1{2 "document_id": "lb_hotpotqa_e5e18488f0e900206332a857f70da66dc59829937c913ff0",3 "family": "public_hotpotqa",4 "split": "test",5 "text": "Passage 1:\nYameen\nYameen is an American hip hop producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. His most recent album, \"Diamond is Unfadable\" was released in 2017 on Rumble Pack Records.\n\nLight of Love / Sound of Fire\nIn 2010, Yameen released an anime music video for his single, “Light of Love” featuring singer, Lady Alma. The video was a production of Daisuke Nakayama's Realthing studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo and directed by Jamie Vickers (Studio 4°C, Madhouse).“Light of Love” was a vertical slice of an intended full-featured television pilot called “The Sound of Fire,” consisting of characters such as the titular Yameen, Meca, Ichi-go and more featured in the video.\nThe video ends with the cast of characters sitting atop the iconic Hieroglyphics music group 3-eyed logo, a clear nod to Yameen's history as \"StinkE\" with the group.\n\nSupremeEx\nThe recording alias \"SupremeEx\" is generally reserved for collaborative concept albums between Yameen and Tajai of Souls of Mischief / Hieroglyphics.In 1998, SupremeEx released the instrumental-only affair, Destructor on retail cassette which originally caught the ear of Tajai and also lead to collaborations with Bobbito's Footworks, Electronic Arts / EA Sports and Eckō Unltd. clothing, among others. SupremeEx & Tajai began recording what would become their first project together, Projecto: 2501 that same year.In 1999, SupremeEx and Tajai released Projecto: 2501 as the first album on Tajai's fledgling Hieroglyphics Imperium sub-imprint, Clear Label Records. The critically acclaimed EP - applauded for its imaginative use of story telling elements such as included trading cards, Enhanced CD and web-delivered content - featured guest artists Shing02, Low Budget (Hollertronix), Jay Biz (Hieroglyphics), DJ Nozawa & Major Terror. Additional content was also included on the Enhanced CD including a bonus MP3, computer wallpaper, videos in the studio recording \"Projecto\" and more.In 2005, Rumble Pack Records released an all-new full-length album from SupremeEx & Tajai entitled, Nuntype. Again, building on the story-telling aspects the duo established on, \"Projecto\" Nuntype is an album about Chaos, Prophecy and Change with Tajai as a deity who wields the power of Creation. Guest artist included R&B crooner, Goapele on the album's single, \"Meaning\".Although never established as an official labelmate, nor indicative of the classic \"Hiero sound\", Yameen's roots as Stinke — the creator and curator of Hieroglyphics.com between 1995 and 2001 — offer him a curious niche in helping broaden the Hiero discography.\n\nStinkE (Web Developer)\nYameen, under his nom de web \"StinkE,\" designed and coded many popular hiphop websites and was featured as one of URB magazine's \"Next 100\" people to watch in April 2001. His work with the music group Hieroglpyhics proved particularly ground-breaking.In 1995 when the individual group members of Hieroglyphics were each released from their respective major record labels, Yameen's fansite caught the attention of Souls of Mischief member Tajai who made the website the official online destination of Hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics.com was one of the first websites from any music artist and was featured heavily in popular media of the time. Yameen as the site's webmaster engaged directly with the group's fanbase, fostering a vibrant and active online community at a time when most people did not have access to personal computers or the internet. This community-driven aspect is what allowed the Hieroglyphics to continue to flourish as independent artists without the need of a major label.In 2013, Oakland, California mayor Jean Quan recognized the efforts of Yameen and Hieroglyphics.com as \"a pioneering entity in technology and innovation and shining example of a local, homegrown business with worldwide appeal and recognition\" while officially establishing September 3 as \"Hiero Day\" in the city of Oakland, CA.Yameen also coded websites for artists such as Aesop Rock, The Giant Peach, Murs, Mr. Len & more.\n\nDiscography\nSolo albums\nNever Knows Best (2008)\nNever Knows More (2009)\nNever Knows Encore (2010)\nCome On & Go Off (2014)\n\nSupremeEx albums\nDestructor (1998)\nProjecto: 2501 (2000)\nNuntype (2005)\nNuntype: The Instrumentals (2006)\n\nOther appearances\nMarch Madness 2000 (Videogame) (1999)\nSome of the Coolest Rappers...Ecko Clothing Compilation (2000)\nSleeping Giant, mixtape by Tajai (2003)\nPre-emptive Hype 3.5 HipHopSite\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Artist Website\nYameen Discogs\nSupremeEx Artist Website\nNuntype Website\nProjecto: 2501 Website\nHieroglyphics Website\nSupremeEx Discogs\nInterview\nPassage 2:\nRight Back at It Again\n\"Right Back at It Again\" is the second track and the first single from A Day to Remember's fifth album, Common Courtesy (2013). In October 20, 2015, the song was featured in Activision rhythm-music game, Guitar Hero Live.\n\nMusic and lyrics\nVocalist, Jeremy McKinnon wrote the lyrics, while the music was written by McKinnon, former guitarist Tom Denney, guitarist Neil Westfall and producer Andrew Wade. \"Right Back at It Again\" almost wasn't included on the album as it was one of the excess songs the band had recorded, \"we realised that it sounded great, so on it went.\"\n\nRelease and reception\n\"Right Back at It Again\" was announced on October 7, 2013 to be broadcast as part of BBC Radio 1's Rock Show the following midnight, with the band calling the song their \"brand new single\". The song impacted radio on November 11. \"Right Back at It Again\" charted at number 33 on the Alternative Songs chart, and at number 40 on the Modern Rock chart in the U.S. McKinnon, Westfall and guitarist Kevin Skaff performed a surprise acoustic show for Warped Tour 2013 UK on November 17, and another acoustic set, this time at Banquet Records the following day, both in London; band played \"Right Back at It Again\" on both occasions.Tamsyn Wilce for Alter the Press! noted that the way \"Right Back at it Again\" follows on from opening track \"City of Ocala\" \"continues the catchy hardcore beats\" that is present in all of the band's albums. Rock Sound's Andy Ritchie called the song \"unmistakably the 'All I Want' of 'Common Courtesy'\". A music video for the song was released on 19 December 2013.\nThe music video was nominated for Best Video at the Kerrang! Awards.\n\nTrack listing\nPromotional CD\"Right Back at It Again\" (alternative edit)\n\"Right Back at It Again\" (active rock edit)\n\nPersonnel\nPersonnel per digital booklet.\n\nChart positions\nPassage 3:\nForm 8-K\nForm 8-K is a very broad form used to notify investors in United States public companies of specified events that may be important to shareholders or the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. This is one of the most common types of forms filed with the SEC. After a significant event like bankruptcy or departure of a CEO, a public company generally must file a Current Report on Form 8-K within four business days to provide an update to previously filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and/or Annual Reports on Form 10-K. Form 8-K is required to be filed by public companies with the SEC pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.\n\nWhen Form 8-K is required\nForm 8-K is used to notify investors of a current event. These types of events include:\n\nsigning, amending or terminating material definitive agreements not made in the ordinary course of business, bankruptcies or receiverships\nmine shutdowns or violations of mine health and safety laws\nconsummation of a material asset acquisition or sale\nresults of operations and financial condition, creating certain financial obligations, such as incurrence of material debt\ntriggering events that accelerate material obligations (such as defaults on a loan)\ncosts associated with exit or disposal plans (layoffs, shutting down a plant, or material change in services or outlets)\nmaterial impairments\ndelisting from a securities exchange or failing to satisfy listing requirements\nunregistered equity sales (private placements)\nmodifications to shareholder rights\nchange in accountants\ndeterminations that previously issued financial statements cannot be relied upon\nchange in control\nsenior officer appointments and departures\ndirector elections and departures\namendments to certificate/articles of incorporation or bylaws\nchanges in fiscal year\ntrading suspension under employee benefit plans\namendments or waivers of code of ethics\nchanges in shell company status\nresults of shareholder votes\ndisclosures applicable to issuers of asset-backed securities\ndisclosures necessary to comply with Regulation FD\nother material events\ncertain financial statements and other exhibits.Investors should always read any 8-K filings that are made by companies in which they are invested. These reports are often material to the company, and frequently contain information that will affect the share price.\n\nReading Form 8K\nTypically an 8-K filing will only have two major parts: the name and description of the event and any exhibits that are relevant. The name and description of the event contains all the information that the company considers relevant to shareholders and the SEC. It is important to read this information, as it has been deemed \"material\" by the company. Any exhibits that are relevant may include financial statements, press releases, data tables, or other information that is referenced in the description of the event.\n\nForm 8K Items\nThe 8-K items are defined in the following table.\n\nHistorical Form 8K Items\nPrior to August 23, 2004, 8-K items were filed under different item numbers. Those historical items are displayed in the table below.\nPassage 4:\nLotion play\nLotion play is a subset of the better known wet-and-messy fetish (WAM), which typically involves participants using food (such as pudding or whipped cream), mud, or paint as a lubricant to facilitate sexual activity. Lotion play uses lotion specifically for this purpose.\nIn Japan, lotion play (ローションプレイ, rōshon purei), also known as gookakke or gluekakke (a play on words from goo/glue and bukkake), is a popular fetish, a form of Japanese erotica and prostitution request involving the use of copious amounts of lubricant, which in the Japanese language is referred to by the French loanword \"lotion\" (ローション in Japanese). Typically lotion play involves a participant rubbing lotion on another using their body, sexual intercourse in a pool or bath filled with lotion, or lotion being poured over the participants during sex.\nLotion is available in concentrated form, to be added to hot water. A one-gallon concentrate will typically yield 6-10 gallons of lotion (J-Lube Lotion Concentrate). The main component in most lotion is polyacrylate. A similar effect can be achieved by dissolving powdered methyl cellulose in water.\nPassage 5:\nThe Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon\nThe Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is a 2008 action-adventure video game in the Spyro series. It is the third and final installment in The Legend of Spyro trilogy and the sequel to The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (2007), marking the tenth anniversary of the game series. The game was released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and mobile.\nElijah Wood and Gary Oldman reprise their roles as Spyro and Ignitus, respectively, while Wayne Brady replaces Billy West as Sparx and Christina Ricci replaces Mae Whitman as Cynder from the previous game. It also features the voice talents of Blair Underwood as Hunter the Cheetah and Mark Hamill as Malefor, the Dark Master.\nIt is the end of the second Spyro continuity, with Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (2011) serving as the second reboot of the franchise after Vivendi Games merged with video game publisher Activision to form the Activision Blizzard holding company on July 10, 2008.\n\nGameplay\nThis is the first Spyro game that allows a player to fly at any time they want (free-fly mode). The game also features a co-op mode with Cynder. The co-op feature allows players to have the option of completing the game as either Spyro or Cynder, along with giving them the power to switch between Spyro and Cynder. In previous titles of the Legend of Spyro series, Spyro must travel through the level and defeat enemies in a linear fashion. However, this time players explore larger areas and collect items in order to progress through the game.\nSpyro retains his command of fire, electricity, ice and earth (all of which he now has access to from the start), while Cynder controls poison, fear, wind and shadow. Powers, that were given to her, when she was controlled by the Dark Master. Cynder is faster, yet weaker than Spyro.\nAlong with the standard power-ups that gems can cause, Spyro and Cynder can both equip pieces of Dragon-armor, that they'd find. They also have another feature called melee combos. The more times, the player hits the enemy, the more blue Gems the players will earn. Blue Gems will power up Spyro and Cynder, allowing them to upgrade moves. Along with Blue Gems, there are also Red gems, which restore lost health. The green gems will give the dragons their magic, allowing to charge their element attacks. The Fury Gems, known from previous titles, have been replaced by dark crystals, that can drain magic, if they're not destroyed. The Fury-Meter now goes up, depending on the number of times, Spyro or Cynder score attacks on enemies. In addition to normal enemies, there are elite enemies, which are enemies, that are stronger than normal ones. Their masks give them invincibility to normal attacks. The player must use an element of a designated color, that matches the of the mask, in order to knock the mask off. Once kicked off, normal attacks and other elemental powers will be allowed.\n\nPlot\nThe game's story continues three years after the events of The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night. Spyro and Cynder, now teenagers, are broken free of their crystalline prison by mysterious enemies known as Grublins. The two are tethered together with green energy chains created by the Dark Master before being carried away, while Sparx is found by Hunter of Avalar, who was watching them from the shadows. Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder find themselves in a dark, volcano-like area. When they try to leave, they find out they can't as they are chained to the platform they awoke on. After defeating several waves of Grublins and avoiding an earth Golem that attacks them soon after, Spyro and Cynder manage to escape the Catacombs with the help of Hunter, who is with Sparx. After reaching safety in Twilight Falls, Hunter reveals to Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx that the Dark Master, Malefor, had returned to the realm shortly after the events of The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night and has covered the land in darkness ever since.\n\nOnce they reach the Dragon City of Warfang, Spyro, Cynder and Hunter are separated as the city is under siege by Malefor's forces. After a long and fierce battle that ends in the siege driven back, the Golem returns and uses parts of the city to create an arm to replace the one it lost in the Catacombs. Spyro and Cynder defeat the Golem by destroying the Dark Crystal in its head, allowing Spyro, Cynder, and the Dragon Guardians to finally reunite. The victory is short-lived, as later that night, Malefor sends the citizens of Warfang a message: he has revived the Destroyer, an ancient creature whose purpose is to renew the world by bringing about its destruction. As they will be unable to catch up with the beast if they fly after it, the Fire Dragon Guardian Ignitus (the leader of the Dragon Guardians) hatches a plan to wait for it to circle back and attack before it can complete its circle. Passing underground is the only way to intercept it in time. Cynder and Spyro are able to open the gates to the underground Ruins of Warfang, which leads the attack forces to the canyon where the Destroyer will complete the Ring of Annihilation by destroying a nearby dam. They stall the Destroyer long enough to destroy its Dark Crystal heart. Despite this, the Destroyer manages to complete the Belt of Fire, and Ignitus orders everyone underground as he escorts Spyro and Cynder through the Belt of Fire. To get them to the Burned Lands, which will lead them to Malefor's lair, Ignitus sacrifices himself in the crossing. Overcome with grief, Spyro turns into his dark form and tries to go back and save him (which also threatens to harm Cynder with levitating rocks) but is stopped and comforted by Cynder. Cynder tells Spyro he's not alone and encourages him to continue the journey, as Ignitus wanted them to. \nAfter getting through the Burned Lands and the Floating Islands, Spyro and Cynder arrive at Malefor's lair and confront him. Malefor taunts Spyro by telling him that the destiny of all purple dragons is to bring about the world's destruction, which Spyro denies. During the confrontation, the evil dragon gets rid of the green chain that tethered Spyro and Cynder together throughout their trials, then corrupts Cynder back to his cause; Cynder attacks Spyro, only to break free from Malefor's control when Spyro refuses to fight, stating that Cynder has left him nothing to fight for. Angered by this turn of events, Malefor binds Spyro and Cynder together once again to kill them both before beginning their airborne battle. As Spyro and Cynder fly after Malefor, the Destroyer completes its circle, marking the world's end. The three dragons fall into the volcano The Destroyer had entered, and after fighting with Malefor, Spyro and Cynder plummet into the center of the earth as they continue their battle. Malefor proclaims that he is eternal, unable to be defeated, but is then sealed away in the world's core by the spirits of the ancestors, and the green chain disappears soon after.\nDespite Malefor's defeat, the world is still falling apart, as Spyro and Cynder wonder if this is indeed the end. Ignitus' spirit returns and gives Spyro hope. With the chain that bound them together broken with Malefor's defeat, Spyro tells Cynder to flee while he stops the catastrophe, but she refuses to leave him. As Spyro prepares to unleash a powerful Fury wave, Cynder verbally reveals that she loves him. Spyro's magic rebuilds the world, and the remaining Dragon Guardians, Hunter, Sparx, and the survivors emerge from underground into the setting sun as stars in the sky form into the figure of a dragon.\nAfter the credits, the Chronicler speaks to someone that a new age is beginning, and with each new age, a worthy dragon is chosen to record the triumphs and failures of that era. His time is over, but the time of the new chronicler, Ignitus, has just begun. Before passing his mantle, the Chronicler informs Ignitus that though he has tried his best, he cannot find \"any trace of Spyro\" in the book that details dragons who have died. As Ignitus becomes the new Chronicler, he wonders where Spyro could be. Meanwhile, as the game closes, a glimpse of Spyro and Cynder can be seen flying together over the Valley of Avalar.\n\nReception\nThe game received \"mixed\" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.\n\nNotes\nPassage 6:\nActivision\nActivision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world and was the top United States publisher in 2016.The company was founded as Activision, Inc. on October 1, 1979 in Sunnyvale, California, by former Atari game developers upset at their treatment by Atari in order to develop their own games for the popular Atari 2600 home video game console. Activision was the first independent, third-party, console video game developer. The video game crash of 1983, in part created by too many new companies trying to follow in Activision's footsteps without the expertise of Activision's founders, hurt Activision's position in console games and forced the company to diversify into games for home computers, including the acquisition of Infocom. After a management shift, with CEO Jim Levy replaced by Bruce Davis, the company renamed itself to Mediagenic and branched out into business software applications. Mediagenic quickly fell into debt, and the company was bought for around US$500,000 by Bobby Kotick and a small group of investors around 1991.\nKotick drastically revamped and restructured the company to get it out of debt: dismissing most of its staff, moving the company to Los Angeles, and reverting to the Activision name. Building on existing assets, the Kotick-led Activision pursued more publishing opportunities and, after recovering from its former financial troubles, started acquiring numerous studios and various types of intellectual property over the 1990s and 2000s, among these being the Call of Duty and Guitar Hero series. A holding company was formed as Activision's parent company to manage both its internal and acquired studios. In 2008, this holding company merged with Vivendi Games (the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment) and formed Activision Blizzard, with Kotick as its CEO. Within this structure, Activision manages numerous third-party studios and publishes all games besides those created by Blizzard.\n\nHistory\nFounding (1979)\nIn 1976, Warner Communications bought Atari, Inc. from Nolan Bushnell to help accelerate the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS or later the Atari 2600) to market by 1977. That same year, Atari began hiring programmers to create games for the system. Prior to Warner's acquisition, the company did not award bonus pay to programmers who worked on profitable games, nor credit the programmers publicly, to prevent them from being recruited by rival game companies. Warner Communication's management style was also different from Bushnell's. According to developer John Dunn, Warner management treated developers as engineers rather than creative staff, creating conflicts with staff. Atari's CEO Ray Kassar, named to that position following Warner's acquisition in 1978, was committed to keeping production costs minimal for Warner, according to David Crane, one of Atari's programmers.In early 1979, Atari's marketing department circulated a memo listing the best-selling cartridges from the previous year to help guide game ideas. Crane noted that the games he was fully responsible for had brought in over $20 million for the company but he was still only receiving a $20,000 salary. Out of a development staff of thirty-five, four programmers (Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead), had produced games that had accounted for 60% of Atari's sales.Crane, Kaplan, Miller, and Whitehead became vocal about the lack of recognition within the company