Vivendi views Microsoft as a potential buyer for its majority share in Call of Duty publisher Activision, after last month announcing plans to offload its 61 percent ownership.

Reuters is reporting that Vivendi has appointed a bank to seek out a potential buyer for the shares, the list includes Microsoft, Time Warner, and Tencent, provider of China’s largest online gaming portal, which recently announced a deal with Activision to release Call of Duty Online in China.

A Reuters source said, “They probably don’t want to distract themselves too much, but they are the ones who, if they want to stay in games, would think about owning some of these big franchises, not just providing the consoles.” The source also mentioned that the stake could be worth as much as $10 billion.

Owning a majority share in Activision must seem like a very tempting offer for Microsoft, but it’s an awful lot of money to throw down in this economic climate.

Would you be happy to see Microsoft buy the shares or should they stay away?

Source: Reuters