In the biggest merger to face gaming history, blockbuster publishers Activision and Vivendi have combined forces into the new “Activision Blizzard”.

Activision, previously a serious contender for the world’s biggest game publisher hold titles such as the Tony Hawk series, Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and many big franchises such as Marvel (Spider-Man, X-Men) games, and James Bond games.

Vivendi SA, a French media corporation not only channel their mega-successful Vivendi Games publishing but host a variety of media outlets throughout the globe. Just in gaming, Vivendi hold the somewhat-popular developers Blizzard Entertainment close to heart. You know, those guys who make World Of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo. Don’t forget Sierra either, who bring us lovely work such as Tim Schafer’s Psychonauts.

With the previously mentioned titles and so much more all now under the one gaming roof, there’s no question that the newly formed Activision Blizzard are the biggest gaming name in the world and hold the mere concept of game publishing in their hands.

What we really have to look forward to here is what each corporation can do for one another. Guitar Hero now has Universal Music Group as a good friend, the world’s largest family of recording labels out there.

While Vivendi’s shareholdings of the new conglomerate are at 52%, Bobby Kotick the current CEO of Activision will be stepping up into the executive position for Acitivsion Blizzard, manning a deal reportedly worth $18.9 billion USD.