. 3% when you still own 60% is not as big a deal as game news is making it.

This.

That 427 will equate to some sweet ass bonus checks. I'll bet someone's getting a new AMG for Christmas.

[Godstar]

They could be in trouble potentially in the future depending on how well certain franchises like WOW, Starcraft and Diablo 3 in addition to their other properties perform. Not grievous trouble, but WOW's on it's way out, they haven't got any new MMO announcements but I kind of get the feeling the MMO market is saturated beyond sustainability at this point. Only 1 or maybe 2 games usually do well and the rest get sucked up by the horde of FTP games.

[Godstar]

I think Wow's days are behind it. I doubt another expansion will do much. I think TOR will be the new king for a little while.

Pretty much. It didn't perform very well, and they're seeing an active decline in membership.

[BStroms]

I think Wow's days are behind it. I doubt another expansion will do much. I think TOR will be the new king for a little while.

That depends on what you define as king. Media darling, highest reviewed, highest satisfaction by its playerbase, perhaps. I haven't played the beta, so I can't comment on that. However, even if it is hands down better than WoW, I can't see it surpassing WoW in number of subscriptions overnight.

WoW built its base up over years, and TOR will likely follow a similar path if it truly is a hit. Beyond that, WoW had no competition as strong as WoW when it came out, no to mention there's some other parties potential keeping people from jumping in, such as Guild Wars II.

I could certainly see TOR being the game finally surpasses WoW, especially if WoW does continue, or even speed its decline despite a new expansion. However, if I were a betting man, I wager heavily that it'll take it at least two years to do so.