History of Activision in Timeline

Activision Publishing, Inc., based in Santa Monica, California, is a major American video game publisher and a business division of Activision Blizzard. It's one of the world's largest third-party video game publishers and was the leading U.S. publisher in 2016. Activision oversees numerous subsidiary studios, focusing on the development and distribution of video games.

1976: Warner Communications Buys Atari

In 1976, Warner Communications acquired Atari, Inc. from Nolan Bushnell to expedite the release of the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS or later the Atari 2600) by 1977.

1977: Atari Hires Programmers

In 1977, Atari began hiring programmers to develop games for the Atari Video Computer System, later known as Atari 2600.

1978: Ray Kassar becomes Atari CEO

In 1978, following Warner's acquisition, Ray Kassar was appointed CEO of Atari and focused on minimizing production costs for Warner.

May 1979: Gang of Four Demands Royalties

In May 1979, Crane, Kaplan, Miller, and Whitehead, known as the "Gang of Four", met with Atari CEO Ray Kassar to request royalties and recognition on game boxes, similar to how record labels treated musicians. Kassar dismissed their demands, diminishing their roles.

October 1, 1979: Activision, Inc. Founded

On October 1, 1979, Activision, Inc. was founded in Sunnyvale, California, by former Atari game developers. The company aimed to develop games for the Atari 2600, becoming the first independent, third-party console video game developer.

1979: Decision to Start Independent Game Company

In 1979, Crane, Kaplan, Miller, and Whitehead decided to leave Atari and establish their own independent game development company, a novel concept at the time. Jim Levy helped them secure around $1 million in capital from Sutter Hill Ventures.

1979: Atari's Marketing Department Circulates Memo

In early 1979, Atari's marketing department distributed a memo listing the best-selling cartridges from the previous year to inspire new game ideas. Crane noted that his games had generated over $20 million for the company, while his salary was only $20,000.

1979: Activision Begins Development

In the latter half of 1979, Activision started game development in Crane's garage. Each programmer worked on their own game planned for release in mid-1980, including Dragster, Fishing Derby, Checkers, and Boxing.

1980: First Round of Releases

In 1980, Activision released its first games, which were modest hits.

1980: Consumer Electronics Show Showcase

In 1980, Activision showcased their titles at the Consumer Electronics Show, receiving favorable press. Atari attempted to discredit Activision and threatened retailers carrying Activision titles.

1980: Games Planned for Release

In mid-1980, Activision planned to release the games that they developed in the latter half of 1979, including Dragster, Fishing Derby, Checkers, and Boxing.

1981: Kaboom! Released

In 1981, Activision released Kaboom!, its first game to sell over a million units.

1981: Formation of Imagic

In 1981, Imagic, one of the third-party development studios was formed after Activision's success.

1982: Lawsuit Settled

By 1982, Atari's lawsuit against Activision, alleging theft of trade secrets, was settled. Activision agreed to pay royalties to Atari, legitimizing the third-party development model.

1982: Pitfall! Released and Kaplan Leaves

In 1982, Activision's Pitfall!, created by Crane, sold over four million copies and became a breakout title. Near the end of 1982, Kaplan left Activision to work on the Amiga personal computer.

June 1983: Activision's Initial Public Offering

In June 1983, Activision completed its initial public offering on NASDAQ under the stock ticker AVSN, with estimated sales of $157 million and revenues of $60 million.

1983: Rise of Third-Party Developers

In 1983, Activision's success and the popularity of the Atari 2600 led to the emergence of many more third-party developers and home consoles. However, many new third-party developers lacked experience, contributing to the video game crash of 1983.

1983: Effects of Video Game Crash

In 1983, the video game crash impacted Activision's income. Retailers sold unsold games at a mass discount, reducing Activision's income, even though there was still demand for their games.

1983: Activision Patch Program

Through 1983, Activision included instructions in their game manuals for players to send in photos of high scores to receive a patch in return.

1984: Revenue Drops and Layoffs

In 1984, Activision's quarterly revenue dropped from $50 million to $6–7 million due to the video game crash. The company was forced to lay off staff, reducing its workforce from 400 to 95 employees.

