Made up of Activision and Vivendi Games, the soon-to-be combined entity that is to be called Activision Blizzard got a thumbs up from analysts after stocks from both original companies rose.

Activision stocks rose 17.4% and Vivendi's stocks rose 2.7% when news of the merger went out. Among the more prominent analysts who expect Activision Blizzard to do well are Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian and Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter.

Sebastian notes that the combination is a good one, looking at the companies' portfolios and business models. He believes that the company could "occupy leadership positions" in mass-market and "fast-growing and high-margin" online video games.

Pachter is similarly optimistic, saying:

We are generally positive on the combination, as we think it strengthens Activision's product offering and expands its geographic reach, while allowing Vivendi to further monetize its success with World of Warcraft.