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AUGUST 29, 2019

Santa Monica-based videogame publisher Activision is bring back a popular, retro character from the 1990's, its purple dragon, Spyro, through a new title, the gaming publisher said this morning. According to Activision, Spyro Reignited Trilogy will launch on the Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam, starting on September 3rd. Activision said the games feature the gameplay that fans will remember from the 90's, but with new, HD graphics. activision spyro nintendo videogame

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AUGUST 15, 2019

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard has turned to a veteran of the entertainment industry to head up its marketing efforts, saying on Thursday that it has named David Messinger, a veteran of CAA, as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). According to Activision Blizzard, Messinger also served at Ticketmaster, The Walt Disney Company, and Leo Burnett Worldwide. activision blizzard entertainment david messinger executive

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JANUARY 2, 2019

Santa Monica-based Activision has fired its CFO, saying on December 31st that it has notified its current Chief Financial Officer, Spencer Neumann, that it intends to terminate his employment. According to Activision, the move is "unrelated to the Company's financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures. " As a result of the firing, Activision said on Tuesday that it has named Dennis Durkin, its Chief Corporate Officer, as its principal financial officer.

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SEPTEMBER 13, 2019

Santa Monica-based game publisher Activision has launched a beta of its latest title in the Call of Duty line, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare. According to Activision, the beta of its title is available to PlayStation 4 players, giving and early access look to its new, multi-player features. The title--being developed for Activision by game studio Infinity Ward--will allow users playing on both gaming consoles and PC platforms to play together.

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FEBRUARY 11, 2019

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard is planning a set of massive layoffs, which may affect hundreds of people, according to a report on Friday. According to Bloomberg, Activision Blizzard is planning to lay off hundreds of people as it restructures to boost its profitability. Activision has not yet confirmed those plans, which were attributed to sources close to the company. activision blizzard layoff jobs employment gaming games videogame software

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OCTOBER 18, 2019

Santa Monica-based game publisher Activision said Thursday that it is turning its content model away from "loot boxes" to the "battle pass" model, for its upcoming launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. According to Activision, the new "Battle Pass" system replaces its previous "loot box" system to unlock features and items in the game. loot lootbox pass battle activision warfare modern callofduty

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JANUARY 9, 2019

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard made a trio of executive appointments today, naming Rob Kostich has been named President of Activision; apointing Humam Sakhnini as President of King Digital Entertainment; and naming Dennis Durkin President of Activision Blizzard's Emerging Businesses. Activision did not say what propted the shuffling of roles. activision blizzard executive kostich humam sakhini ennis drukin

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AUGUST 10, 2012

is back, thanks to a reboot by Activision , which released a new version of the game yesterday for the Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. is "inspired by the original 1982 classic", Activision said. The new game comes out of Activision's Leeds, UK studio.

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SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard reported a win in court late Thursday, saying that the United States District Court, Central District of California has invalidated all patent claims asserted by McRO, Inc. McRO had sued Activision over the use of lip synchronization and facial expression technology in Call of Duty, Skylanders, and StarCraft II. activision blizzard patent lawsuit legal mcro planet blue callofduty synchronization uspto

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JUNE 30, 2017

Santa Monica-based videogame publisher Activision has brought back Crash Bandicoot , its popular videogame character, in a new remake of the original three games for the PS4 and PS4 Pro. Crash Bandicoot was originally developed by LA-based Naughty Dog Entertainment, originally for Sony Computer Entertainment; Activision acquired the rights to Crash Bandicoot in 2008. Activision said the new version of the three games was done by its team at Vicarious Visions.

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OCTOBER 12, 2018

Santa Monica-based videogame publisher Activision said this morning that the latest sequel in its Call of Duty series of games, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 , is now available worldwide. callofduty activision ombie videogame content launch treyarchThe company said the title is now avaliable both digitally and at global retailers worldwide.

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L.A. Business Journal

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard Inc. named J. Allen Brack its new president of Blizzard Entertainment Oct. 4, alongside two new promotions to the executive leadership team

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FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Stephen Milligan , the CEO of Western Digital ; and Robert Kotick , the CEO of Activision Blizzard , are among the 100 most overpaid CEOs. a year, was number 40; and Bobby Kotick of Activision, paid $28.7M The As You Know group said that Disney's Iger earns 787 times the pay of the company's median employee; WD's Milligan 1,628 times; and Activision's Kotick 306 times; no number was reported for Broadcom's Tan.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 14, 2016

Santa Monica-based Activision said late Monday evening that it is planning to bring back its popular Crash Bandicoot character, through both an incorporation of the character into its Skylanders Imaginators game, as well as a "remaster" of three, Crash Bandicoot games for Playstation 4. Activision said the three games, Crash Bandicoot; Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back; and Crash Bandicoot: Warped will run on PlayStation 4.

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L.A. Business Journal

JANUARY 10, 2019

Gimbal acquires part of UberMedia; Bungie terminates Activision contract early, Ring’s security not so secure

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OCTOBER 15, 2018

Santa Monica-based game publisher Activision says its launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 on Friday was its "biggest day one digital release" in its history. Activision said digital sales broke the record set in 2017 by Call of Duty: WWII. Activision did not say what the overall launch numbers were, and did not announce any details on retail sales of the title. activision call duty black wwii

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L.A. Business Journal

JANUARY 2, 2019

Blizzard tweaks e-sports chats; Disney and Verizon sign deal; Durkin replaces Neumann at Activision Blizzard

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JUNE 15, 2015

Los Angeles-based apartment search startup RadPad > said today that it has hired on Activision veteran Mike Pelletier as its first Vice President of Marketing, the company said this morninng. Pelletier had previously been head of Activision's Call of Duty franchise, and also had been at Dell. He was last in charge of marketing Call of Duty Advanced Warfare at Activision. radpad activision rental marketplace payment startup callofduty executive marketing

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JANUARY 12, 2015

Santa Monica-based Activision and Chinese game maker Tencent said today that the two are launching the popular Activision title Call of Duty into China, releasing the game as a free-to-play -- and also adapting the game to Chinese customs.