and became known as the \"Gang of Four\". The group met with Kassar in May 1979 to demand that the company treat developers as record labels treated musicians, with royalties and their names on game boxes. Kaplan, who called the others \"the best designers for the [2600] in the world\", recalled that Kassar called the four men \"towel designers\" and claimed that \"anybody can do a cartridge\".The four made the decision to soon leave Atari and start their own business, but were not sure how to go about it. In 1979, the concept of third-party developers did not exist, as software for video game consoles were published exclusively by makers of the systems for which the games were designed; thus the common thinking was that to make console games, one needed to make a console first. The four decided to create their own independent game development company. They were directed by their attorney to Jim Levy, who was at the time raising venture capital to get into the software business for early home computers. Levy listened to their plans, agreed with its direction, and helped the four to secure about $1 million in capital from Sutter Hill Ventures. They also checked with legal counsel on their plans to develop games for the Atari VCS, and included litigation fees in their capital investment.By August, Crane and Miller had left Atari, with Whitehead joining them shortly after. Kaplan had also quit Atari in August, but initially decided not to join as he did not like the starting business plan; he came back later to join Activision that December. Activision was formally founded on October 1, 1979, with Levy serving as CEO. The company was initially named \"Computer Arts, Inc.\" while they considered a better title. The founders had thought of the name VSync, Inc., but feared that the public would not understand or know how to say it. Levy suggested combining \"active\" and \"television\" to come up with Activision.\n\nEarly years (1980–1982)\nActivision began working out of Crane's garage in the latter half of 1979, each programmer developing their own game that was planned for release in mid-1980, Dragster, Fishing Derby, Checkers, and Boxing. The four's knowledge of the Atari 2600, as well as software tricks for the system, helped them make their own games visually distinct from Atari-produced games. To further distinguish themselves, Activision's boxes were brightly colored and featured an in-game screenshot on the back cover. Instruction manuals for games devoted at least one page to credit the developer. Additionally, for nearly all of Activision's games through 1983, the instruction manuals included instructions for sending the company a photograph of a player's high scores to receive a patch in return.Ahead of the release of the first four games, Activision obtained space at the mid-year 1980 Consumer Electronics Show to showcase their titles, and quickly obtained favorable press. The attention afforded to Activision worried Atari, as the four's departure had already created a major dent in their development staff. Atari initially tried to tarnish Activision's reputation by using industry press at CES to label those that took trade secrets as \"evil, terrible people\", according to Crane, and then later threatened to refuse to sell Atari games to retailers that also carried these Activision titles. By the end of 1980, Atari filed a formal lawsuit against Activision to try to stop the company, claiming the four had stolen trade secrets and violated non-disclosure agreements. The lawsuit was settled by 1982, with Activision agreeing to pay royalties to Atari but otherwise legitimizing the third-party development model. In 2003, Activision's founders were given the Game Developers Choice \"First Penguin\" award, reflecting their being the first successful third-party developer in the video game industry.Following the first round of releases, each of the founders developed their own titles, about once a year, over the first few years of the company. While their 1980 games were modest hits, one of the company's first successful games was Kaboom!, released in 1981, which was Activision's first game to sell over a million units. Activision's breakout title was 1982's Pitfall!, created by Crane. More than four million copies of the game were sold. Near the end of 1982, Kaplan left Activision to work on the development of the Amiga personal computer as he wanted to be more involved in hardware development.Total sales for Activision were estimated at $157 million and revenues at $60 million ahead of its June 1983 initial public offering; at this point Activision had around 60 employees. Danny Goodman stated in Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games in 1983, \"I doubt that there is an active [Atari 2600] owner who doesn't have at least one Activision cartridge in his library\". The company completed its public offering in June 1983 on NASDAQ under the stock ticker AVSN.\n\nThe video game market crash (1983–1988)\nThe success of Activision, alongside the popularity of the Atari 2600, led to many more home consoles third-party developers as well as other home consoles. Activision produced some of its Atari games for the Intellivision and ColecoVision consoles, among other platforms. However, several new third-party developers also arose, attempting to follow the approach Activision had used but without the experience they had; according to Crane, several of these companies were founded with venture capital and hired programmers with little game design experience off the street, mass-publishing whatever product the developers had made. This was a contributing factor to the video game crash of 1983.For Activision, while they survived the crash, they felt its effects in the following years. These third-party developers folded, leaving warehouses full of unsold games, which savvy retailers purchased and sold at a mass discount ($5 compared to Activision's $40 manufacturer's suggested retail price). While there was still a demand for Activision games, uneducated consumers were more drawn to the heavily discounted titles instead, reducing their income. Their quarterly revenue dropped from $50 million in mid-1983 to about $6–7 million by the end of 1984, according to Levy, and were forced to lay off staff, going from about 400 employees to 95 in that period. Because of this, Activision decided that they needed to diversify their games onto home computers such as the Commodore 64, Apple, and Atari 8-bit family to avoid completely going out of business like other third-party developers. There still was a drain of talent through 1985 from the crash. Miller and Whitehead left in 1984 due to the large devaluation of their stock and went to form Accolade.With the video game crash making console game development a risky proposition, the company focused on developing for home computers with games like Little Computer People and Hacker, while Levy tried to keep expenditures in check as they recovered. Looking to expand further, Activision acquired, through a corporate merger, the struggling text adventure pioneer Infocom in June 1986. This acquisition was spearheaded by Levy, who was a big fan of Infocom's titles and felt the company was in a similar position as Activision. About six months after the \"Infocom Wedding\", Activision's board decided to replace Levy with Bruce Davis. Davis was against the purchase of Infocom from the start and was heavy-handed in its management, and even attempted to seek a lawsuit to recover their purchase from Infocom's shareholders. Crane also found Davis difficult to work with and was concerned with how Davis managed the closure of Imagic, one of the third-party development studios formed in Activision's success in 1981. Crane left Activision in 1986 and helped Garry Kitchen found Absolute Entertainment.