Like a storied Hollywood romance, the landmark merger of Activision and Vivendi Universal first took us by surprise; then garnered approval over time; and finally comes to fruition today as Activision's shareholders have approved the buy-out, with a whopping 92% voting in favor of the deal. When you consider EA, their biggest rival, is reporting losses and both Activision and Vivendi Universal riding high on the backs of Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft respectively, this deal will have as much resonance on the stock market as it does within the game industry proper.We've heard many a detail on the stormy courtship between the two publishers, with hints at who sought out who and to what ends for some time now. Even as much as we've written about it, this whole affair has had a sense of unreality since the beginning, and it's bizarre to think that the deal is finally complete. This blogger, for one, welcomes our new Activision-Blizzard overlords.