1985: Miller and Whitehead Leave Activision

In 1985, Miller and Whitehead left Activision due to the devaluation of their stock after the video game crash and went on to form Accolade.

June 1986: Activision Acquires Infocom

In June 1986, Activision acquired the struggling text adventure pioneer Infocom through a corporate merger, spearheaded by Jim Levy. About six months after the "Infocom Wedding", Activision's board decided to replace Levy with Bruce Davis.

1988: Name Change to Mediagenic

In 1988, Activision changed its corporate name to Mediagenic to reflect its involvement in software beyond video games, including business applications.

1989: Activision Publishes MechWarrior

In 1989, Activision published the first-person perspective MechWarrior, based on FASA's pen-and-paper game BattleTech.

1989: Infocom Studios Closed

In 1989, after several years of losses, Activision closed the Infocom studios and offered relocation to Activision's Silicon Valley headquarters to only 11 of the 26 employees.

May 1990: Mediagenic Loses Patent Infringement Lawsuit

In May 1990, Mediagenic faced a $6 million penalty after losing patent infringement lawsuits filed against it by Magnavox over the similarities of Activition's games to Magnavox's patents.

1990: Mediagenic Works on Early Version of Joe Montana Football

Around early 1990, Mediagenic worked on the early version of a football game that was the basis for Joe Montana Football. Sega of America contracted Mediagenic to develop this into the branded version, but internal troubles left the game unfinished, forcing Sega to turn to Electronic Arts for completion.

1991: Kotick Buys Mediagenic

Around 1991, Bobby Kotick and a group of investors purchased the debt-ridden Mediagenic for approximately US$500,000. The company was formerly known as Activision.

1991: Kotick and Investors Buy Mediagenic

In 1991, Bobby Kotick and additional investors bought Mediagenic in a hostile takeover for approximately $500,000.

1991: Mediagenic Reports Significant Losses

In 1991, Mediagenic reported a loss of $26.8 million on only $28.8 million of revenue and had over $60 million in debt.

1992: Mediagenic Renamed Activision

By the end of 1992, Bobby Kotick renamed Mediagenic to the original Activision name.

October 1993: Activision Goes Public

In October 1993, the new Activision went public, raising about $40 million, and was listed on NASDAQ under its new ticker symbol ATVI.

1995: Kotick Meets Promise to Investors

By 1995, Kotick's approach had met one promise he made to investors: that he would give them four years of 50% growth in revenues while remaining break-even.

1995: MechWarrior 2 Released

In 1995, MechWarrior 2 was released after two years of delays and internal struggles, prompting FASA not to renew their licensing deal with Activision.

1997: Activision Procures Heavy Gear License

In 1997, Activision procured the license to the pen-and-paper-based war game Heavy Gear.

1997: Kotick Sets Activision on Second Promise

Reaching this goal in 1995, Kotick then set Activision on his second promise to investors, to develop high-demand games and make the company profitable by 1997.

1997: Activision Seeks Acquisitions of Video Game Development Studios

With several of its own successfully developed games helping to turn a profit, in 1997 Bobby Kotick led Activision to start seeking acquisitions of video game development studios, guided by market surveys to determine what areas of content to focus on.

1998: Battlezone Release

1998 saw the release of Battlezone, which used the Mechwarrior 2 engine.

June 16, 2000: Activision Reorganizes as Holding Company

On June 16, 2000, Activision reorganized as a holding company, Activision Holdings, to manage Activision and its subsidiaries more effectively.

2001: Activision Acquisitions

Between 1997 and 2008, Activision made 25 acquisitions, several prior to 2001.

2003: Game Developers Choice "First Penguin" Award

In 2003, the company was awarded the Game Developers Choice "First Penguin" award in recognition of its place as the first third-party developer.

2006: Kotick Seeks Massively Multiplayer Online Market Title

Around 2006, Bobby Kotick contacted Jean-Bernard Lévy, the new CEO of Vivendi, a French media conglomerate, to gain access to World of Warcraft game.

