This is not the first time that Microsoft’s name has been linked with Vivendi Games – indeed, a Microsoft buyout was widely suggested when it first became clear that the Vivendi group would have to be broken up after it was rocked by financial misreporting allegations last year. A variety of other rumoured fates for the division have come to nothing, however, meaning that this is one deal which certainly isn’t sealed until the official announcement comes.
If the rumours do prove to be true, the implications for Microsoft and the Xbox would potentially be huge. Although it’s fair to say that many of Vivendi’s products have underperformed recently – with perhaps the biggest disappointment being the crushing defeat of its Lord of the Rings title this Christmas, which was effectively pushed out of contention by EA’s competing LOTR game – the company still has a vast number of valuable licences and franchises to its name, and development studios including the highly-regarded Blizzard.
Indeed, Blizzard alone would bring with it Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo – three of the most popular gaming franchises on the PC – while other titles in the Vivendi stable include platformers Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, the literary Lord of the Rings license, a stack of Universal Pictures film rights and last but not least – Half-Life and Counter-Strike.
Of course, Half-Life (for which a sequel is currently in production) and Counter-Strike (the most popular online action game by a huge margin, and about to become a fully commercial product with Counter-Strike: Condition Zero) are a dream exclusive for Xbox, and perhaps more importantly for Xbox Live. It’s likely that the asking price for Vivendi would make Microsoft’s acquisition of Rare look like pocket change – with probably over a billion Euro changing hands – but for the Blizzard and Valve franchises alone, it may well be a worthwhile move.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz
