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Activision (1x5)

Air date: Jun 09, 2002

Founded by four former Atari vets in 1980, Activision dominated the video game industry with smash-hit titles like Pitfall!, River Raid and Kaboom! Rocked by an industry downturn and business missteps, the company floundered until it was purchased by a group headed by Robert Kotick ("Everybody was asking me whether I was mad, you know. Why was I going off and doing this?"). But Kotick proved his doubters wrong and turned the failing game company into one of the world's most successful video game publishers.