Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Activision has had a good year, briefly unseating industry behemoth Electronic Arts for the number one spot in game revenues at one point. We’re used to competition in the gaming industry and when it gets heated consumers generally benefit. Lately we’ve seen more and more mergers, what with EA most recently consuming both Pandemic and Bioware in one fell swoop. With Activision’s ascent I expected them to consume smaller publishers to try and summon up on the strength to take a few more swings at EA, similar to how they absorbed Bizarre Creations, wouldn’t you?

Oddly enough it’s not to be, at least not that particular way. Vivendi, owner of the mega cash cow Blizzard, is planning to merge with Activision. The new company name is going to publicly recognize the most important part of Vivendi. The new company will be named Activision Blizzard. Makes me think of little Pitfall men floating down, each slightly different from the other. The merger is reportedly going to be an $18 billion transaction and Activision’s CEO will become the CEO of the new company while Vivendi will own 52% of the stock in the final entity. This makes me think that Vivendi is looking for the leadership that gave Activision a good year, but we’ll see if the organizations actually merge or just modify their letterheads and continue business as usual.

Via Joystiq.