Activision Takes on a Mega-Merger

Activision will try to retain Blizzard's current structure as much as it can even as it tries to maximize the synergies between the two companies, says Tippl.

"We do have overlap in areas such as the back office and our sales force," he said. "We want to serve our customers with one sales force, not two, and we want to leverage our synergies when it comes to media costs."

What Activision will not do is consolidate the games development studios of the two companies, says Tippl. That's because Activision wants to retain the creative teams at both companies and continue to let them do their best.

Many an acquisition in the video games business has failed because of the lack of compatibility between creative teams of two companies or changes to the studio structure, leading to the departure of key game developers.

Vivendi Games and Blizzard should help Activision expand its franchises in Korea and China, two of the biggest international markets for video games, Bobby Kotick, chairman & CEO of Activision told analysts on a conference call Thursday.

"Giving the growth Activision and Blizzard are experiencing, this is a merger not driven as much by growth synergies as it is by a complementary portfolio," said Tippl.

And Activision's portfolio looks strong. Its first release of the fiscal year will be the game Quake Wars Enemy Territory for Microsoft'sMSFT Xbox 360 and Sony'sSNE PlayStation 3 console later this month.