\n\nMediagenic (1988–1991)\nIn 1988, Activision began involvement in software besides video games, such as business applications. As a result, Activision changed its corporate name to Mediagenic to better represent all of its activities.Mediagenic consisted of four groups:\n\nActivision: video game publisher for various platforms, notably the Nintendo Entertainment System, Master System, Atari 7800, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and Amiga\nInfocom: developer of interactive fiction games\nGamestar: initially an independent company but purchased by Activision in 1986. Specialized in sports video games\nTen Point O: business application softwareIn 1989, after several years of losses, Activision closed down the Infocom studios, extending to only 11 of the 26 employees an offer to relocate to Activision's Silicon Valley headquarters. Five of them accepted this offer.Notably during this time, Mediagenic was known to have worked on the early version of a football game that would be the basis for Joe Montana Football. Sega of America's Michael Katz had been able to get Sega to pay Mediagenic around early 1990 to develop this into the branded version after securing the rights to Joe Montana's name, but was unaware of internal troubles that had been going on within the company, which had left the state of the game mostly unfinished. Katz and Sega were forced to take the incomplete game to Electronic Arts, which had been developing its own John Madden Football series for personal computers, to complete the game.During this period Mediagenic, via Activision, secured the rights to distribute games from Cyan Worlds. The first game published by Activision from Cyan was The Manhole, on CD-ROM for personal computers, the first major game distributed in this format.\n\nPurchase by Bobby Kotick (1991–1997)\nDavis' management of Mediagenic failed to produce a profitable company; in 1991, Mediagenic reported a loss of $26.8 million on only $28.8 million of revenue and had over $60 million in debt. Cyan severed their contract with Activision, and turned to Broderbund for publishing, including what would become one of the most significant computer games of the 1990s, Myst.\n\nBobby Kotick had become interested in the value of the video game industry following the crash, and he and three other investors worked to buy Commodore International in an effort to gain access to the Amiga line of personal computers. After failing to complete purchase, the group bought a company that licensed Nintendo characters, and through Nintendo was directed to the failing Mediagenic. Kotick was drawn to buy out Mediagenic not for its current offerings but for the Activision name, given its past successes with Pitfall!, with hopes to restore Activision to its former glory. Crane said that Kotick has recognized the Activision brand name could be valued around $50 million and rather than start a new company and spend that amount to obtain the same reputation, he saw the opportunity to buy the failing Mediagenic at a bargain price and gain Activision's reputation with minimal cost. Kotick and additional investors bought Mediagenic for approximately $500,000 in 1991. This group of investors included real estate businessman Steve Wynn and Philips Electronics.Kotick became CEO of Mediagenic on its purchase and made several immediate changes: He let go of all but 8 of the companies' 150 employees, performed a full restructuring of the company, developed a bankruptcy restructuring plan, and reincorporated the company in Los Angeles, California. In the bankruptcy plan, Kotick recognized that Mediagenic still had valuable assets, which included the Infocom library as well as its authoring tools to make games, Activision's distribution network, and licenses to develop on Nintendo and Sega home consoles. Kotick offset some debt by giving stock in the company to its distributors as to keep them vested in the company's success. Kotick also had the company reissue several of its past console and Infocom titles as compilations for personal computers. Kotick had also recognized the value of the Zork property from Infocom, and had the company develop a sequel, Return to Zork. Combined, these steps allowed Mediagenic to fulfill on the bankruptcy plan, and by the end of 1992, Kotick renamed Mediagenic to the original Activision name. The new Activision went public in October 1993, raising about $40 million, and was listed on NASDAQ under its new ticker symbol ATVI.By 1995, Kotick's approach had met one promise he made to investors: that he would give them four years of 50% growth in revenues while remaining break-even. Reaching this goal, Kotick then set Activision on his second promise to investors, to develop high-demand games and make the company profitable by 1997.Activision published the first-person perspective MechWarrior in 1989, based on FASA's pen-and-paper game BattleTech. A sequel, MechWarrior 2, was released in 1995 after two years of delays and internal struggles, prompting FASA not to renew their licensing deal with Activision. To counter, Activision released several more games bearing the MechWarrior 2 name, which did not violate their licensing agreement. These included NetMech, MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy, and MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries. The entire MechWarrior 2 game series accounted for more than US$70 million in sales.\nActivision procured the license to another pen-and-paper-based war game, Heavy Gear, in 1997. The video game version was well received by critics, with an 81.46% average rating on GameRankings and being considered the best game of the genre at the time by GameSpot. The Mechwarrior 2 engine was also used in other Activision games, including 1997's Interstate '76 and 1998's Battlezone.\n\nGrowth and acquisitions (1997–2008)\nWith several of its own successfully developed games helping to turn a profit, Kotick led Activision to start seeking acquisitions of video game development studios, guided by market surveys to determine what areas of content to focus on. It is estimated that between 1997 and 2008, Activision made 25 acquisitions, several for undisclosed amounts. Several of these came prior to 2001, in the midst of the Dot-com bubble, enabling the company to acquire studios at a lower valuation. On June 16, 2000, Activision reorganized as a holding company, Activision Holdings, to manage Activision and its subsidiaries more effectively. Activision changed its corporate name from \"Activision, Inc.\" to \"Activision Publishing, Inc.\", while Activision Holdings took Activision's former \"Activision, Inc.\" name. Activision Publishing became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision, which in turn became the publicly traded company, with all outstanding shares of capital stock converted.Some of the key acquisitions and investments made by Activision in this period include:\n\nRaven Software: Raven was founded in 1990; because of their close proximity, Raven frequently collaborated with id Software, and one of the studio's early successes was the Heretic series using id's Doom engine. Around 1997, Raven's founders Brian and Steve Raffel felt the need to seek a parent company. They arranged a publishing deal with Activision in 1997, which not only served to provide Raven additional financial support, but also gave Activision the opportunity to work closely with id Software and gain business relationships with them. By the end of 1997, Activision acquired Raven as one of its first subsidiaries under Kotick. The acquisition price was $12 million.