According to this Seattle Times article from a link I got off Blues News they are.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001689203_blizzard02.html
I actually think MS should buy them. Then maybe Xbox will have some franchise games to make.
etc
question: who owns Blizzard North?
and let’s face it… no one will let Blizzard die… someone will definitely pick up the company.
by the way, how much do you think Blizzard costs? if the entire VU games division is 800 million US, then how much of that is Blizzard?
The problem is that everyone just wants Blizzard, but not the rest of the baggage that Vivendi Interactive brings along with it. But Vivendi knows that the only way it can unload the craptacular parts of VI is by linking them to Blizzard. And when Roper and co. left Blizzard, the prospect got a lot less appetizing for a would-be buyer, especially if Vivendi was reporteldy asking $2 billion (now down to $800 million).
So the two major bidders are waiting for Vivendi to start getting desperate, then they’ll try and get VI for a steal, then just can the parts they don’t want/need.
Kinda like how the rest of the world is waiting for us to start getting desperate in Iraq, forcing the neo-cons to friggin’ stand down and open up reconstruction to the UN.
Where in that article does it say Blizzard is in trouble? I don’t get that take-away.
If anything, the article makes it clear that Blizzard is the crown jewel in the VU Games portfolio.
The bit where 4 senoir developers leave is the trouble bit, I think.
Bah. The brand, the IP, and the company culture are the important parts. Losing some devs won’t hurt them much. Roper really wasn’t much of a dev anyway.
What’s weird is how the price for VU Games is said to have fallen to $800M. That includes Universal Interactive, Fox Interactive, Sierra Entertainment and Knowledge Adventure, as well as Blizzard. Apparently Microsoft isn’t interested at that price. Why wouldn’t Microsoft snap them up at $800M? They have billions in the bank and make billions each year in profits. That IP could put the Xbox over the top.
I think it’s because Universal Interactive is worth about -$200 million.
They way overpaid for Rare, something like 300+ million. I’d think Blizzard alone is worth far more than Rare was. They could get Blizzard, and get to publish Half-Life 2 through the aquisition of Sierra. That’s some pretty sweet kit, probably not worth 800 million, but I can’t believe they’d be too concerned about overpaying.
It matters not a whit whether Roper & Co. were the Godhead of gaming or merely lackeys, or something in between. What matters is the perception of people investigating Vivendi’s game unit as a prospective purchase. If they perceive that the departures lower the value (and, doh!, the guys looking to buy something generally tend to interpret things that way, to get a lower price), well, then in fact the departurs do lower the price, or to put it another way, lower the value of the property. It’s all in the mind.
Suddenly a moot point:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/dowjones/20030902/bs_dowjones/200309021423001060
Now this is interesting…
Fourtou also said that Vivendi has decided not to sell its video games and music businesses, which had previously been earmarked for disposal, for the time being.
However, Vivendi is considering splitting its activities into two separate companies: one including the telecoms assets, and one including the remaining entertainment assets.
Looks like they were able to offload their debt ridden entertainment division while still holding onto the Blizzard cashcow. Now that was some smart negotiating.
Bah. The brand, the IP, and the company culture are the important parts. Losing some devs won’t hurt them much. Roper really wasn’t much of a dev anyway.[/quote]
Look at Bullfrog after Molyneux left: they released Dungeon Keeper 2, a sequel superior to its original, but after that. . . .?
Look at Lionhead. Black & White…
Look at Lionhead. Black & White…[/quote]
This kind of ties into the “Rockstar” thread, also on the Games board.
900 million.
900 million.[/quote]
Heh. Good one.