↔️ ATVI — Company Profile (Educational · Historical Ticker)¶
Educational site, not investment advice. Market cap / stock price / quarterly financials are volatile — not written here. Links to SEC + Yahoo Finance instead; verify real-time data yourself.
⚠️ Historical ticker, NOT TRADEABLE — Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft on 2023-10-13 in a $69B all-cash deal, delisted from NASDAQ on 2023/10/13. Gaming business now part of MSFT Microsoft Gaming (Asha Sharma succeeded as EVP & CEO 2026/02/20; Phil Spencer retired). This profile is retained for historical reference. Source: SEC 8-K final delisting + MSFT acquisition close announcement.
📌 Basics (pre-delisting snapshot, historical)¶
| Dimension | Content | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Core business (pre-delisting) | AAA game publishing (Call of Duty / Diablo / WoW / Overwatch / Candy Crush) + 3 subsidiary studios (Activision + Blizzard + King) | Historical 10-K (2022) |
| Founded / HQ | 1979 (Activision); merged with Vivendi Games 2008 → ATVI / Santa Monica, California, USA | wiki |
| Acquirer / post-delisting | MSFT $68.7B all-cash, announced 2022/01/18, closed 2023/10/13 (multi-year FTC + EU + UK CMA regulatory review) |
MSFT 8-K |
| Listing status | Delisted (old NASDAQ: ATVI), now MSFT subsidiary | — |
| Fiscal year (historical) | Calendar year | — |
💡 Post-delisting ATVI no longer files standalone reports; results consolidated into MSFT More Personal Computing segment (Gaming sub-line). Look up MSFT financials for real-time data.
🏭 Industry Chain Coordinates (Historical snapshot + post-MSFT integration)¶
Upstream (Historical)¶
| Supplier | What flows | Key dependency |
|---|---|---|
| 3 own studios (Activision + Blizzard + King) | Internal game IP production | Internal |
| Studios / VFX outsourcing + voice / actor unions | Game production labor | Multi-supplier |
| Cloud (historically AWS + Azure mix; post-MSFT expected all-Azure) | Cloud multiplayer + data | Internal post-acquisition |
Downstream (Historical)¶
| Customer | Relationship | Customer concentration |
|---|---|---|
| Global gamers (Call of Duty global MAU scale + Candy Crush mobile key cash flow) | B2C games + DLC + skins + season pass | Extremely fragmented |
Platforms (SONY PlayStation + MSFT Xbox + NTDOY Switch + PC Steam / Battle.net) |
B2B platform revenue share | Multi-platform; post-MSFT acquisition, Call of Duty multi-platform commitment (10-yr PlayStation availability guarantee) |
Competitors (Historical)¶
- AAA game publishing:
EA(Madden / FIFA / Apex Legends) ·TTWO(Take-Two, GTA / NBA 2K / Red Dead) ·UBSFY(Ubisoft, Assassin's Creed) ·EPIC(Fortnite, private) - MMO / WoW-type:
NTDOY·TCEHYTencent (incl. China WoW domestic license) - Mobile (King: Candy Crush):
Supercell(Tencent-owned, private) ·Zynga(acquired by Take-Two) - Game Pass-type subscriptions:
SONYPlayStation Plus ·NTDOYSwitch Online ·Apple Arcade(AAPL)
💼 Business Model + Value Capture (Historical + inference)¶
- Revenue mix (pre-delisting): Game publishing + DLC (Call of Duty largest share) + Mobile (King: Candy Crush etc.) + subscription (WoW)
- Gross margin (pre-delisting): 60%+ — AAA games + DLC + mobile all high-margin
- Pricing power: Call of Duty / Blizzard IP long-standing pricing power ($60-70/copy + DLC + season pass)
- Post-MSFT acquisition: All IP into Game Pass subscription + some Xbox / PC exclusivity, Call of Duty remains multi-platform (regulatory commitment 10-yr)
🏰 Moat Assessment (Part 3-C2 Buffett 5-step lens, historical)¶
| Type | Strength (0-1) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | 0.9 | Call of Duty / WoW / Diablo / Overwatch / Candy Crush all top-tier global IP |
| Switching cost | 0.6 | Player friends + progress saves + IP immersion lock-in |
| Network effects | 0.7 | MMO (WoW + Overwatch) + Mobile (Candy Crush) player network effects |
| Scale + cost | 0.8 | Global distribution scale amortization, post-MSFT acquisition Azure + Xbox synergy further strengthens |
Composite (Historical): 3.0 / 4 → IP + player lock-in moat extreme; post-delisting integrated into MSFT, educational lens shifts to MSFT Gaming segment monitoring
⚠️ Key Reverse Trigger Conditions (Post-delisting shift to MSFT Gaming monitoring)¶
- Trigger 1 (MSFT Gaming segment): Call of Duty annual release sales YoY decline
- Trigger 2 (MSFT): Game Pass subscription net adds slowing (Game Pass is core MSFT-ATVI integration thesis)
- Trigger 3 (regulatory): Regulatory commitments (e.g., Call of Duty 10-yr multi-platform) execution issues — FTC / EU / UK CMA secondary review
- Trigger 4 (event): Key IP decline (e.g., WoW expansion failure)
- Trigger 5 (strategic): MSFT Gaming spin-off / sale (low probability, regulatory angle possible)
🔗 Cross-Chapter Teaching Links¶
- Part 1-C6 · 5 Roles in Industry Chain — Downstream D.5 application + gaming (historical)
- Part 1-C7 · Value Capture — IP + subscription integration thesis case
- MSFT Company Profile — Where ATVI business now resides
- Patterns Investing Laws — #14 large M&A integration cycle
📚 SEC Primary Public Filings (Historical, only through 2023/10/13)¶
- SEC EDGAR ATVI historical filings (1992 IPO – 2023/10 delisted) — historical 10-K + 8-K + DEF 14A + delisting docs
- ATVI final 10-K (FY22, last pre-delisting) — pre-delisting financial snapshot
- MSFT acquisition close 8-K (2023/10/13) — official acquisition announcement
Real-time stock price: ATVI no longer trades; now part of MSFT — see MSFT.en.md
Educational — historical ticker, NOT TRADEABLE · data snapshotted as published · for current ATVI business track MSFT financials Gaming segment