\nNeversoft: Prior to its acquisition in 2000, Activision had arranged a development deal with Neversoft to re-develop Apocalypse, a title that failed to be completed within Activision. Subsequently, Activision had Neversoft work on a prototype for a skateboarding game, which would end up becoming the first in the Tony Hawk's series of skateboarding video games. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was a critical success, leading Activision to acquire Neversoft in April 2000. After eight games, the series has brought in $1.6 billion.\nInfinity Ward: After Electronic Arts released Medal of Honor: Allied Assault in 2002, several of the developers from 2015, Inc., disenchanted with their current contracts, left to form a new studio, Infinity Ward. Kotick himself provided the group with startup funding, as they were seeking to develop a similar title to Medal of Honor. Activision acquired the studio for $5 million in January 2003, and later publish their first title, Call of Duty, directly competing with Electronic Arts. The Call of Duty series has since seen nearly yearly releases and as of 2016 had sold more than 250 million units and brought in more than $12 billion in revenue.\nTreyarch: The Santa Monica, California studio was founded in 1996. With the success of the first Tony Hawk game from Neversoft, Activision used Treyarch to assist in further Tony Hawk games as well as to develop titles using Activision's license of Marvel's Spider-Man. Activision acquired the studio in 2001 for about $20 million. Following the success of Call of Duty from Infinity Ward, Activision moved Treyarch to assist in the series' development, trading off each year' major release between the two studios.\nGray Matter Studios: While Gray Matter was originally founded in 1993 as Xatrix Entertainment, it was rebranded to Gray Matter in 1999 as they began work on Return to Castle Wolfenstein, in conjunction with Nerve Software and oversight by id Software who owned the Castle Wolfenstein IP. Activision, the game's publisher, acquired a portion of Gray Matter's stock during this time. Return to Castle Wolfenstein was a critical and financial success, and led Activision to acquire the remaining shares of Gray Matter in 2002 for about $3.2 million, with the intent to help Infinity Ward expand out the Call of Duty franchise. In 2005, Activision made the decision to merge the smaller Gray Matter into the larger Treyarch to put their combined talents towards Call of Duty 3.\nRedOctane: Around 2005, Red Octane was co-developing Guitar Hero, a console game based on the arcade game GuitarFreaks, with Harmonix; Harmonix was developing the software while RedOctane developed the instrument controllers. Guitar Hero was a major success. Activision purchased RedOctane for nearly $100 million in June 2006. The series has since earned more than $2 billion in revenues.\nToys for Bob: Toys for Bob was founded by Paul Reiche III, Fred Ford, and Terry Falls in 1989 and gained success in developing the first two Star Control games, and later made film-to-video game adaptions. Activision purchased the studio in 2005, and had given them work on some of the Tony Hawk's games as well as other licensed properties. Following Activision's merger with Vivendi, Activision gained the Spyro intellectual property and assigned Toys for Bob to develop the series in a new direction, leading to the toys-to-life Skylanders series.\n\nMerger with Vivendi Games (2008)\nWhile Activision was highly successful with its range of developers and successful series, Kotick was concerned that they did not have a title for the growing massively multiplayer online market, which presented the opportunity for continued revenues from subscription models and microtransactions instead of the revenue from a single sale. Around 2006, Kotick contacted Jean-Bernard Lévy, the new CEO of Vivendi, a French media conglomerate. Vivendi had a games division, Vivendi Games, that was struggling to be viable at the time, but its principal feature was that it owned Blizzard Entertainment and its highly successful World of Warcraft game, which was drawing in $1.1 billion a year in subscription fees. Vivendi Games also owned Sierra Entertainment.Lévy recognized Kotick wanted control of World of Warcraft, and offered to allow the companies to merge, but only if Lévy held the majority shares in the merged group, forcing Kotick to cede control. Kotick fretted about this decision for a while, according to friends and investors. During this time in 2006–2007, some of Activision's former successful properties began to wane, such as Tony Hawk's, so Activision bought RedOctane, the publisher of the Guitar Hero franchise. Kotick met with Blizzard's president Mike Morhaime, and learned that Blizzard also had a successful inroad into getting their games into China, a potentially lucrative market. Given this potential opportunity, Kotick agreed to the merger.Activision's board signed on to the merger by December 2007. The merger was completed in July 2008. The new company was called Activision Blizzard and was headed by Kotick, while Vivendi maintained a 52% share in the company. The new company was estimated to be worth US$18.9 billion, ahead of Electronic Arts, which was valued at US$14.1 billion.\n\nPost-merger developments (2009–present)\nActivision Publishing remains a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard following the merger, and is responsible for developing, producing, and distributing games from its internal and subsidiary studios. Eric Hirshberg was announced as Activision Publishing's CEO in 2010.Activision Publishing established Sledgehammer Games in November 2009. Formed earlier in 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, former Visceral Games leads that had worked on Dead Space, Sledgehammer intended to develop a Call of Duty spin-off title fashioned after the gameplay in Dead Space. However, in early 2010, legal issues between Infinity Ward and Activision Blizzard led to several members of Infinity Ward leaving, and Activision assigned Sledgehammer to assist Infinity Ward in the next major Call of Duty title, Modern Warfare 3. Since then, Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch share development duties for the flagship series, with support from Raven and other studios as necessary.\nIn February 2010, Activision Blizzard reported significant losses in revenue stemming from a slow down in Guitar Hero sales and from its more casual games. Subsequently, Activision Publishing shuttered Red Octane, Luxoflux and Underground Development as well as laid off about 25% of the staff at Neversoft. Within the same year, Activision shuttered Budcat Creations in November 2010, and Bizarre Creations in February 2011.Hirshberg left the CEO position in March 2018.Into the 2020s, Activision put more focus on the Call of Duty franchise, including the release of the free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone in 2020. By April 2021, the company had assigned all of its internal studios to work on some part of the Call of Duty franchise. This includes a new studio, Activision Mobile, devoted to the Call of Duty Mobile title as reported in August 2021.In 2021, while all their employees were working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, Activision and its parent Activision Blizzard vacated their longtime headquarters building in Santa Monica and ended their lease with Boston Properties. In September 2021, they subleased a much smaller office space in Santa Monica at the Pen Factory (a former Paper Mate factory) from Kite Pharma, which had leased the space from Lincoln Property Company.