Activision

Activision is an American computer and video game company founded on October 1, 1979. It was the first independent developer and distributor of computer and video games, with its first products being cartridges for the Atari 2600 video console system. It is now one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world, second only to Electronic Arts.

The Formation of Activision

Before Activision was formed, software for video game consoles was published exclusively by the makers of the systems for which the games were designed. For example, Atari was the only publisher of games for the Atari 2600. This was frustrating for the developers of the games, as they received no financial rewards for games that did well, and didn't even receive credit in the manuals. After seeing a number of games turn into multi-million-dollar best sellers, a number of Atari programmers (David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead) left to form their own company, along with former music industry executive Jim Levy, thus becoming the first third-party game publisher for game consoles. The departure of the four programmers, whose titles made up more than half of Atari's cartridge sales at the time, caused legal action between the two companies which was not ultimately settled until 1982. All four ex-Atari programmers received the Game Developers Choice "First Penguin" award in 2003 in recognition of this step (an award that recognises the courage and bravery of game developers who tested the proverbial "waters", uncertain of success or failure).

As the market for game consoles started to decline, Activision branched out, producing game titles for home computers as well, and acquiring smaller publishers. In 1982, they released Pitfall!, which was the best selling title on the 2600, and is considered by many to be the first platform game, turning the company into a huge success. This not only resulted in a host of clones, including stand-up arcade games, but can be said to have launched the entire platform genre, which became a major part of video games through the 1980s.

Infocom

In 1985, Activision merged with struggling text adventure pioneer Infocom. However, about six months later, Bruce Davis (who was against the merger from the start) took over as CEO of Activision, forcing marketing changes on Infocom, which caused sales of their games to plummet. Eventually, after several years of losses, Activision closed down the Infocom studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1989.

In 1991, Activision packaged 20 of Infocom's past games into a CD-ROM collection called 'The Lost Treasures of Infocom' without most of the 'feelies' that Infocom was famous for (i.e. additional content included with in the box, such as maps, badges or other objects). The success of this compilation led to the 1992 release of eleven more Infocom titles in The Lost Treasures of Infocom II.

Mediagenic

In 1988, Activision started to become involved in other types of software other than video games, such as business applications, resulting on the company changing its corporate name to Mediagenic in order to have a name that would globally represent all its fields of activities. Despite this change, Mediagenic continued to use the Activision brand on the video games for the various platforms it was publishing for, notably the Atari 7800, Nintendo Entertainment System, Commodore 64, Sega Master System and Amiga.

However, the decision of the company to become involved in various fields at the expense of video gaming proved to a poor choice, resulting in Mediagenic filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992.

The New Activision

The failure of Mediagenic resulted in a reorganisation and merger with The Disc Company, with Mediagenic being the acquirer. After emerging from bankruptcy, Mediagenic officially changed its entity name back to Activision, and moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Southern California. While recovering from bankruptcy, the company continued to develop games for PCs and video game consoles and resumed making strategic acquisitions, such as Florida-based Expert Software, maker of Home Design 3D in 1999, and Santa Monica-based games developer Luxoflux in 2002. Other acquisitions included the Encino, California-based Infinity Ward, developers of the Call of Duty franchise in 2003 and New York-based developer Vicarious Visions in January 2005.

In 2003, Activision, along with several other game software publishers, was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its accounting practices, namely the use of the "return reserve", in order to smooth quarterly results.

The company marked its 25th anniversary in 2004, stating that it had posted record earnings and the twelfth consecutive year of revenue growth. Two years later, in 2006, Activision secured the video game license to make games based on the world of James Bond from MGM Interactive. An exclusive agreement between the two begins in September 2007 with Activision's first game set to be released in May 2008.

Activision Value

Activision Value is a subsidiary brand of Activision, with offices located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. As its name implies, Value is the publisher of budget titles for Activision, with its most prominent titles including the Cabela's line of hunting and fishing-related games, and the World Series of Poker.