Activision, Inc.

Activision, Inc. is a worldwide developer, publisher, and distributor of interactive entertainment software for personal computers and console game systems. The first true third-party developer, Activision was formed in 1979 by a number of programmers who had previously worked for Atari, designing games for the VCS. After crafting dozens of popular, independent releases for that system, such as Pitfall!, Kaboom!, and River Raid, Activision went on to produce games for essentially every platform to hit the market since.

In 1987, Activision purchased Infocom, strengthening its influence in the realm of PC gaming. Throughout the 1990s, new Activision offices were opened in Australia, the UK, Germany, France. The company acquired exclusive rights to games by a number of international design studios, as well as successful value software designers and publishers such as Elsinore Multimedia, Head Game Publishing, and Expert Software. Like several other large publishers, Activision has expanded to a number of divisions, to support the diverging interests and equipment of the growing number of gamers.

Purchasing exclusive rights to many franchise characters, Activision gained access to publishing rights for products from Marvel Comics, and films such as Madagascar and Shrek 2. Any product developed by Activision will endure a six step procedure called the "Greenlight Process" in which the creation is reviewed in six stages by leading operation managers.