Paris-based Vivendi SA and Santa Monica, Calif.-based Activision Inc. said Sunday that their respective board members approved a plan to combine Activision with the French company's game unit, Vivendi Games, which includes Blizzard Entertainment and three other divisions. The deal would create an $18.9 billion electronic entertainment juggernaut, rivaling the world's current No. 1 publisher, Electronic Arts Inc., in terms of the variety and types of games it would offer worldwide.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2008 pending shareholder and government approval.

Activision, whose shares rose nearly 13 percent on the news, now is strong in console games, with titles that include the music game Guitar Hero III, the combat game Call of Duty 4, and skateboarding games starring Tony Hawk.

Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment leads the market for subscription-based online video games with the widely popular World of Warcraft series.