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MAY 22, 2014

Santa Monica-based videogame publisher Activision Blizzard announced late Wednesday that Vivendi S.A. is planning to sell 41,499,689 shares of Activision Blizzard common stock, in a public offering. Those shares represent half of Vivendi''s stake in Activision Blizzard, and is worth around $866M. According to Activision Blizzard, the offering is being run by Barclays and Credit Suisse. activision vivendi blizzard sale finance stock merger acquisition

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OCTOBER 7, 2013

Santa Monica-based videogame developer Activision said late Friday that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against two companies. Activision said the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Activision claims the two companies have infringed on a U.S. activision lawsuit legal patent infringement worlds District Court of the Central District of California, against Worlds Inc. and Worlds Online Inc.

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JULY 17, 2014

Santa Monica-based videogame maker Activision has been sued by former Panama dictator Manual Noriega, over his depection in the game "Call of Duty: Black Ops II". Noriega is suing Activision Blizzard over what he says is using his name and likeness without his permission. activision manuel noriega lawsuit legal trademark videogame video

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NOVEMBER 10, 2017

Santa Monica-based Activision has been sued by the developer of the ubiquitous Humvee military vehicles, AM General LLC , over the use by Activision of its vehicles in the game Call of Duty. The lawsuit covers not only the use of the Humvee in Activision's video game, but also related game-related toys and merchandise. activision humvee callofduty legal lawsuit trademark

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OCTOBER 3, 2016

Santa Monica-based Activision said today that it has launched a new, mobile app, which lets players creat real-life, 3D printed figures for its Skylanders game. According to Activision, its new Skylanders Creator app lets fans create 3D, printed Skylanders Imaginators figures, which are playable in the Skylanders Imaginators console game. activision skylanders mobile printed figure toystolife videogame imaginators

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FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Santa Monica-based Activision said this morning that it has completed its acquisition of King Digital Entertainment. Activision paid $18.00 Activision said it expects to boost its revenues in 2016 to $6.25 Activision said King will operate as an independent unit, led by current CEO Riccardo Zacconi, Chief Creative Officer Sebastian Knutsson, and COO Stephane Kurgan. activision king digital entertainment merger acquisition videogame

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FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Activision said Friday that it has launched a new Call of Duty gaming competition, which will feature a $1 million prize, for the top player of Call of Duty: Black Ops II on the Xbox 360. Activision said 32 teams will compete in the head-to-head, live-streamed championship in April.

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APRIL 19, 2018

Santa Monica-based game publisher Activision said Wednesday that it has rolled out a new Alexa Skill, which lets players of its popular game, Call of Duty: WWII , get in-game advice from Alexa. According to Activision, the new skill will provide personalized player recommendations, updates on in-game achievements, and more. Activision said the new skill is free. activision callofduty wwii gaming videogame alexa amazon skill machine learning artificial intelligence

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DECEMBER 9, 2016

Santa Monica-based videogame publisher Activision Blizzard said this week that it is expanding efforts to help veterans find high quality careers, by launching a new, in-game purchase in its popular Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare videogame. According to Activision Blizzard, its new Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Activision Blizzard said the endowment--which is a nonprofit founded in 2009 by CEO Bobby Kotick--so far has funded over 29,000 job placements of veterans.

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MAY 17, 2017

Santa Monica-based games publisher Activision said on Tuesday that it has released Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies Chronicles , a collection of eight, Zombie-themed maps from Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Activision said it has "remastered" the maps and titles, adding new visuals, enhanced audio, and new gameplay. Activision said the MSRP on the new collection is $29.99.

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JUNE 24, 2015

Santa Monica-based Activision , along with Bungie and Red Bull , are in a major marketing partnership around the launch of the new expansion for Destiny , called The Taken King , the companies said this morning.

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DECEMBER 16, 2016

Santa Monica-based videogame publisher Activision Publishing , the arm of Activision Blizzard which publishes Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare , says its title is the number one console video game in the U.S., Those revenues were not announced by Activision in the announcement. Activision said Call of Duty is the number one grossing console franchise in the U.S. activision call duty infinite warfare videogame game software content blizzard

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OCTOBER 14, 2013

Santa Monica-based videogame developer Activision Blizzard said late Friday that it has completed its acquisition of its shares from Vivendi, in a deal worth approximately $5.83 The deal once again makes Activision Blizzard a fully independent company. The investor group which led the acquisition was led by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and Chairman Brian Kelly, as well as Davis Advisors, Leonard Green & Partners, L.P.,

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JUNE 13, 2012

Santa Monica-based Activision , via its subsidiary Activision Publishing, said today that it is in a strategic relationship with Flurry , a provider of mobile application, advertising, and analytics software. According to Activision, Flurry will help the firm to establish a new mobile publishing initiative. android publishing mobile flurry activision

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L.A. Business Journal

AUGUST 8, 2019

The Santa Monica-based video game publisher behind popular games such as “Call of Duty” and “Overwatch” saw its profits decline more than 18% from this time last year, reporting a net income of $328 million

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MARCH 15, 2018

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard is bolstering its efforts in the growing esports arena, saying it has named three sports veterans--Daniel Cherry as Chief Marketing Officer, Marc Kolin as Vice President of Finance and Strategy, and Brandon Snow as Chief Revenue Officer, all in an effort to boost its Activision Blizzard Esports Leagues. activision executive sports team esports daniel cherry marc kolin brandon snow

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