A few years back, Valve sued Sierra/Vivendi in a copyright infringement case where it claimed that Valve was the only authorized party to license its games to cybercafes. In 2005, the two parties finally settled, and Sierra/Vivendi was ordered to pay $2,391,932, a debt Activision inherited with the merger, but which it now contests is too much, hence Valve's new lawsuit for not paying the court-ordered amount in full.

Last night the UK video games industry gathered at The Brewery, London for the seventh annual Industry Excellence Awards. Nintendo scoops four MCV Awards, Little Big Planet honored, while Fallout 3 bags sales triumph, and Activision Blizzard awarded best publisher.

Activision strongly denies the allegations made by Genius Products and believes that the claims are disingenuous and lack any merit. Yesterday, the L.A. Superior Court found that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing and refused to grant any restraining order against Activision.

Due to the better-than-expected performance of its titles at retail, Activision announced that its March quarter revenues ($860 million) are tracking ahead of its prior outlook ($550 million), driven by Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft.

Scratch DJ Game has filed legal action against Activision and 7 Studios and its CEO Lewis Peterson, alleging that Activision has engaged in intentional interference with contract, breach of contract, conversion and misappropriation of trade secrets obtained from Genius to purchase 7 Studios, developer of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ.

There has yet to be an official announcement, but it isn't exactly a secret that Infinity Wars is working on Modern Warfare 2. Activision launched a teaser web site, released a teaser trailer, and now brand manager Simon Wells told MCV that it expects MW2 to "to be the biggest selling video game of all time," judging by the "franchise's trajectory through preceding launches."

Last year Gibson, one of the exclusive partners of the Guitar Hero franchise, filed a lawsuit against Activision, EA/MTV Games and various retailers, claiming the game infringed on its 1999 patent for technology simulating a live performance using a musical instrument. Activision countersued, asking the U.S. District Court of California to declare Gibson's patent invalid and to bar it from seeking damages, and last Thursday, the U.S. District Court of Central California did just that.

Activision Blizzard announced the appointment of Thibaud de Saint-Quentin as the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of European Publishing, where he will oversee the company's regional strategy and long-term growth initiatives.

Activision Blizzard's Dec. quarter beat expectations, and while it ran an operating loss of $148 million, its operating income was $644 million, the highest in the company's history, driven by World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty titles. During the investors conf. call, it was revealed that three new IPs would launch in 2009: Prototype, Singularity and an unannounced racer from Bizarre Creations. A new James Bond game is in the works but is getting delayed in order to not compete with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 later this year. in additional to Guitar Hero: Metallica, three more titles in the franchise are planned for 2009: a compilation, a new DS title and a cryptic "major restage." The StarCraft II beta and Wolfenstein are due this summer.

Missing in E3 2008, Activision revealed earlier this week that it is once again an exhibitor at this year's weeklong gaming conference in Los Angeles. However, people looking forward to checking out StarCraft II or Diablo III will be disappointed as Blizzard confirmed it will not be attending the E3 2009, claiming, "our current focus is on the ongoing development of Diablo III, StarCraft II, and World of Warcraft." Seems like BlizzCon is going to be the main event for all things Blizzard this year ....

Activision announced its plans for the New York Comic Con show on Feb. 6-8, 2009. where it will have Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Prototype and X-Men Origins: Wolverine on display, with both hands-on demos and producer-led demonstrations, special trailers featuring never before seen game footage, as well as panel presentations on all three titles, presided by the developers and writers.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today released additional details about the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 Expo), including a preliminary list of exhibitors. Last year's absentees Activision and Atlus are back on the floor...

The existence of DJ Hero isn't exactly a big secret. It has already popped up a few times in the past few months, but a TV interview with Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick on CNBC is the first confirmation from the publisher that it actually exists. Kotick was quoted as saying, "We have this product called DJ Hero coming out later this year, which is a turntable that you actually can play competitively and spin discs and mix songs." Rumor has it that the game will come with a turntable controller.

Whether this is intentional or not, or whether the dates are set or mere projections, Activision Europe has released its upcoming titles release list revealing that Guitar Hero Metallica is scheduled for May, confirming the previously revealed Guitar Hero: Modern Hits for NDS. Indiana Jones: Scepter of Kings seems to be the full title for a new Indie game on NDS, PSP, PS2 and Wii. Other titles listed are Prototype, Monsters vs. Aliens and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, all scheduled for Q2.

