(Note: This is the second of four news items from my reporting on the Activision Blizzard merger, which closed today. For the bigger picture, check out my story in tomorrow's Daily Variety about the impact of the deal on the entertainment biz, and, my story in weekly Variety about how a single game sparked the biggest deal in videogame history)

There was never a question that almost all the value Vivendi Games brought to its merger with Activision is in Blizzard and most of that value is in "World of Warcraft." The new company's being called Activision Blizzard for a reason.

But a big question for the past few months has been what would happen to the rest of Vivendi Games, especially its substantial Sierra-branded console publishing biz. Sierra has several internal development studios, including Radical, High Moon, Swordfish, and Massive. It has a number of games in the works, such as "Brutal Legend," (right) "Prototype," (below right) and "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand." It also has a few key licenses that it is actively developing, such as "Ghostbusters" (below left) and the Robert Ludlum estate, particularly Bourne (the first Bourne game just came out and a second is in the works).

As I reported earlier in March, Activision has been reviewing all the projects in the Sierra pipeline. As of now, no specific decisions have been made, or at least nobody wants to tell me those decisions yet since they probably want to inform the people involved first, which they haven't been allowed to do until the merger closed. However I can report with certainty that at least some games and studios won't make the cut.

"We have a very good view into which products are going to have the prospects for profits that we look for," Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick told me. "Which ones have the margin potential that is important to us, which can be sequelled, which have worldwide distribution potential... If projects or business units don't meed our requirements for return to our shareholders and our profitability and operating margin targets consistent with our historical performance, they won't likely be retained."

You can expect that bar to be very high. Kotick has always bragged that Activision focuses on a few core franchises that it invests in heavily (thus the four "Guitar Hero" games this year, "Call of Duty" every fall, etc.). Just being a promising game that could turn a profit isn't enough.

So does that mean if Bobby Kotick and his team don't like the project or the studio, they're toast? Not necessarily. Vivendi Games CEO Bruce Hack, who's now Vice Chairman and Chief Corporate Officer of Activision Blizzard, said assets that don't meet the financial criteria of the new company could be "divested or closed down." "There are some very good assets that may not meet the hurdle," he explained.

That word "divested" is key -- Publishers interested in picking up games in the works and development talent should be taking a close look at Sierra's assets, as much of it could be on sale soon.

Vivendi's non-Blizzard developers aren't the only ones at risk of losing their jobs. Since Activision management will be largely running the new company, Vivendi Games' corporate staff will see some big cuts.

"We are in large part using the Activision organization as a backbone," said Hack, who is leading the process of integrating the two companies. "We will strengthen that backbone with employees and processes from Vivendi Games. At the same time, there will be a number of people at Vivendi Games who are going to be terminated."

Whether it's projects, developers, or corporate staff, Hack said the goal is to inform everybody about their fate within 30 days.

Any thoughts on particular games you'd like to see survive? "Brutal Legend?" "Ghostbusters?" "Prototype?" Do you think the Bourne games can co-exist with Activision's upcoming James Bond titles? Can't wait for the "50 Cent: Bulletproof" follow-up?  Dying to see another "Crash Bandicoot" sequel (I'd like to meet that person)? Are you a big fan of Radical or High Moon? Feel free to drop your hopes and wishes in the comments.