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NBC Merger Leaves VU Games, Blizzard, Sierra In Cold

Posted by simoniker on from the no-change-is-bad-change dept.

Thanks to Reuters for their report that Vivendi Universal Games has still not found a buyer, with indication that, despite much confusion, "The video game unit is not a part of the newly-created NBC Universal, and Vivendi has signaled its intention to hold on to the division." VU Games is also the parent company of both Sierra and Blizzard, but although "...industry insiders have questioned why Vivendi would want to retain ownership considering its divestiture of other entertainment assets", VU Games will stay as it is for now, since "...sources in the banking and games-publishing industries have said the sale bogged down over price, with Vivendi asking on the order of $800 million."

35 comments

  1. i got an answer! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    spinoff!!

  2. Why buy? by BoomerSooner · · Score: 1

    You can just send their developers an email and they'll happily install some spyware for you. Voila, you get it for free. Plus Blizzard is a one trick pony.

    1. Re:Why buy? by whorfin · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It may be a one trick pony, but that's a damn nice trick. WarCraft, StarCraft, and Diablo titles are pretty much guaranteed to be top sellers when they ship.

      Worth $800m? Not sure about that. It all depends on the sales and profits. Obviously the other game companies either don't have the cash to do the deal, or don't think it's worth that much to them.

      --
      Laugh while you can, monkey-boy!
    2. Re:Why buy? by Spiffae · · Score: 1

      One trick? Vivendi owns a little company called Valve. Maybe you've heard of them?

      Half-Life?

      Counter-Strike?

      Half-Life 2?

      Team Fortress 2?

      There are some surefire hits right there...

    3. Re:Why buy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I can count them on one hand.

    4. Re:Why buy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then try counting the revenue they brought in on one hand. Dumbass.

    5. Re:Why buy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Half-Life - $lots, less a percentage to id Software for the engine.
      Counter-Strike - $0, was available as a free download, the commercial version was mainly a loss-leader to improve sales of Half-Life.
      Half-Life 2 - $0, is not out. In a post-Halo world, things are a little different.
      Team Fortress 2 - $0. Was due in 2000, then 2001, then 2002, then I stopped caring about it. The idea of a Team Fortress sequel now seems quaint and outdated after Battlefield 1942 and Planetside. I think they've missed the window of opportunity with this one.

      Valve has released one (1) commercial game ever (Half-Life). Even the expansion packs weren't made by them (Gearbox software made them). Valve may very well have made piles of cash, but until they prove that Half-Life wasn't blind luck, they sound very much like a one-trick pony to me.

      Oh, and on Blizzard - Warcraft 3 has been selling well compared to most other games, but relatively poorly compared to the other top Blizzard games. Starcraft 2 is the only game they could make now that would interest me, although I'm not sure they could make it right since so many core Blizzard folk left this year. Anything else I'm apathetic towards. (Starcraft Ghost - looks like an Oni clone, World Of Warcraft - it plain looks *bad* after seeing Everquest 2 shots).

    6. Re:Why buy? by Ty · · Score: 1
      Oh, and on Blizzard - Warcraft 3 has been selling well compared to most other games, but relatively poorly compared to the other top Blizzard games. Starcraft 2 is the only game they could make now that would interest me, although I'm not sure they could make it right since so many core Blizzard folk left this year.

      Umm, no one from the Starcraft team left Blizzard. All the people that left were from Blizzard NORTH, which produces the Diablo series.

    7. Re:Why buy? by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 2, Informative

      "Team Fortress 2 - $0. Was due in 2000, then 2001, then 2002, then I stopped caring about it. The idea of a Team Fortress sequel now seems quaint and outdated after Battlefield 1942 and Planetside. I think they've missed the window of opportunity with this one."

      Correction, first due out 2nd quarter 1998 according to TF1's birthday mode. By 2000 most people gave up hope, although seeing the sourcecode to it shows they are atleast working on it. (For anyone that doesnt know, HalfLife2's sourcecode leaked out recently, and apparently tf2 and cs2 were both in there. TF2 can even compile in its current state, so it may be close to release.)

      --
      Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
    8. Re:Why buy? by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 1

      One trick? Vivendi owns a little company called Valve.

      No, Vivendi does not own Valve. Valve published Half-Life through a Vivendi-owned company called Sierra, but Valve itself is privately owned and funded (mostly by Gabe Newell). They are not a public company, nor are they owned by anyone other than themselves.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
    9. Re:Why buy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes and that's why diablo 2 is STILL on the top 10 seller list

  3. Leaves VU, Blizzard, Sierra in Cold by DaZedAdAm · · Score: 1

    ^almost remotely humorous

  4. Maybe no one wants to buy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    a bunch of DMCA-wielding jackbooted thugs.

    ~~~

  5. Sierra? So What by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative
    Blizzard (North and South) is probably one of the top-10 PC game companies. But Sierra died in the early 1990s. A real shame too. They (and dynamix) used to have some of the best games in King's Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, Space Quest, Willy Beamish, Heart of China, etc. They were one of the first game companies to digitize actors for games.

