Your Tech Story

Yashica Vashishtha

Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.

UploadVR Reveals the Detailed Features of Sony’s Upcoming PS5 Next-Generation VR Headset

Leave a Comment / Tech News / By

Sony announced its PlayStation5 next-generation VR headset in February 2021 and talked about some of its advanced features like a better field of view and higher resolution. But now, a story from UploadVR have given detailed information about these features of the VR headset by Sony. According to UploadVR, the new Sony VR headset will boast a 4K resolution, eye-tracking, and a vibration motor to enable the haptics.

The Announcement by Sony

In February, Sony announced that it is working on a next-generation VR headset for the PS5. The company did not give any information on the release date for the same but confirmed that 2021 won’t be the year for its launch. According to Sony, the headset will be a single cord high-resolution headset, with an improved field of view. The announcement from the company also included the release of the new development kits for its next-gen VR headset as well as the new VR controller, including some of the DualSense PS5 controller’s features.

The In-depth Reveal of the Features

Though the announcement by Sony did not include much about the features of the upcoming VR headset, the latest story by UploadVR gives a more extensive view of its major highlights.

The Resolution: UploadVR first talk about the high resolution of the headset, as it will boast a 4k resolution of 4000 x 2040 providing each eye with the 2000 x 2040 pixels experience. The first PlayStation VR only featured a 960 x 1080 pixels per-eye resolution. The resolution is even higher than the 1832 x 1920 pixels per eye resolution of the Oculus Quest 2. The higher the resolution better it will avoid the “screen-door effect” for the users giving them an even more realistic experience.

Separate Adjustable Dial for IPD: According to UploadVR reveal, the new Sony VR is also including a more adjustable dial for matching the IPD (interpupillary distance), i.e. to precisely measure the distance between the pupils of the eyes of the users. This way, the VR captures a perfect 3D image for the users.

Eye Movement Tracking: The new VR headset is enabled to track the eye movements added with the Foveated Rendering feature. According to UploadVR, the new headset will use eye movements as the input. The eye input of the users will also make the eye movement of their Avatar’s in the game look more realistic to the other players in the game.

Foveated Rendering: Then comes the super-popular graphical technique foveated rendering, which will render a more powerful GPU to the point the user is looking at. This way, GPU will be used majorly on the part where the user is focused, providing them more detailed scenes, and lesser GPU resources will be used on the other parts of the scene.  

The Oculus Quest and Quest 2 also have included such feature with a similar name, ‘fixed foveated rendering’. But the said feature is selected manually, and the user though gets a better vision where their gaze is focussed, but the rest of area lacks in resolution and the user can see that. But the foveated rendering included in the Sony VR headset is capable of adjusting the resolution wherever the user gazes.

Inside-Out Tracking: The previously launched VR sets are known for having “outside-in tracking”, which means that there had to be some sensors set up in the play area to track the controllers and their position while playing. But the new Sony VR headset will include special cameras to track the controllers, eliminating the need of setting up external sensors.

Other than that, according to the alleged sources, the new VR headset from Sony is also going to feature haptic feedback via an inbuilt motor to provide the users with a better in-action experience. Also, the company has eliminated the juggling with wires as the headset is connected to the PS5 system only through a single USB type-c cord.

It has been four years since Sony came with its original VR headset and looking at the new features of the upcoming one, we can clearly say that the company has put all its learning from the past in improving the new gadget for its users in every which way. Now, we just need to wait for the launch of the actual headset and see if it works as expected or fails the expectations of its users.

TSMC

TSMC – The World’s First and Most Valued Semiconductor Foundry.

Leave a Comment / Founder, Story, Tech Story / By

Taiwan Semiconductor is home to many world-famous technology companies, and several foreign companies have also established their manufacturing units in this small country. Along with that, Taiwan Semiconductor is also known for being the headquarters for the world’s largest dedicated independent (pure-play) semiconductor foundry, i.e. TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited).

TSMC is a semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It designs, manufactures, tests, and ships integrated circuits as well as other semiconductor devices to its worldwide customers. TSMC is one of the largest semiconductor companies in Taiwan, with its chips being used in almost every piece of electronic equipment, from smartphones, laptops, and video game consoles to data centres and F-35 fighter jets.