Activision is rocking the holiday season with a robust slate of games for the entire family, starting with music-based Guitar Hero World Tour, WWII shooter Call of Duty: World at War, intriguing Quantum of Solace, hilarious Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and super hero powered Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.

Last month THQ filed a lawsuit with the US District Court of Central California against Activision, claiming the SCORE International Baja 1000 box cover was too similar to its own BAJA title released the month before, and now the two companies have settled the case out of court with Activision admitting something was afoot as it has changed the official retail box to something not so identical.

Activision has acquired Iowa based developer Budcat Creations. Known for its Wii and NDS games, Budcat has worked on titles such as GH III: Legends of Rock, GH: Aerosmith, GH: World Tour, and is currently working on a new Guitar Hero product.

Last week THQ filed a lawsuit with the US District Court of Central California against Activision, claiming the upcoming SCORE International Baja 1000 box cover is too similar to its own BAJA title released last month. Both boxes show similar vehicles in almost identical positions, and although THQ contacted Activision to settle things out of court, they refused to make any changes, hence the lawsuit (thanks Patent Arcade).

IGA Worldwide announced a multi-year agreement with Activision to deliver dynamic in-game advertising into multiple video game titles on PS3, starting with integrated ads in Guitar Hero World Tour.

During Activision's Analyst Day conference CEO Mike Griffith confirmed what most of us already knew, while Treyarch is currently finishing up Call of Duty World at War, Infinity Ward is already developing the next installment in the Call of Duty series, which is expected next year. Griffith also revealed that Activision Blizzard plans to triple the amount of Guitar Hero retail titles and downloadable content by 2010, which was already hinted at with the FreeStyleGames acquisition last week. The music royalty debate got a little bit more interesting as Universal Music Group CEO Zach Horowitz stated that it has seen on average a 200-300% retail sales boost of material which is included in the Guitar Hero titles.

Activision has acquired music-based games developer FreeStyleGames, currently developing localized downloadable content for the Guitar Hero franchise, as well as a yet to be announced new, intellectual property in the music genre.

Check out the following new screens & trailers from Activision's GC 2008 lineup:

• 'Call of Duty: World at War' (ALL) - 8 New Screens
• 'Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades' (NDS) - 5 New Screens
• 'Guitar Hero: World Tour' (ALL) - New Screens
• 'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa' (ALL) - Screens
• 'Pitfall: The Big Adventure' (Wii) - Screens
• 'Quantum of Solace' (ALL) - New Screens & Trailers
• 'Rapala Fishing Frenzy' (Wii/PS3/X360) - New Screens
• 'Shrek (TBA)' (ALL) - New Screens
• 'Spider-Man: Web of Shadows' (ALL) - 5 New Screens

Scarface is a 3rd person action game set in a complex world filled with excess and greed, where you take on the role of ruthless gangster Tony Montana. Even though the original sold more than two million copies Activision Blizzard didn't like that license either, so the rights reverted back to Universal, who will most likely shop it around or with its new found "Wanted" developing initiative might keep it in-house.

During Activision's Q1 2009, net revenues increased 32%, and with the newly combined forces, Activision Blizzard's calender year '08 financial outlook already exceeds the '09 targets. During the follow-up conference call, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith revealed next year will see "multiple" new Guitar Hero titles that will broaden the franchise's impact, as well as an all-new Call of Duty using leapfrog studio strategy, meaning it will be developed by Infinity Ward. Also expected are an unannounced racing game from Bizzare Creations, Madagascar 2, the re-invented Tony Hawk, Marvel's Wolverine, Monsters vs. Aliens, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Transformers 2, the previously revealed Singularity, Prototype, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and others.

Activision will broaden its portfolio by adding Vivendi's Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age and Spyro to its lineup, as well as retain two new IPs that are currently in development, Prototype and a second, yet unannounced, game. On the flipside it will realign staffing at Radical Entertainment and High Moon Studios and is exploring options regarding Massive Entertainment and Swordfish Studios, including the possibility of sale or close. Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, Riddick, 50 Cent, World in Conflict, WET are all MIA.