    But those days are long past. Now all they do is bug-ridden knockoffs of whatever was popular 2 years ago.

    1. Re:Sierra? So What by simoniker · · Score: 1

      Um, Half-Life 2? I'm aware it's not developed by Sierra, but nonetheless..

    2. Re:Sierra? So What by Zardus · · Score: 1

      I demand that Quest for Glory be put on that first list!

      --
      You can mod your friends, you can mod your nose, but you can't mod your friend's nose.
    3. Re:Sierra? So What by k_187 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, like halflife and halflife 2. Granted those games weren't made by Sierra, but they were published by sierra.

      --
      11 was a racehorse
      12 was 12
      1111 Race
      12112
    4. Re:Sierra? So What by Gulthek · · Score: 1

      Homeworld 2 was just released. Fantastic game, Sierra product.

  6. Re:Sigh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Such 100% no-question-about-it BORING stories like this make it, and my MegaMan Collection and other stories get rejected.
    What Mega Man Collection story? They've already run one.
  7. Re:Sigh... by BTWR · · Score: 1

    yes, exactly. mine, with my other 50 submissions, was rejected.

  8. Together we must unite by DumbWhiteGuy777 · · Score: 1

    How many people visit /.? If we all pitch in some money, we could buy Blizzard and release 1337 open source games! How kickass would that be?

    Who's with me?!

    1. Re:Together we must unite by Gramatron+Cleric · · Score: 1

      I would, but why would you want blizzard? Me experience with Diablo was less than stellar, and the rest of their games aren't all that appealing. Now if you mentioned VALVe... LOL

    2. Re:Together we must unite by Zardoz44 · · Score: 1
      The community has yet to unite and produce their own "1337" open source game. Why don't you save your money, gather up 10-20 talented programmers, artists, etc... and make your own game?

      Sure you could release Warcraft into the open source pool, but what would be the return on the original investment? 1337ness?

  9. Does it matter? by Prien715 · · Score: 1

    I don't mean to troll, but companies aren't dumb. All of Blizzard's game have been hugely popular. When Vivendi bought Blizzard, they didn't make them change the way they made games, that might lower their profits. Whoever buys Blizzard will probably keep business as usual except if it's MS, then we may have some problems with certain platform exclusive games (i.e. Bungie).

    --
    -- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
  10. Re:Sigh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Okay. And?

  11. Re:Sigh... by BTWR · · Score: 1

    and? AND?

    And... shut upa yo' face!

  12. I will sell VU Games for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "..ONE BILLION DOLLARS." (pinky to the mouth) "MWUhahahah!"

    Uh.. I don't think so. At 800 million asking price, assuming they make $25 back per copy of a game sold (assuming retailer markup, cost of duplication brings the retail price to $50 total), they would have to sell, what.. 32 million games?

    To sell 32 million games, you'd have to make 10 titles that sell over 3 million each - they would take over 30 years to make assuming 3 years each (or 15 if they do 2 in parallel).

    AND I've not included the cost of financing development. Not a great long-term investment.

    1. Re:I will sell VU Games for... by Drakon · · Score: 1

      yeah, except that Blizzard titles routinely break sales records, for example StarCraft, which sold 6 million copies.
      also, Is this 800 million for Sierra AND Blizzard?
      Doesn't Sierra publish, for example, Half Life (8 million copies), and Homeworld and such?
      these aren't exactly slouches

      --
      Buttsex.
  13. I think SK should buy in for "national interest" by kabocox · · Score: 1

    I think South Korea should buy it mainly to secure their future source of games. Or maybe NK should buy it and make South Koreans pay large sums for the Blizzard games. :)

  14. Ah.. by webrunner · · Score: 1

    So, Vivendi isn't selling Sierra and Blizzard? It must be thursday then.

    --
    ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
  15. Microsoft by jnguy · · Score: 1

    Wasn't there speculation that microsoft would be buying vivendi's game unit, for a lot more than 800 million. I don't think microsoft would affect the production of PC titles, except, maybe delay it for EXTREMELY long periods of time (halo)
    Since I'm a console gamer, and I do own a PC, I think a microsoft purchase would have nice potential. It'll be a major plus to microsoft.
    Link

  16. Re:Sigh... by Kethinov · · Score: 1
    I was wondering, is there (seriously) like some sort of filter that they don't even look at stories from users whose id is >10,000 or something, or who doesn't have like 2,000 karma points?
    Offtopic, yes. But my UID is higher than your's and I probably have way less than 2,000 karma points. I've submitted about 5 stories and have had one accepted. That would seem to disprove your theory. Slashdot gets a lot of story submissions. Even good ones will fall through the cracks a lot methinks. With more editors and maybe a better submission system it would work out better, but at present, it is to be expected that the majority of your submissions be rejected.
    --
    You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!