The news was rife with this yesterday, but today all companies involved have released all the official information regarding the merger. You can have a look at the whole release here, but here are some of the more important pieces pulled from it.

Vivendi to Contribute Vivendi Games Valued at $8.1 Billion, Plus $1.7 Billion in Cash in Exchange for Approximately 52% Stake in Activision Blizzard at Closing; Total Transaction Valued at $18.9 Billion Activision Blizzard Will Commence Post-Closing Cash Tender Offer for Up to 146.5 Million of its Shares at $27.50 per Share, Representing 31% Premium for Activision Stockholders Based on 20-Trading Day Average Transaction Will Unlock Value of Blizzard Entertainment's Massively Multiplayer Online Games Business and Will Be Accretive to Stockholders of Activision and Vivendi.

The new company, Activision Blizzard, is expected to have approximately $3.8 billion in pro forma combined calendar 2007 revenues and the highest operating margins of any major third-party video game publisher. On closing of the transaction, Activision will be renamed Activision Blizzard and will continue to operate as a public company traded on NASDAQ under the ticker ATVI.

It's all very big, possibly one of the biggest things to ever happen to our industry which in itself is scary, because up until now, while we certainly know it's business, it's never seemed this full-on, at least for me. Only time will tell if this is ultimate evil at work though.