\n\nStudios\nActivision Shanghai Studio in Shanghai, China, founded in 2009.\nBeenox in Québec City, Québec, Canada, founded in May 2000, acquired on May 25, 2005.\nDemonware in both Dublin, Republic of Ireland and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 2003, acquired in May 2007.\nDigital Legends Entertainment in Barcelona, Spain, founded in May 2001, acquired on October 28, 2021.\nHigh Moon Studios in Carlsbad, California, founded as Sammy Corporation in April 2001, acquired by Vivendi Games in January 2006.\nInfinity Ward in Woodland Hills, California, founded in 2002, acquired in October 2003.\nRadical Entertainment in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1991, acquired by Vivendi Games in 2005, laid off most staff in 2012.\nRaven Software in Madison, Wisconsin, founded in 1990, acquired in 1997.\nSledgehammer Games in Foster City, California, founded on July 21, 2009.\nSolid State Studios in Santa Monica, California, founded in 2021.\nToys for Bob in Novato, California, founded in 1989, acquired on May 3, 2005.\nTreyarch in Santa Monica, California, founded in 1996, acquired in 2001.\n\nFormer studios\n7 Studios in Los Angeles, California, founded in 1999, acquired in April 2009, closed in February 2011.\nBeachhead Studio in Santa Monica, California, founded in February 2011.\nBizarre Creations in Liverpool, England, founded as Raising Hell Productions in 1987 and changed name in 1994, acquired on September 26, 2007, closed on February 18, 2011.\nBudcat Creations in Iowa City, Iowa, founded in September 2000, acquired on November 10, 2008, closed in November 2010.\nFreeStyleGames in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, founded in 2002, acquired on September 12, 2008, sold to Ubisoft on January 18, 2017, subsequently renamed Ubisoft Leamington.\nGray Matter Studios in Los Angeles, California, founded in the 1990s as Xatrix Entertainment, acquired in January 2002, merged into Treyarch in 2005.\nInfocom in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded on June 22, 1979, acquired in 1986, closed in 1989.\nLuxoflux in Santa Monica, California, founded in January 1997, acquired in October 2002, closed on February 11, 2010.\nMassive Entertainment in Malmö, Sweden, founded in 1997, acquired by Vivendi Universal Games in 2002, sold to Ubisoft on November 10, 2008.\nNeversoft in Los Angeles, California, founded in July 1994, acquired in October 1999, merged into Infinity Ward on May 3, 2014 and was officially made defunct on July 10, 2014.\nRedOctane in Mountain View, California, founded in November 2005, acquired in 2006, closed on February 11, 2010.\nShaba Games in San Francisco, California, founded in September 1997, acquired in 2002, and closed on October 8, 2009.\nSwordfish Studios in Birmingham, England, founded in September 2002, acquired by Vivendi Universal Games in June 2005, sold to Codemasters on November 14, 2008.\nThe Blast Furnace in Leeds, United Kingdom, founded in November 2011 as Activision Leeds, renamed in August 2012, closed in March 2014.\nUnderground Development in Redwood Shores, California, founded as Z-Axis in 1994, acquired in May 2002, closed on February 11, 2010.\nVicarious Visions in Menands, New York, founded in 1990, acquired in January 2005, moved to Blizzard Entertainment in January 2021. It was renamed to Blizzard Albany on April 12, 2022.\nWanako Games in Santiago, Chile, founded in 2005, acquired by Vivendi Games on February 20, 2007, sold to Artificial Mind and Movement on November 20, 2008.\n\nNotable games published\nSee also\nList of video game companies\nPassage 7:\nIntellivision Rocks\nIntellivision Lives! is a compilation of over 60 Intellivision video games, originally produced by Mattel Electronics and INTV Corporation between 1978 and 1990. Using original game code and software emulation, Intellivision Productions released the compilation on a Windows and Macintosh hybrid CD-ROM in December 1998. Additional versions were then released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube by Crave Entertainment. In 2010, Virtual Play Games released a Nintendo DS version. \nIntellivision Productions later published Intellivision Rocks, which includes third-party games originally published by Activision and Imagic, as well as Intellivoice and ECS games.\n\nOverview\nSome games could not be included due to licensing (e.g. Tron, BurgerTime, Masters of the Universe, Pac-Man,). Others such as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Cloudy Mountain and Treasure of Tarmin use different titles to avoid the trademark. Licenses such as MLB, NFL, NBA, and The Electric Company were simply dropped from the titles. Also included were games never before released, such as King of the Mountain, Brickout, and Takeover.In addition to the games, the Crave Entertainment releases have several unlockables, such as classic Intellivision commercials. The original Windows/Mac version is a resource for development history, unfinished prototypes, box art, overlays, instructions, hidden features, programmer biographies, and video interviews.\n\nHistory and development\nIn June 1995, former Mattel Electronics programmers led by Keith Robinson started the Blue Sky Rangers Intellivision website. Blue Sky Rangers being a nickname given to the Mattel Electronics programmers in a TV Guide magazine article from the 1982 June 19 issue. The website provides the history of the Intellivsion games and credits the programmers and artists. It was well received with fans asking how the games can be played on their computers. In 1997 Intellivision Productions, Inc. was formed by former Mattel Electronics programmers Keith Robinson and Stephen Roney with the purchase of the rights to the Intellivision and its games.At the same time, a student in Michigan named Carl Mueller Jr. was independently working on reverse engineering the Intellivision. With the help of Intellivision ROM dumps from Sean Kelly and then William Moeller and Scott Nudds, Carl was able to create the first Intellivision emulator that plays the games on a modern computer. Sean was fortunate to have two Intellivision prototype cartridges with standard 8-bit EPROMS as opposed to the more complex memory mapped ROMS used by standard cartridges. William and Scott were able to dump the Intellivision embedded executive control software and graphics ROMS, as well as build a cartridge reader to dump any Intellivision cartridge.Carl's MS-DOS emulator and a Macintosh emulator created by Intellivisions Productions' Steve Roney would be used in the free Intellipack downloads so anyone could play select Intellivision games on their computers for the first time in 1997. The Intellivision for PC/Mac Volume 2 download, also of 1997, was the first release of Deep Pockets Super Pro Billiards, the last game programmed for the Intellivision in 1990 but unreleased by INTV Corporation. They would also be used to play the original Intellivision games in the Intellivision Lives! PC/Mac CD-ROM edition released in 1998 by Intellivision Productions.\n\nPC and Macintosh system requirements\nThe PC/Mac edition was produced with Macromedia Director and may not be compatible with modern operating systems. The QuickTime videos, emulators, and Intellivision ROM image files are directly accessible on the CD-ROM.