Videogame Maker Activision Ventures Into TV and Movies

By Joe Flint and Sarah E. Needleman

Activision Blizzard Inc. wants to turn its popular videogame franchises including "Call of Duty" into movies and television shows.

The company on Friday said it is creating a film and television unit to exploit its vast library of intellectual property. Nick van Dyk, a former senior strategist at Walt Disney Co., has been tapped as co-president of Activision Blizzard Studios along with a soon-to-be-named creative executive.

"Our engaged fans can now watch the games they love come to life across film and television," Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said in an interview.

Activision's intellectual property -- which ranges from modern-day blockbusters such as "Destiny" to 1980s classics such as "Kaboom!" -- has been highly sought after by Hollywood studios for years but the company always resisted overtures.

"What we needed to do was feel like we could deliver content that would be enhancing to the franchises and exceptional to the players and the only way we could do that was by ourselves," Mr. Kotick said.

The company will work with traditional studios for theatrical distribution of its films. However, Mr. Kotick also hinted that Activision won't be beholden to the big screen or the small screen in terms of platforms for its programming.

"We have the flexibility to decide what's the best way for the audience to consume that content," he said. That could include offering content online in an "over-the-top" streaming-video service similar to World Wrestling Entertainment's network. "We will look at it on a case-by-case basis," Mr. Kotick said.

Activision said it is planning on "Call of Duty" becoming a movie and possibly a TV franchise. The company's first production is a TV version of its popular children's "toys-to-life" franchise "Skylanders," which in May the company said had raked in more than $3 billion in global revenue since it launched in 2011. Activision said it is hiring script writers, editors, directors and other production talent and that it will have full creative control over the content its new studio develops.

The PC game "World of Warcraft" is already being made into a movie by Legendary Entertainment through a deal Blizzard made prior to Activision acquiring it in 2008.

The launch of a TV and movie studio is the latest in a flurry of activity for Activision. Earlier this week, the company struck a deal to acquire King Digital Entertainment PLC for $5.9 billion , a move aimed at transforming Activision into a leader in the cutthroat and fast-growing mobile games market. King is the maker of the smash hit app "Candy Crush Saga," one of the world's most successful mobile games.

Also, last month Activision Blizzard said it is creating a new division dedicated to competitive videogames, or so-called e-sports. Steve Bornstein, a former head of Disney's ESPN who until last year was the top media executive at the NFL, will be chairman.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com and Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 06, 2015 13:23 ET (18:23 GMT)

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