NOV. 10, 2008 • Activision Blizzard acquired Iowa City-based Budcat Creations, which had worked on Guitar Hero III: Legends off Rock for Nintendo platforms. The acquisition adds additional Wii and DS development expertise to the publisher’s in-house studios.

Impact: Activision Blizzard has been up front about missing out on potential DS sales it could have tallied given the publisher’s strong stable of properties. Acquiring Budcat is an effort to add the talent necessary to boost DS and Wii market share.