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NBC Merger Leaves VU Games, Blizzard, Sierra In Cold
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."
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!
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 The idea of a Team Fortress sequel now seems quaint and outdated after Battlefield 1942 and Planetside.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).