Vivendi and Activision have struck a $18.9 Billion deal to merge as Activision Blizzard. The combined company will nearly equal Electronic Arts in size, and combine disparate franchises such as Guitar Hero and WoW under the same corporate entity.

As for the details the press release it’s pretty dry material for the express purpose of making stockholders see lots of dollar signs. Plus given Blizzard’s value in this deal, it clearly has them calling the shots and terms in the merger allowing them to remain an independent division. Nor can investors ignore the obvious synergies in both companies given that Southpark created a show for each companies top games, World of Warcraft, and Guitar Hero, with outside confirmation like that, you can’t go wrong.

That and there’s going to be a lot of executives at both companies patting themselves on the backs over this one given the million dollar plus bonuses they’ll likely be recieving once the merger is approved.

From Blizzard.com
Blizzard to Join Forces With Activision
We’re pleased to announce that along with the other companies that make up Vivendi Games, we are merging with Activision to form a new global entertainment organization called Activision Blizzard (pending shareholder and regulatory approval). Similar to our previous arrangement, Blizzard Entertainment will now operate as a division of this new organization.

There will be no changes to our games, our websites, our personnel, or our day-to-day operations as a result of the deal. However, this combining of resources will benefit all of the companies involved and will further strengthen Blizzard’s ability to continue delivering high-quality content for our players around the world for many years to come. To learn more about this exciting new development, please read our

If anything the team at Blizzard deserves a congratulations for their tremendous ride over the last several years and totally unexpected success with World of Warcraft, something that was likely the sole reason this deal was possible.

As for a Guitar Hero MMO? Stranger things have happened…

Tough news for our friends across the pond. Conservative Party leader David Cameron (Tony Blair 2.0?) is due to unveil a manifesto shortly which will include dealing with violent videogames as a part of his approach to dealing with Britain’s crime crisis.

Cameron had the following to say on the subject to the BBC:

“We are never going to deal with crime unless we look at the broader context and say ‘Yes, tough laws, strong action on police, but also action to strengthen our society.’”

“Videos accessible to young people which show extreme and callous violence would also be targeted to prevent the “coarsening effect on the ethical sensibility of young people”

“And that includes, I think, videogames and things like that where we do need to think of the context in which people are growing up.”

“Violent video games should be curbed, parents urged to be more responsible, and schools should be reformed”

Mr Cameron described Labour’s approach to crime as “one-dimensional”, instead of focussing on “broader” issues like… “Other options included prison ships and putting disused army camps into use as jails.”. You’ll definately need the extra room for all those violent sociopathic videogamers roaming the street buzzed out of their minds on Bawls and Mountain Dew after marathon FPS and MMO gaming sessions.

The Conservatives say “long-term generational change” is needed to fight crime - not a “knee-jerk” response. Surely by it not being a knee-jerk response they’re fully prepared to present scientific evidence to backup their claims of the coarsening effect of video games and media causing rampant crime to sweep through Britain? Or perhaps they should take a look back on their other uneducated and inspired policies such as the ban on guns that caused a gun related crime to double.