2006: Kotick Contacts Vivendi CEO

Around 2006, Bobby Kotick contacted Jean-Bernard Lévy, the new CEO of Vivendi, about a possible merger.

December 2007: Activision's Board Signs Merger

In December 2007, Activision's board signed on to the merger with Vivendi Games.

2007: Activision Buys RedOctane

During 2006–2007, some of Activision's former successful properties began to wane, such as Tony Hawk's, so Activision bought RedOctane, the publisher of the Guitar Hero franchise.

July 2008: Activision and Vivendi Games Merge

In July 2008, Activision and Vivendi Games completed their merger, forming Activision Blizzard. The new company was headed by Bobby Kotick.

2008: Activision Acquisitions

Between 1997 and 2008, Activision made 25 acquisitions, several prior to 2001.

2008: Activision merges with Vivendi Games

In 2008, Activision merged with Vivendi Games, parent company of Blizzard Entertainment, to form Activision Blizzard. Bobby Kotick became the CEO, and Activision continued to manage third-party studios and publish games except for those by Blizzard.

November 2009: Sledgehammer Games Established

In November 2009, Activision Publishing established Sledgehammer Games, formed earlier in 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey.

February 2010: Activision Publishing Reports Losses and Shuts Down Studios

In February 2010, Activision Blizzard reported significant losses in revenue stemming from a slow down in Guitar Hero sales and from its more casual games. Subsequently, Activision Publishing shuttered Red Octane, Luxoflux and Underground Development as well as laid off about 25% of the staff at Neversoft.

November 2010: Budcat Creations Shuttered

Activision shuttered Budcat Creations in November 2010.

2010: Eric Hirshberg Appointed CEO of Activision Publishing

In 2010, Eric Hirshberg was announced as Activision Publishing's CEO.

2010: Sledgehammer Assists on Modern Warfare 3

In early 2010, legal issues between Infinity Ward and Activision Blizzard led to several members of Infinity Ward leaving, and Activision assigned Sledgehammer to assist Infinity Ward in the next major Call of Duty title, Modern Warfare 3.

February 2011: Bizarre Creations Shuttered

Activision shuttered Bizarre Creations in February 2011.

2016: Activision is top US publisher

In 2016, Activision was the top United States video game publisher.

March 2018: Eric Hirshberg Steps Down as CEO

In March 2018, Eric Hirshberg left the CEO position.

2020: Call of Duty: Warzone Release

In 2020, Activision put more focus on the Call of Duty franchise, including the release of the free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone.

April 2021: All Internal Studios Assigned to Call of Duty

By April 2021, Activision had assigned all of its internal studios to work on some part of the Call of Duty franchise.

August 2021: Activision Mobile Studio Created

In August 2021, Activision created a new studio, Activision Mobile, devoted to the Call of Duty Mobile title.

September 2021: Activision Subleases Smaller Office Space

In September 2021, Activision and its parent Activision Blizzard subleased a much smaller office space in Santa Monica at the Pen Factory, a former Paper Mate factory.

October 2023: Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard

In October 2023, Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard but maintained that the company would operate as a separate business within the Microsoft Gaming division, with Activision continuing to publish games developed by its studios.

October 2023: Activision Blizzard Acquired by Microsoft

In October 2023, with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, Activision Blizzard as a whole, including the Activision Publishing subdivision, became a separate division under the Microsoft Gaming arm of Microsoft.

March 8, 2024: Activision QA Workers Unionize

On March 8, 2024, 600 Activision QA workers in Texas, Minnesota and California unionized under the Communication Workers of America (CWA), marking it as the largest union in the United States video game industry.

May 16, 2024: Activision Announces New Studio: Elsewhere Entertainment

On May 16, 2024, Activision announced the establishment of Warsaw-based studio Elsewhere Entertainment, assembled for the development of a new narrative-based AAA IP not associated with other Activision series like Call of Duty.

July 2024: SAG-AFTRA Initiates Labor Strike Against Activision

In July 2024, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) actor labor union initiated a labor strike against a number of video publishers, including Activision, over concerns about lack of AI protections which concern not only video game actors, but also the use of AI to replicate an actor's voice, or create a digital replica of their likeness.