Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The Wall Street Journal (sub required) is reporting that Vivendi is starting to turn more gears to see Activision-Blizzard get sold. As we mentioned in June, the French telecom giant hasn’t had a great couple of years, while ActiBliz has been storming it. Selling off the publisher/developer could see a huge injection of cash go into the share-troubled megacorp. Holding 61% of the company, Vivendi has apparently been struggling to find a buyer, with rumours of Microsoft and Disney turning up their noses. Poor Activision – no one wants them. Now Vivendi have enlisted the help of some investment banks, says the WSJ, to help shift the business. And what lovely banks, too.

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Here’s what I don’t understand: business. What a good job I partake in the running of this one, eh? Anyone want to swap RPS for some sweets? Or indeed, Activision. Remarkably, parent company Vivendi may be looking to sell Activision-Blizzard on, and this announcement has seen a drop in their share value. Not even the almighty might of Call Of Duty seems to be enough to keep the business worth keeping as far as the massive megacorp are concerned, perhaps looking for a fast injection of cash. Gamasutra reports that Bloomberg are saying the part or full sale of the company will be discussed on the 22nd June during an investor meeting in Paris.

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First there was the ludicrous nonsense over Sierra vs. Monolith for the rights to make the sequel to F.E.A.R., and the subsequent debacle that took place with Monolith organising a competition for fans to rename their sequel, resulting in Project Origin. Meanwhile Sierra stomped off with the ball, refusing to play nicely with others, and pretended they were making their own sequel which they would call F.E.A.R. 2. What a to-do it all was. Well, Project Origin is to be renamed. Can anyone guess what it will be?

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Oh man, hearing that music again does things to me. Not entirely sure about the graphics engine in this one, especially the run animation, but the faces certainly look right. And Sonorous Trailer Guy intoning “With Bill Murray” left me grinning for ten minutes.

I seem to be getting something of a bum deal here. First I get Peggle Nights, about which a big fat nothing is known. And now F.E.A.R. 2, which is apparently being developed in a secret underground bunker fifty miles below the Atlantic ocean, by a team made up of invisible fairies.

So what to tell you? I suppose a quick re-hashing of the confusion over FEAR’s sequalisation. But Kieron already did that when he wrote about the other FEAR 2, Project Origin. Very quickly, Vivendi own the name, while Monolith (now owned by Warner) own the game. So Project Origin (a name that I’m surprised to find out has grown on me) is a direct sequel to FEAR, in terms of engine, story and all.

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