ACTIVISION BLIZZARD: Bring em on, says bullish EA

Electronic Arts has fired out a warning shot to new publishing goliath Activision Blizzard – warn the Vivendi-owned giant that it will not give up its dominance of the market without a fight.

Vivendi and Activision announced its new ‘merger’ on Sunday, which sees the French publisher take 52 per cent control of its former rival – which

could increase to 68 per cent over the coming months

.

But defiant EA UK boss Keith Ramsdale said that, if anything, the new competition could spur the mega-publisher onto greater success than ever before.

He told MCV: "We wish them good luck and look forward to the competition. We believe that EA still has the industry’s strongest portfolio of game franchises."

"We’re always at our best when we have a clearly defined competitor."