Activision

Activision, Inc. is an American video game publisher and developer based in California. It was founded in 1979 by former Atari 2600 programmers David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller, and Bob Whitehead, with Jim Levy serving as its first president. The company was created to publish third‑party games for the Atari 2600 and is widely regarded as the first independent publisher to focus on console games. Over time, Activision grew into a major producer of titles for consoles, PCs, and later mobile platforms.

In 2008, Activision merged with Vivendi Games to form Activision Blizzard, bringing Blizzard Entertainment under one umbrella and expanding into PC and massively multiplayer games. The company later expanded into mobile gaming with the 2016 acquisition of King Digital Entertainment, maker of Candy Crush, for about $5.9 billion. Activision’s well‑known franchises include Call of Duty, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and Skylanders.

Within Activision Blizzard, operations are organized into Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, and King. In 2023, Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard for approximately $68.7 billion, making Activision Blizzard a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. The deal is expected to influence strategy across console, PC, and mobile gaming, and to shape the broader landscape of interactive entertainment.