\nThe Intellivision Lives! PC/Mac v1.0 system requirements:\nPC: Pentium 90 MHz, Windows 95, 8MB RAM, 8x CD-ROM, QuickTime v3.0 or better\nMac: Power Macintosh, OS7.5, 100 MHz, 16MB RAM, 8x CD-ROM, QuickTimeThe Intellivision Lives! PC/Mac v1.1 system requirements:\nPC: Pentium 266 MHz, Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP, 32M RAM, 8X CD-ROM, 16-bit DirectX compatible sound & video cards, DirectX 7 or better, QuickTime v3.0 or better\nMac: Power Macintosh, OS 8/9/X, 120 MHz, 32M RAM, 8X CD-ROM, QuickTimeController functions are mapped to the computer keyboard; an extended keyboard is required to access both left and right Intellivision controllers. With Macintosh, USB game controllers could be used indirectly with a joystick to keyboard mapper utility. For PC, Intellivision Productions promoted the Gravis GamePad Pro game controller (game port version). The MS-DOS emulator, directly accessible on the CD-ROM, also supported original Intellivision controllers through the INTV2PC Hand Controller Interface. INTV2PC is a parallel port adapter that accepts original Intellivision hand controllers. This feature although not promoted is documented in the INTVPC files on the CD-ROM. Modern intellivision emulators and USB controller adapters have since become available, compatible with the Intellivision Lives rom image files.\nTo play the games using real Intellivision controllers Intellivision Productions supported the use of a device called the Intellicart. The Intellicart is a RAM cartridge with an RS-232 interface that can accept a copy of an Intellivision ROM image file from a computer. Rather than play the Intellivision Lives! games through an emulator, they can be played on a real Intellivision through an Intellicart. Since that time modern Intellivision flash memory cartridges have been made that achieve the same result.\nIn 2002 an updated Intellivision Lives! PC/Mac v1.1 was made available by Intellivision Productions. Those that purchased the original could upgrade for a nominal fee. It added Windows 98/ME/2000/XP support with a native Windows emulator supporting DirectX sound, video, and game controllers.\n\nModern video game consoles\nRealtime Associates developed the video game console editions published by Crave Entertainment for PlayStation 2 (2003), Xbox (2004), and GameCube (2004). In these versions the games are accessed from a 3D \"overworld\" set in a circa 1980s pizza parlor; an inaccurate representation as the Intellivision games were originally designed for a home console. Games were also re-organised by genres rather than the original Mattel Electronics Networks used in the PC/Mac edition. Some games require two controllers, even to play single player.In 2010 Virtual Play Games published Intellivision Lives! for the Nintendo DS handheld system, also developed by Realtime Associates. It features wireless, multiplayer support using a single game card. The Nintendo DS's touch screen emulates the Intellivision's 12-button keypad including an overlay image for each game. The Nintendo DS lacks a 16 direction pad used by some Intellivision games. This limitation was overcome, in Vectron for example, by mapping directional inputs to the touch screen. Only 10,000 copies of the Nintendo DS edition were ever released.The Xbox version of Intellivision Lives! is fully forward compatible with the Xbox 360 console, and in 2008 Intellivision Lives! became available for purchase as a download through Xbox Live Game Marketplace's Xbox Originals.\n\nIntellivision Rocks\nIntellivision Rocks is the PC-only sequel to the original PC version of Intellivision Lives!. As with Intellivision Lives!, Intellivision Rocks is a collection of games which were originally found on the Intellivision, presented in emulated form. It mainly features 3rd-party games from Activision and Imagic. In addition, several unreleased games are included.\n\nReception\nIGN said that Intellivision Lives! is \"still blocky after all these years, sure...but these games really need the controller.\" GameSpot editors said that although the controller emulation is a little hard to handle, the collection does a fine job in delivering classic Intellivision games.\nPassage 8:\nRaven Software\nRaven Software Corporation is an American video game developer based in Wisconsin and founded in 1990. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them. After the acquisition, many of the studio's original developers, largely responsible for creating the Heretic and Hexen: Beyond Heretic games, left to form Human Head Studios.\n\nHistory\nid Software\nRaven Software was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel. Originally a three-person company, they were discovered by John Romero, co-founder of id Software, who collaborated with Raven to make games using their game engine beginning with ShadowCaster. Raven then started making games with id Software; the company even briefly moved to the same street as id Software. They used id's engines for many of their games, such as Heretic, Hexen: Beyond Heretic and Hexen II.\nIn 2005 and 2009, Raven developed two games from id's catalog: Quake 4 and Wolfenstein respectively.\n\nActivision\nThe company was independent until 1997, when it was acquired by Activision for $12 million. They were still collaborating with id Software but at the same time developed other titles as well such as Soldier of Fortune in 2000, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy in 2003, X-Men Legends in 2004 and many more.\nIn August 2009, following poor performance and possible over-budget of Wolfenstein, the company made a major layoff of 30-35 staff, leaving two development teams. This was reduced to one after more layoffs in October 2010, after delays with Singularity; as many as 40 staff were released. Following the layoffs and after id Software was bought over by ZeniMax Media, Raven has since become a primary developer for the Call of Duty series.In December 2021, Activision did not renew the contract of several members of the quality assurance (QA) department that were contract employees. One of the associate managers said that \"valuable members\" were fired although they \"were promised, for months, that Activision was working towards a pay restructure to increase their wages\". Following these firings as well as other controversies revolving Activision Blizzard, a strike has been initiated. On January 21, 2022, Raven's QA team formed a union named the Game Workers Alliance with Communications Workers of America.In May 2022, a group of quality assurance testers from Raven Software successfully organized a union known as the Game Workers Alliance, with the vote being 19 for and 3 against. In June 2022 Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated that the company would recognize the union and begin negotiations with it.\n\nGames\nIn 2012, Raven began hiring employees for a game, and were announced as collaborating with Infinity Ward on Call of Duty: Ghosts in May 2013.On April 3, 2013 following the closure of LucasArts, Raven Software released the source code for Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy on SourceForge under the GPL-2.0-only license.In April 2014, the company became lead developer of the now shutdown free-to-play Chinese Call of Duty title, Call of Duty: Online. The company also remade Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.In 2020, Raven Software collaborated with Infinity Ward on the game Call of Duty: Warzone. The company is considered the face of maintaining, updating and debugging the game as they regularly provide status updates and patch notes on Twitter and their official website (though it is unclear if they are the sole studio responsible behind-the-scenes).Raven developed Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War with Treyarch, which released on November 13, 2020.",6 "char_len": 60944,7 "document_hash": "f09ee4f679c805f8ef47f9aad7c8ce840855fa8db27e4e0275284b47df45ec17",8 "questions": [9 {10 "question_id": "q00",11 "qtype": "hotpotqa",12 "question": "What form of play does Yameen and Activision have in common?"13 }14 ]15}