The touted merger between publishers Activision and Vivendi may not be all rainbows and butterflies for everyone involved. A report has recently suggested that Vivendi's veteran Sierra Entertainment label may have to take a back seat to Activision management.

In "The Cut Scene" blog over at Variety, Ben Fritz says that sources close to the matter are saying that the merger will mean changes for a lot of Vivendi labels. While star devs Blizzard are certainly unmovable, everyone else including Sierra may have to conform to some serious changes.

"Activision obviously made the deal to get its hands on the biggest MMO, and really the biggest game, in the industry (World of Warcraft)," comments Fritz. He says that all other Vivendi properties are practical afterthoughts whose makers will be affected in one way or another when the dust settles.

He continues "until the merger is technically complete, work proceeds as usual, but once it's over, Activision will start making some decisions". He then said that it's "unlikely" that everything in Sierra will go on like it used to.

Fritz seals his case by comparing the situation to a new management taking over a film studio. He says some projects will inevitably get killed or changed as the handlers see fit. This is certainly an interesting prediction worth keeping an open eye out for.