Editing Sierra Entertainment (section)

=== Closure and sale of properties (2008–2009) ===
In 2008, Sierra Entertainment's parent company Vivendi Games merged with video game publisher [[Activision]] to form [[Activision Blizzard]]. Vivendi Games was absorbed into Activision after the merger and the ownership of Sierra properties went to Activision. Later that year, Sierra was closed down for possible future sale. Leading up to the merger, Activision's management was confident that Sierra would cease operations post-merger.<ref name="arst" />

On July 29, 2008, Activision announced a long-term strategy for its library of Sierra games and announced that they would only publish five titles: ''[[Crash: Mind Over Mutant]]'', ''[[The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon]]'', ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'', and ''[[Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (video game)|Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs]]'', and an unannounced new property. The rest of the properties, including the Sierra Online division, were deemed by the company to be "non-strategic" with its then-current business practices.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/07/29/activision-drops-several-vivendi-games |title=Activision Drops Several Vivendi Games |first=Narayan |last=Pattison |date=July 29, 2008 |website=ign.com}}</ref> A selection of earlier sales and reversions followed:
* July 30, 2008 - The video game rights to the [[Robert Ludlum]]/''[[Bourne (franchise)|Bourne]]'' franchise reverted back to Robert Ludlum's estate through their Ludlum Entertainment subsidiary. Ludlum subsequently licensed these rights to [[Electronic Arts]] in February 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bourne game rights forget Vivendi, return to Ludlum Entertainment|url=https://www.engadget.com/2008-07-30-bourne-game-rights-forget-vivendi-return-to-ludlum-entertainmen.html|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Engadget|date=July 30, 2008 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ludlum Entertainment Grants EA the Exclusive Video Game License for the Works of Robert Ludlum|url=https://ir.ea.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2009/Ludlum-Entertainment-Grants-EA-the-Exclusive-Video-Game-License-for-the-Works-of-Robert-Ludlum/default.aspx|access-date=2022-01-05|website=ir.ea.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
* August 6, 2008 - Activision announced they have put [[Massive Entertainment]] up for sale, citing their disinterest in owning a European strategy developer, and that they were likely to sell ''[[World in Conflict]]'' and its dropped expansion pack ''[[World in Conflict: Soviet Assault|Soviet Assault]]'' separately.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/896/896876p1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813051304/http://pc.ign.com/articles/896/896876p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 13, 2008 |title=Massive Sell Off |date=2008-08-06 |author=Jason Ocampo |publisher=IGN }}</ref> [[Swordfish Studios]] was also put up for sale.
* August 13, 2008 - The video game licensing rights to ''[[Scarface (1983 film)|Scarface]]'', including a planned sequel to ''[[Scarface: The World is Yours]]'', reverted back to [[Universal Pictures]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Universal gets back Scarface 2 rights without a fight|url=https://www.engadget.com/2008-08-13-universal-gets-back-scarface-2-rights-without-a-fight.html|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Engadget|date=August 14, 2008 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* September 8, 2008 - [[Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]] acquired the ''[[F.E.A.R.]]'' trademark as well as the original title, consisting of the [[F.E.A.R. (video game)|base game]] and its outsourced expansion packs ''[[F.E.A.R. Extraction Point|Extraction Point]]'' and ''[[F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate|Perseus Mandate]]''. The purchase of the trademark allowed [[Monolith Productions]], who developed the original game, to rename its upcoming sequel ''[[F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin|Project Origin]]'' as ''F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/09/08/project-origin-is-now-fear-2 | title=''Project Origin'' is Now ''F.E.A.R. 2'' | last=Ocampo | first=Jason | date=September 8, 2008 | website=[[IGN]] | access-date=August 17, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817014933/https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/09/08/project-origin-is-now-fear-2 | archive-date=August 17, 2021 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efKPDngDaSQ| title=''F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin'' Interview | date= September 8, 2008 | via=[[YouTube]] | access-date=March 2, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302040605/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efKPDngDaSQ | archive-date=March 2, 2022 | url-status=live}}</ref>
