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Restructuring
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Restructuring. 
Restructuring

9. Restructuring

On February 3, 2011, the Board of Directors of the Company approved a restructuring plan (the “2011 Restructuring”) involving a focus on the development and publication of a reduced slate of titles on a going-forward basis, including the discontinuation of the development of music-based games, the closure of the related business unit and the cancellation of other titles then in production, along with a related reduction in studio headcount and corporate overhead.

The following table details the amount of the 2011 Restructuring reserves included in accrued expenses and other liabilities in the condensed consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2011 (amounts in millions):

          Contract   
       Facilities termination   
    Severance costs costs Total
 Balance at December 31, 2010 $--- $--- $--- $---
 Costs charged to expense  19  4  1  24
 Costs paid or otherwise settled  (14)  ---  (1)  (15)
 Balance at September 30, 2011 $5 $4 $--- $9

The 2011 Restructuring charges for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 were $3 million and $24 million, respectively.  These charges, as well as the 2011 Restructuring reserve balances at September 30, 2011, were recorded within our Activision Publishing, Inc. segment. We have substantially completed the 2011 Restructuring and we do not expect to incur significant additional restructuring expenses relating thereto.

We have completed our implementation of our organizational restructuring plan as a result of the business combination (the “Business Combination”) by and among the Company (then known as Activision, Inc.), Sego Merger Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, Vivendi S.A. (“Vivendi”), VGAC LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vivendi, and Vivendi Games, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of VGAC LLC, consummated in July 2008. There were minimal cash payments and no additional charges in our condensed consolidated statement of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 relating to that restructuring and we do not expect to incur additional restructuring expenses relating thereto.