A Brief Introduction

TSMC is a Taiwanese company with its headquarter located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu. The company was founded in 1984 and has most of its shares owned by foreign investors. TSMC mainly deals in the manufacturing of Integrated circuits and related services and serves with the brand names CyberShuttle prototyping service, Open Innovation Platform, and eFoundry online services. WaferTech, TSMC PRC, and SSMC are some of its subsidiaries.

TSMC recorded net annual revenue of NT$1.07 trillion in 2019, with 51,297 employees working for it in its global offices. As per the 2020 records, the company can manufacture 13 million 300 mm equivalent wafers per year. Apple, Huawei, Sony, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and HiSilicon are some famous names that are the permanent clients of TSMC, and the list of clients for the company goes as long as 500 companies from across the world.

The Founding Story of TSMC

The late 70s and the beginning of the 80s was the time when semiconductor technology was emerging at a high pace. In 1985, the Taiwan government appointed Morris Chang, a Taiwanese businessman, having more than 25 years of experience in the field of the semiconductor industry, to help them bring the technology to Taiwan. After establishing the first non-profit research institute ITRI in 1986, the Taiwan government, along with Chang, established the world’s first dedicated semiconductor foundry named TSMC in 1987. TSMC was a joint venture between the Taiwan government with 21% shares, Dutch multinational electronics conglomerate Philips with 28% share, and other private investors owning the rest of the shares in the company.

TSMC
Image Source: openthenews.com

TSMC was founded at the time when companies like Intel, NEC, Fujitsu were already making their chips. But the business idea behind TSMC was to provide the other companies with the chips manufacturing service, saving lots of time and money for them. This idea attracted many customers for TSMC, not only from Taiwan but also the big-name companies from Silicon Valley.

When TSMC had just started its journey, IDMs was ruling the industry. But just in ten years in the business, TSMC was at the level of IDMs. In 1997, the company got listed on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first Taiwanese company to do so. The years 2000 onwards have been the year of pure growth for the company, and it added clients like AMD, Apple Inc., Broadcom Inc., Marvell, MediaTek, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Xilinx, NXP, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments to its customer list.

By the year 2011, TSMC had increased its research works by 39%. The same year the company also started the trial production of A5 SoC and A6 SoCs for Apple’s iPad and iPhone devices. In 2013, it was among the 100 most valued companies in the world on the FT Global 500 list. In 2014, TSMC was producing A8 and A8X SoCs for Apple, and it became the exclusive producer of A9X. The company surpassed the market capitalization of Intel in 2017 and became the world’s 10th most valuable company in 2020.

Morris Chang, The Founder TSMC

Morris Chang is known as one of the famous businessmen and the founder of TSMC. He was born in Ningbo, Chekiang, on 10 July 1931 and was brought up in British Hong Kong due to the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 1951, he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and obtained a graduate and postgraduate degree in mechanical engineering.

TSMC Founder
Image Source: forbes.com

After completing his education, he joined Sylvania Electric Products, and after working for three years at the company, he joined Texas Instruments in 1958. The latter sponsored Chang’s doctorate, and he joined Stanford University in 1964 to complete a PhD in electrical engineering. Chang spent 25 years of his career at Texas Instruments and was leading the company as the group vice president of its worldwide semiconductor business in the later years. After leaving TI in 1984, he also worked as the COO and president of General Instrument Corporation for one year.

The Taiwanese government wanted to work in the field of semiconductor, so it called back Chang to Taiwan and appointed him as the chairman and president of the newly established Industrial Technology Research Institute in 1985. Under his leadership, TSMC has become the largest semiconductor foundry in the world. During his time at TSMC, he served the company at various ranks, including the chairman and the CEO of TSMC. He retired as the CEO on 5 June 2018 from TSMC.

Philips

Philips – The Journey From Home Lighting to Healthcare.

Leave a Comment / Founder, Story, Tech Story / By

Philips started as a bulb manufacturing company and is still known as one, but there is more to it. The company has also emerged as one of the biggest healthcare technology companies. For its healthcare wing, the company works in three divisions, i.e., Personal Health, Connected Care, and Diagnosis & Treatment. For the past more than 120 years, the company has evolved as an innovative leader in the industry and is counted among the largest conglomerate. The company recorded annual revenue of €19.535 billion, with 81,592 employees working for it worldwide. 

A Brief Introduction

Philips is a multinational conglomerate mainly known for the production of audiovisual equipment and lighting. Gerard Philips and his father Frederik Philips founded the company on 15 May 1891 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company started as the manufacturer of the light bulb, but today its product list also includes a vast range of lighting products (including smart lights and home systems), audio products (wireless speakers, DJ mixers, Radio systems, hi-fi systems, headphones, etc.) as well as healthcare products (clinical informatics, imaging systems, diagnostic monitoring, etc.).

Philips
Image Source: channelnews.com.au

The Establishment of Philips

Gerard and his father Frederik started the Company in an empty factory building in Eindhoven in 1981, beginning with manufacturing the carbon-filament lamps and other electro-technical products. Though the two founders had high hopes with the company, they were unable to get a hold of the market. In 1895, Gerard’s younger brother, Anton, who was also an engineer, joined the company as a sales representative. The addition of Anton helped the company to get on the right track, and it started to grow.

By 1908, the Philips brothers had established the Philips Metaalgloeilampfabriek N.V. (Philips Metal Filament Lamp Factory Ltd.), and in four years, they founded Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken N.V. (Philips Lightbulb Factories Ltd.)., becoming a multinational company known as Philips Corporation.

In the 20s and 30s, the company experimented with the production of vacuum tubes, the first electric razor (Philishave) of the US, and radios (Chapel). The Philips razors are still a part of the Phillip product and quite popular among people.

In the late 30s, the company also experimented with the Stirling engine to promote the sales of its radios and developed an experimental engine capable of producing 16 W of shaft power. The generator became quite popular, and the company launched many versions of it. The ‘reversed Stirling engine’ cryocooler generator is the most popular among all the Philips Stirling engines.

Anticipating the danger of the Germans in the Netherlands during World War II in 1940, Anton Phillip with his other family members moved to the US, taking most of the Company’s capital. They established the North American Philips Company as part of Philips Corporation and moved the operations of the Eindhoven factory to Netherlands Antilles to keep the business running in the Netherlands. The company’s first factory in Eindhoven was destroyed during the war. As soon as the war ended the company headquarter was moved back to Eindhoven.

The Journey Afterwards

By the end of the 1940s, The company started to produce television sets and established a record label with the name Philips Records. In 1963, the company launched the audio Compact Audio Cassette tape and brought the first combination portable radio and a cassette recorder to the market. These recorders later became hugely popular as the boom box.

In 1972, the company launched the world’s first home video cassette recorder, and with time, enhanced its capabilities accordingly. The Company also introduced the first commercial LaserDisc standard and players and partnered with Sony to launch Compact Disc in 1982. The Company also tried its hands in the development of ICs and joined forces with ASM International in 1984, forming ASML.

At the beginning of the 90s, the company saw a financial loss. As an effect of that, it renamed N.V. Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken to Philips Electronics N.V. and established a new corporate division with the name Philips Electronics North America Corp in the US. In 1997, the company headquarters was also moved to Amsterdam. The company established a manufacturing unit for its semiconductor business in Silicon Valley in 1998.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the company entered into the healthcare technology business and acquired the Optiva Corporation renaming it Philips Oral Healthcare. The next year, the company completed the acquisition of Agilent Technologies’ Healthcare Solutions Group. The same year it also partnered with LG for a joint venture LG.Philips Displays. The company in order to expand in the healthcare business acquired Lifeline Systems (2006), Ximis, Inc. (2007), Respironics, Inc. (2007), and VISICU (2008).

In 2013, the company was renamed Royal Philips N.V., and in September 2014, the company split its operations into two major divisions, i.e., healthcare and consumer lifestyle. The company became more focused on healthcare and acquired companies like Volcano Corporation (2015) and Spectranetics Corp (2017). It also completed major investments in companies like Mytonomy (2017) and DEARhealth (2019). This led to the spinning off of Philips’ lighting division and the formation of an independent public company named Philips Lighting N.V., which later in 2018 was renamed Signify N.V.