* October 8, 2008 - Activision announced the closure of the online servers of several older Sierra games on November 1.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/sierra-closing-21-game-servers |title=Sierra closing 21 game servers |first=Robert |last=Purchese |date=October 8, 2008 |website=eurogamer.net}}</ref> The Sierra Online division was also closed within that period despite the fact that two more games would be published under that name in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/exactly-how-many-studios-has-activision-closed-generation-exactly-many/ |title=Exactly how many studios has Activision actually closed this generation? THIS many |first=David |last=Houghton |website=gamesradar|date=July 5, 2012 }}</ref>
* October 13, 2008 - [[THQ]] picked up the rights to ''[[50 Cent: Blood on the Sand]]''.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.eurogamer.net/thq-picks-up-50-cent-blood-on-the-sand | title=THQ picks up 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand | newspaper=Eurogamer.net | date=October 13, 2008 }}</ref>
* October 30, 2008 - [[Atari SA|Infogrames]], the parent company of [[Atari, Inc. (1993-present)|Atari]], purchased publishing rights to ''[[Ghostbusters: The Video Game]]'' and ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena]]'', and secured licensing rights from Sony and Universal respectively for future titles using both licenses.<ref name="kotaku-atari">{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/ghostbusters-gets-publisher-release-window-5070757|title=Atari Picks Up Riddick |date=October 31, 2008|publisher=Kotaku|access-date=October 31, 2008}}</ref>
* November 11, 2008 - [[Ubisoft]] purchased [[Massive Entertainment]], in addition to purchasing the rights to ''[[World in Conflict]]'' .<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.eurogamer.net/ubisoft-snaps-up-world-in-conflict | title=Ubisoft snaps up World in Conflict | newspaper=Eurogamer.net | date=November 11, 2008 }}</ref>
* November 12, 2008 - Monumental Games purchased Swordfish Studios' Manchester development studio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/monumental-acquires-swordfish-manchester|title = Monumental acquires Swordfish Manchester| date=November 12, 2008 }}</ref>
* November 15, 2008 - [[Codemasters]] purchased Swordfish Studios' remaining studio in Birmingham.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/codemasters-acquires-swordfish-studios |title=Codemasters Acquires Swordfish Studios<!-- Bot generated title --> |date=November 14, 2008 |access-date=2014-07-06 |archive-date=2014-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714173407/http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/codemasters-acquires-swordfish-studios |url-status=live }}</ref>
* December 12, 2008 - [[Electronic Arts]] purchased publishing rights to ''[[Brütal Legend]]''.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.eurogamer.net/ea-to-publish-brutal-legend-in-2009 | title=EA to publish Brutal Legend in 2009 | newspaper=Eurogamer.net | date=December 12, 2008 }}</ref>
* February 2009 - [[Codemasters]] purchased the ''[[Leisure Suit Larry]]'' IP and the publishing rights to ''[[Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/leisure-suit-larry-loungin-with-codemasters/1100-6205151/ | title=Leisure Suit Larry loungin' with Codemasters }}</ref>
* April 27, 2009 - [[Bethesda Softworks]] purchased the publishing rights to ''[[WET (video game)|WET]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.videogamer.com/news/bethesda-confirmed-as-wet-publisher/ | title=Bethesda confirmed as WET publisher | date=April 27, 2009 }}</ref>
* July 14, 2009 - [[Rebellion Developments]] acquired several Sierra titles - ''[[Evil Genius (video game)|Evil Genius]]'', ''[[Ground Control (video game)|Ground Control]]'', ''[[Empire Earth]]'', ''[[Lords of Magic]]'' and ''[[Lords of the Realm]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/pc/rebellion-acquires-vivendi-licenses-considers-new-franchise-titles|title=Rebellion Acquires Vivendi Licenses, Considers New Franchise Titles|date=July 14, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Rebellion acquires Vivendi properties, details future plans|url=https://www.engadget.com/2009-07-14-rebellion-acquires-vivendi-properties-details-future-plans.html|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Engadget|date=July 14, 2009 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* October 1, 2009 - [[Jeff Tunnell]] acquired ''[[The Incredible Machine]]'' through his company PushButton Labs.<ref name="Shacknews 2009-10-01">{{cite news|last=Breckon|first=Nick|date=1 October 2009|title=PushButton Labs Acquires The Incredible Machine IP, Pushes Series onto GOG|url=https://www.shacknews.com/article/60702/pushbutton-labs-acquires-the-incredible|newspaper=[[Shacknews]]|access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref>