Acquired

Episode 40: Activision Blizzard

Jul 13, 2017

01:15:46

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AI Chapters

Episode notes

Introduction

2min

The History of Blizzard

5min

The Rise and Fall of Blizzard

3min

The Rise and Fall of Blizzard

2min

The History of PC Games

5min

The Infinite Economy of Diablo

3min

The Rise and Fall of Blizzard

3min

The Birth of Eastwards

2min

The History of Blizzard and the Vendi Group

3min

10.

The History of Blizzard Games

2min

11.

Defense of the Ancients

2min

12.

The Differences Between League of Legends and Dota 2

3min

13.

Blizzard's Merger With Activision

2min

14.

The History and Facts of Activision

2min

15.

Vivendi's Hearthstone

2min

16.

Activision Blizzard Acquires Major League Gaming

3min

17.

Overwatch Blizzard's Hybrid Business Model

2min

18.

Overwatch's Success in Esports

2min

19.

Blizzard's Growth in 2016

2min

20.

Statsig: A New Way to Measure Product Impact

2min

21.

Activision's Acquisition of Vivendi Games

3min

22.

The Secret Sauce Within Blizzard

3min

23.

Blizzard Activision's Overwatch League

1min

24.

The Importance of Blizzard in the Video Games Industry

2min

25.

The Power of Enabling Creativity

2min

26.

Blizzard's IP Flywheel

2min

27.

The Decline of Distributors in the Internet Era

3min

28.

The Merger of Pseudo Equals

3min

29.

Blizzard's Growth in the Gaming Industry

3min

30.

How Twitter's Former CEO Talks About Trump's Midnight Tweets

3min

31.

Modern Treasury: The Software Platform That Turns Money Movement Operations Into Code

2min

Ben & David cover the creation of the gaming world’s equivalent of the 70’s rock supergroup: the 2008 merger of Blizzard and Activision. We tell the story from the Blizzard perspective, tracing the history of one of the most innovative companies in the business from humble beginnings at the hands of UCLA undergrads, to surviving multiple acquisition rollups (including at one point being owned by the French national water company), to joining ultimately with Activision to form the largest gaming company in the world, all while inventing multiple game genres that define the industry as we know it today.

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Topics covered include:

Blizzard’s founding in 1991 as "Silicon & Synapse” by recent UCLA grads Allen Adham, Frank Pearce, and Mike Morhaime
The team’s first projects making ports for other games, including Battle Chess on the Commodore 64
Early success on the Super Nintendo with Rock & Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings
Origin of the Real-Time Strategy game genre (“RTS”) and Blizzard’s fist mega-hit, Warcraft
Blizzard’s crazy corporate ownership changes over the years
Development of further legendary game franchises like Diablo and Starcraft, along with sequels to Warcraft and the rise of the rise of player modding
Emergence of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena genre (“MOBA”) from the Warcraft III modding community, and its growth into one of the biggest sectors in the games and esports industries today
Blizzard’s role in developing the concept of online gaming, from early hacks to play against friends to World of Warcraft and Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (“MMORPG’s”)
The 2008 merger with storied gaming company Activision
Growth and success since the merger, including the launch of new game franchises Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch

The Carve Out: