Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc.
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 9, 2008 |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video Games |
| Official website | https://activisionblizzard.com |
Activision Blizzard, Inc., often referred to as ABK (Activision-Blizzard-King), is an American video game holding company.
Activision Blizzard currently includes five business units:
- Activision Publishing
- Blizzard Entertainment
- King
- Major League Gaming
- Activision Blizzard Studios
Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion on October 13, 2023. Activision Blizzard is a subsidiary of Microsoft Gaming along with Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media.
Products/Franchises:
- Call of Duty
- Crash Bandicoot
- Guitar Hero
- Skylanders
- Spyro the Dragon
- Tony Hawk's (series)
- Diablo (series)
- Hearthstone
- Heroes of the Storm
- Overwatch
- StarCraft
- Warcraft
- Candy Crush Saga
Controversies
| Controversy | Year | Background Info | Aftermath | Related Article | Related Video(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Termination of Blizzard's contract with NetEase | 2023 | Mainland China lost access to Blizzard's main titles for over a year as a result of licensing agreements going unmet. | Steam Review-Bombing on Overwatch. Eventual, Microsoft Gaming Acquisition. | ||
| Account Lock and Forced Arbitration | 2024 | Activision Blizzard blocked access to Blizzard services, requiring customers to accept Forced Arbitration terms in the updated Blizzard End User License Agreement (EULA) | Unknown | Activision Blizzard Account Lock and Forced Arbitration |
Patents
| Patent | Name | Summary Of Invention | Consumer Related Drawback |
|---|---|---|---|
| US20160005270A1 | System and method for driving microtransactions in multiplayer video games | The patent lays the ground for a dynamically adjusting matchmaking system to ensure a positive experience for players in order to increase micro transactions. | This patent includes a method to check quality factors such as facial expressions, body language, or "other observable metrics related to gameplay" in real time. That clearly violates the consumer's privacy, especially without dedicated notice of such practices as in presumably Call of Duty Black Ops 6.
Source video, needs solid verification of loaded DLLs How to list DLLs |
| US11896905B2 | Methods and systems for continuing to execute a simulation after processing resources go offline | To simulate gameplay of NPCs, the system may identify end user devices (e.g., gaming consoles, personal computers, smartphones, etc.) that are connected to the system through a network and are available to participate in a simulated NPC gameplay session. | This patent essentially describes how a botnet is created in the consumer's network, which is outright stealing resources to train the company's NPC AI - even after closing the game. Further misuse of affected network devices is very well possible, thanks to unclear language like "an agent [...] may program one or more physical processors of end user device[s]". |