vivendi to acquire activision

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SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 2 — Vivendi said Sunday that it planned to acquire a controlling stake in Activision in a deal that creates a rival to Electronic Arts as the world’s largest independent video game publisher.

The deal combines Activision and Vivendi Games, companies with different areas of strength in the booming video game business. Activision’s emphasis is on making games for consoles, like the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360. Its game franchises include the Tony Hawk skateboarding games, the Call of Duty war game series and one of the industry’s current best sellers, Guitar Hero, which allows players to strum along on a plastic guitar to tunes played on television.

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