Two giants from the video game industry, Activision and Vivendi, have merged to form a new company called 'Activision Blizzard', which is claimed to be the world's largest pure-play online, and console game publisher.

Blizzard is one of the biggest players in massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs), especially with its World of Warcraft (WoW) franchise. Activision is best known for its Call of Duty (CoD), Guitar Hero, and other franchises.

The Activision-Vivendi tie promises to bring together some of Activision's best-selling video games, including the Tony Hawk series, Spider-Man, CoD, and Guitar Hero; Vivendi's portfolio, including Crash Bandicoot and Spyro; and Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft, Diablo, and WoW.

Jean-Bernard Levy, chairman of the management board, and chief executive officer of Vivendi said that by combining Vivendi's games business with Activision, they are creating a worldwide leader in a high-growth industry.

Meanwhile, Robert Kotick, chairman of Activision, said that by combining mass market entertainment and subscription-based online games, 'Activision Blizzard' will be the only publisher with leading market position across all categories.