The Video Game Community : Blizzard Entertainment

The network effects in the video game industry are derived from the console system that is sold to consumers. If a company is able to increase penetration in this arena, though at-cost/ below-cost pricing or pull created through the development of desirable content, it can potentially lock in the added value of the video games sold for the system. Which is to say, the console locks-in the network effects in the industry and the games serve to reap the profits. The video games, however, may present something of a challenge in that they can be somewhat easily replicated by competitors. Nintendo used an encrypted chip system to reduce this possibility.

In December of 2007 the merger of Activision and Blizzard was announced. Blizzard Entertainment, one of four divisions of Vivendi games, was the key ingredient for synergy between the two firms. First, an introduction to the video game software industry is pertinent. This will be followed by some discussion regarding the major trends and major players in the industry. Second, some insight will be provided on the merging companies, Activision and Blizzard. Third, the potential value of the merger will be explored, along with some analysis of the partnership. Lastly, I will give my personal views of the merger itself.

There are a handful of common biases about gamers in society as well as an amount of common stereotypes. These always come from somewhere, often stereotypes are born from the most noteworthy individuals or actions of a community, because the most negative things always have a greater impact it makes people have wrong impressions of gamers and weird stereotypes, giving an extremely twisted and warped idea of the community as a whole. What does society think about gamers?

When my buddy and I are talking about ganking or getting ganked, we sometimes get weird looks from bystanders that happen to overhear our usage of the word gank. When we use it, we are not referring to the definition as to rob or to rip off like the definition from etymonline.com states, but we are using it in reference to the video game discourse community “League of Legends” that we are in.

Video games have been unloved or hated ever since they have came out. Video games are excellent for kids because they will improve their work with others, help them think more faster, and will help kids become more intelligent.

Now that technological companies all over the world have set most of the seven billion individuals in the world with a computer, smartphone or tablet, it is time for better software to use with them. This is where games come in. Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello stated in a recent interview that PC gaming is the ‘fastest growing platform’. This shows the growing interest in gaming bearing in mind that gamers also have the means to play on. The term ‘gamer’ refers to an individual that plays a game or games, typically a participant in a computer or role playing game. The gaming community has grown so wide in the last few years because of the shift from single player games to multiplayer games on the internet

Can gaming be considered a sport? A question just a few years ago, no one would think is even a possibility. But now in present day; there is a legitimate debate on whether video games can or should be considered a sport. I, someone who has played multiple sports throughout my life, along with video games believe video games are a sport.

The evolution of the gaming world continues to strive for further evolvement by expanding the way games are experienced. From the beginning with the start of a game that just depicted a story in words, to changing the way games can be controlled by gamers, we see them evolve even in story concepts. Games provide more choices of action in the ever-growing number of games and game consoles. Starting from no graphics at all and progressing to 3D and reaching for virtual reality, gaming is a growing technology all around the entire world today. The gaming industry is one of the fastest growing industries today. Current generation games allow the users to use sensors to detect body movement to get

It’s the 21st century, and video games are beginning to expand like wildfire. Millions of people every year watch professional eSports players duke it out on the big screen for millions of dollars. Just like professional sports, each professional gamer specializes in their own game, like League of Legends, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, PlayerUnknown’s BattleGround, etc. The eSports scene is booming today, but it actually dates all the way back to the 1970s. On 19 October 1972, Stanford hosted the first game to be played competitively in their A.I laboratory, and that game was “SpaceWar!”. Furthermore, in 1980, an event held by Atari would become the earliest large scale competition with at least 10,000 viewers for the game Space

The popular build-and-survive video game Minecraft could very well be the most surprising tech success of this decade. Created in 2009 by programmer Markus "Notch" Persson, expanded by a small team, and advertised mostly by word of mouth, it has more than 100 million users. To drive home its success, Microsoft bought the game a few months ago for a staggering $2.5 billion.

When searching for unique technology or business processes, the first thought that came to mind was Minecraft. Obviously many people in America have played, or at least heard of Minecraft. Seeing as how this was around the time of 2011, the gaming industry was becoming huge. It was hard to release a successful and original game to the public. Games like Call of Duty and Halo were popular around this time, so to create a game that became an instant hit was extraordinary. But why exactly did Minecraft get so big in the first place, especially with all of the competition at the time?

The video game industry is the economic sector involved with the development, marketing and sale of video and computer games. It includes video game consoles, game software, handheld devices, mobile games and online games. The video gaming industry has been growing exponentially in recent years with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo competing for the higher profits in the market. This essay will analyze each of the five forces acting on the industry: threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and the competitive rivalry among existing firms. Then it will be determined if the video game industry is still an

Activision Blizzard is an industry leader for producing and designing video games. They have annual revenues of 4 billion, annual income of 2.2 billion and total assets of 5.5 billion. Activision, as they are commonly known, have great customer support and even better technical support, despite having to deal with one of the most impatient and finicky customer bases, the gamer.

Herman et all (2002) points out that history of video games begins from 1971 year, when Nutting association released 1500 machines with Spacewar video game. At the beginning it was too difficult to control the game process and playing machines had huge dimensions. But by the time with new technologies they become more compact and easier to play. According to the information given by Herman et all (2002), the period between the years of 1978-1981 is called ‘golden age’ of video game industry. In this period the arcade games ‘Football’ and ‘Space Invaders’ were released. All previously known sale records were broken by these two games with nearly equal wages. In this time interval great breakthroughs in the field of graphics were achieved,

Gaming has been such a huge part of nearly everyone’s life growing up as a kid and it’s only getting bigger and bigger every day. Growing up as a kid, online gaming wasn’t as popular as it is today. I started off with a Gameboy and Dreamcast console that later shifted to better consoles like the PlayStation, Xbox, Wii, and Nintendo. Nowadays, almost everyone, including myself, have shifted to the more popular gaming platforms in mobile games and online PC games. More specifically, certain types of online gaming styles like FPS, MOBA, and MMO are distinctly more popular than many others. Not only has the popularity for online gaming platforms evolved but the importance and relevance of