The CEO: François Adrianus van Houten

Philips CEO
Image Source: ml-eu.globenewswire.com

François Adrianus van Houten is the current CEO of Royal Philips Electronics. Houten has an old connection with the company, as he is the son of one of the board of directors of the company. He was born on 26 April 1960 in the Netherlands and completed his graduation in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. As soon he completed his education, he joined Philips Data Systems, and since then he has been to different major positions in the company. In November 2014, he was appointed as the CEO of Philips Semiconductors, followed by holding the position of CEO at NXP in 2008. Finally, on 1 April 2011, he became the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Philips Electronics.

Epic Games vs Apple

Fortnite Developers Epic Games Drags Apple into Court; Calls Apple a Monopoly “Walled Garden”

Leave a Comment / apple, Gaming, News, Tech News / By

Apple and Epic Games attended the US court for the trial over App Store practices and regulations on Monday. Epic Games is the developer company of the famous Fortnite game, which accused Apple mainly for its high fees on App Store and Apple trying to establish its monopoly in the industry. The two companies clashed at the California federal court, and the revelations in the court have made people’s jaw drop.

Epic Games

Epic Games is a North Carolina-based video game and software developer and publisher company, best known for the development of Fornite and Unreal Engine. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney in 1991, who is also the current CEO of the company. Apart from Fortnite and Unreal Engine, Epic Games Store, Unreal series, and Gears of War series are Epic’s main products.

Why the Court Case?

Epic Games create games for both iOS and Android platforms. But recently, the company accused Apple of abuse of the power it holds over the software developers at the California federal court. According to Epic Games, Apple has an audience base of over 1 billion, and it charges up to 30% on in-app purchases and conducting App Store reviews, which is too much. Also, the company has got all the control over the apps on App Store, which gives Apple the power to deny access to apps whenever it wants.

The Epic lawyer, Katherine Forrest, stated in her first statement that Apple is trying to have its monopoly in the market and has turned into a monopoly “walled garden”, luring in developers and users to get more and more money out of them. Forrest also claimed that the tech giant currently is earning a profit of up to 78 percent from the apps. “The evidence will show unambiguously that Apple is a monopoly,” said Forrest while representing the case in the court.

Epic Games Vs Apple
Image Source: techstory.in

Karen Dunn is defending Apple in the case, and she refused to accept that Apple is trying to have a monopoly. Despite she claimed that Apple has no problems if Epic Games run its games on rival companies’ devices. Apple is just trying to sell a broad array of services and making ways in different fields. She also said that Apple has created a safe and open environment for the developers and the users for easy access to apps, and it not at all charging a high fee for providing privacy, reliability, and quality to the developers and its consumers.

Fortnite Brought in Over $9 Billion in 2019, Shows Documents

The court case has made the two companies public their important financial records of the past few years. These documents have given a glimpse of the gaming company Epic Games’ annual reports. According to these financial documents, Fortnite made more than $5 billion in its first year for Epic Games, and by 2019, it had brought in over $9 billion in total for the company in the two years. Though the number is quite high, Epic Games revealed that it only gained around $5.5 billion in profit from the two years.

These documents also showed a prediction for the year 2020. It revealed that the predicted revenue for 2020 was $3.6 billion, but according to CEO Tim Sweeney’s recent testimony, the company made around $5.1 billion from Fortnite alone. The documents also show that the company gained around $8 million in 2018 and $100 million in the next year through its other games.

Is Apple Being Monopolistic?

For many years, Apple has been charging developers a heavy fee for letting users download their app from the App Store. The company has banned downloading of apps from other sources to be used on Apple devices. So the developers are forced to pay the ‘fee’ so that they can access the huge Apple user base.

According to Tim Sweeney, Apple forces its unfavorable rules on the developers or they can’t have the access to the one billion iPhone users. Many other app developers are on Epic Games’ side and have criticized Apple for its monopolistic behavior. The debate in the court is on whether Apple should have the power to set all the rules and control the payment system or not. 

Kyocera Corporation

Kyocera Corporation – The Journey of Growth and Innovation

Leave a Comment / Founder, Story, Tech Story / By

Kyocera Corporation is a Japan-based high-quality ceramic component manufacturing company. Kyocera is known for its development work in the field of insulator ceramics and has ties with companies like Sony and Qualcomm. It is known for its quality products and has always introduced innovative technologies to the world. Kyocera Corporation is one of the first companies to produce fine ceramic components, and for the past 60 years, it is also one of the top ceramic component suppliers in the world.

The Establishment of Kyocera Corporation

Kyocera Corporation is a Japanese ceramics and electronics manufacturing company, operating in multiple regions of the world. The company has its headquarter based in Kyoto, Japan, and was founded in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori. Kyocera is specialized in the manufacturing of ceramic products and includes printers/multi-function devices, satellite phones, mobile phones, solar power generating systems, and advanced ceramics as its main products.  Kyocera is one of the first companies to introduce a battery-powered portable laptop.

Kyocera Corporation
Image Source: global.kyocera.com

As per the 2018 records, the total annual revenue of Kyocera was ¥1.577 trillion, and 70,153 are working for the company. Apart from Japan, Kyocera has expanded its business to countries like the US, Germany, India, and the UK.

The Founding Story

The history of Kyocera Corporation dates back to sixty years ago in 1959 when Kazuo Inamori founded the company as Kyoto Ceramic Company, Limited. He, along with his 28 colleagues from his previous job, raised a capital of 3 million yen to start the business. The company started its journey as the developer of ceramic components for electronic devices. Its flagship product was a ceramic insulator known as a Kelcima, an insulator used in the picture tubes of TVs.

In the early 60s, ICs had been introduced and had opened doors for new opportunities for the companies. Taking advantage of it, Kyocera also began to ship ceramic semiconductors that helped hugely in the growth of the company. By the mid of 70s, the company started to expand its operations and was manufacturing solar photovoltaic modules, biocompatible tooth- and joint-replacement systems, industrial cutting tools, consumer ceramics as well as lab-grown gemstones.

By the end of the decade, the company also began to invest in electronic equipment manufacturing and radio communication technologies. Kyocera acquired Yashica Company in 1983, and entered the optical technology business, and started to manufacture film and digital cameras. In the 80s, the company also shipped CD players, receivers, turntables, and cassette decks. In 1989, Kyocera acquired Elco Corporation, followed by the acquisition of AVX Corporation in 1990.

By the mid of 90s, photovoltaic solar energy products from the company became very famous, and Kyocera established a separate unit named Kyocera Solar Corporation for the same in Japan in 1996. To further expand its operation in the solar energy system, Kyocera merged its operations with Golden Genesis Company in 1999.

Kyocera began the new century by acquiring Mita Industrial Company, Limited, and mobile phone manufacturing operations of Qualcomm in 2000. In 2003, Kyocera entered India and established a mobile phone subsidiary named Kyocera Wireless India in Bangalore. The company is credited for being one of the first companies to introduce Color displays on entry-level CDMA Handsets. It is also the first one to launch the EOS concept phone at CTIA.

In 2010, Kyocera acquired the thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) design and manufacturing business Sony Mobile Display Corporation. The company also acquired Optrex Corporation in 2012 and SGS Tool Company in 2016.

The Founder: Kazuo Inamori

Kazuo Inamori, the founder of Kyocera, was born on 30 January 1932 in Kagoshima, Japan. He completed a graduate degree in Science from Kagoshima University in 1955. His first job was as a researcher at Shofu Industries of Kyoto. His work at the company taught him a lot about ceramic insulators, and he was encouraged to start his own ceramic insulator manufacturing business. So in 1959, he left the company to start Kyocera with the help of 28 staff members from Shofu Industries.

Kyocera Corporation Founder
Image Source: cdn-japantimes.com

Other than Kyocera, Inamori also founded Daini Denden (DDI) Corporation in 1984. In 2010 he was appointed as the CEO of Japan Airlines. He is also into philanthropy works. Inamori is a recipient of the Othmer Gold Medal for his contribution to progress in science and chemistry.

Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard – The Journey From Bankruptcy to World’s Largest Gaming Company.

Leave a Comment / Founder, Gaming, Story, Tech Story / By

Activision Blizzard is a famous gaming publisher based in Santa Monica, California, US. Though the company is only 13 years old, it has its roots related to the leading French media conglomerate, Vivendi SE, and 40 years old video game publisher, Activision, Inc. The two companies are big names in their industry, and Activision Blizzard is the result of an $18.8 billion merger held between the two in 2008. In the merger, Vivendi merged its game publishing unit with Activision and held a 52% majority stake in the new company. But by 2015, Activision acquired Activision Blizzard completely.

A Brief Introduction

Though the journey of Activision Blizzard has been quite small, it has been able to break many records in the field of the gaming industry. The company is now counted among the largest game companies in the world. In fact, it was the largest company in America and Europe based on its annual revenue in 2018. As of 2020, the recorded company revenue for Activision Blizzard was around US$8.09 billion, and 9,500 employees are working for it.

Activision Blizzard
Image Source: activisionblizzard.com

Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, King, Major League Gaming, Activision Blizzard Studios, and Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group are some of its subsidiaries.

The Founding of Activision Blizzard

Despite Activision was a famous gaming publisher, as time went by, massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming was taking all the limelight around 2005-06 and had become really popular in a very small time. Activision was struggling to reach out to a larger audience as it was still selling single-player games. To deal with this situation, Activision went on to talk to the French media conglomerate Vivendi, which owned a small gaming division itself. The two gaming subsidiaries of Vivendi were Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment, and Bobby Kotick, the owner of Activision, offered to invest in the latter to have access to Blizzard’s successful MMO, World of Warcraft.

On top of the offer, the CEO of Vivendi, Jean-Bernard Lévy, proposed to merge Vivendi Games with Activision on the condition of Vivendi keeping the majority stakes in the resultant company. Despite Kotick was concerned about his position in the new company, he knew that the merger would open new doors for it in the gaming industry. After proposing the same to the board of Activision, finally, on 9 July 2008, Vivendi and Activision together built Activision Blizzard. It was a US$18.9 billion deal, and Kotick was named the President as well as the CEO of the newly formed Activision Blizzard. Lévy holds the position of the Chairman of the company after replacing René Penisson. Even after the merger, the headquarters of the company remains in Monica, California, US.

Only after two years of its founding, the company became the largest video game publisher in the world. The company did not publish the titles under its name but used the name of its studios to release those titles. Call of Duty was the first and the most famous title published by Activision Blizzard. Almost all of its parts broke its own biggest launch records. The first part of the game was launched in 2009, and it grossed $310 million in a day.

In 2011, Activision Blizzard started its Skylanders franchise, the creators of Spyro’s Adventure. Activision paid a sum of $5.83 billion to the partner Vivendi and acquired 80% of the latter’s share in the company, bringing Vivendi to 11.8% of the ownership of Activision Blizzard. In 2016, Vivendi sold the rest of its shares to Activision, exiting from the partnership. This way, Activision took the company under its control completely.

The next famous title from Activision Blizzard was Destiny, released in September 2014. It broke the launch day sales record by bringing in over $500 million in retail sales on the first day of its launch. In November 2015, the company acquired the social gaming company King, the developer of the famous Candy Crush Saga. The company listed in Fortune 500 in June 2017.

Titles Published by Activision Blizzard

Call of Duty series, Crash Bandicoot series, Guitar Hero series,  Skylanders series, Spyro the Dragon series, Tony Hawk’s series, Diablo series, Hearthstone Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch StarCraft series, Warcraft series, and Candy Crush Saga, are some of the most in-demand titles by Activision Blizzard.

Activision Blizzard
Image Source: mms.businesswire.com

The CEO: Robert A. Kotick

Robert A. Kotick is currently serving as the President and the CEO of the company. He was born in 1963 and is a native of the US. Kotick is a famous businessman, and it was from his childhood when he started to show the qualities of a businessman. He was in high school when he ran a business renting out Manhattan clubs on off nights.

In the early 80s, he joined the University of Michigan, where he studied Art History. He was still in college when he started a software development company called Arktronics. He became part of Activision when he and his partner Brian Kelly bought a 25% stake in Mediagenic (which later became Activision) in December 1990. The company was at the stage of bankruptcy at that time. Kotick is responsible for the restructuring of Mediagenic into Activision, and later, into Activision Blizzard.