Vivendi Universal

Vivendi Universal at a Glance

Vivendi Universal was a French media company founded in early 2001 through the merger of the Vivendi empire with Canal+ and the acquisition of assets from Seagram Company Ltd, which owned Universal Studios. The company expanded quickly by buying MP3.com and Houghton Mifflin to fund its operations. Its video game division operated from 2000 to 2006 before merging with Activision in a deal that closed in July 2008. During this short active period, the publisher released 18 games on PlayPile, acting as the publisher for all 18 titles while developing only one game directly. The vast majority of their catalog appeared on PC, with 14 releases for Microsoft Windows. They also reached players on Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and PlayStation 2, along with smaller numbers of ports for Mac, Linux, and older handheld systems like the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color. The company focused heavily on the shooter genre, releasing five titles in this category, followed by four adventure games and several strategy and simulator projects. Their output was concentrated entirely in the 2000s decade with 15 games released during that time. Quality varied across their portfolio. They had six rated titles with an average score of 74.8 out of 100. One game achieved great status with a score above 80, while five others fell into the good range between 60 and 79. There were no mixed or poor rated games in the sample data. SWAT 4 stands out as their highest-rated release from 2005 with a score of 85.6. Other notable titles include Metal Arms: Glitch in the System from 2003, which scored 77.3, and Counter-Strike from 2000 at 76.6. Empire Earth II received a 72.3 rating in 2005, and Bomberman Generation scored 69.9 in 2002. The catalog also included licensed properties like Barbie: The Princess and the Pauper released in late 2004 alongside its counterpart Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper. Their final releases included DMZ: North Korea in December 2006. Vivendi Universal built a solid presence in the market before becoming part of Activision Blizzard, but their individual run was brief compared to other major industry players. They managed to produce a consistent stream of content across multiple platforms and genres without releasing any titles that scored poorly on rating services.

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