We're almost at #1! If you missed any or all of the 2007 Person of the Year Awards, here's a quick rundown:

Number five: former GameSpot editorial director Jeff Gertsmann

Number four: Xbox Live Group Product Manager Aaron Greenberg

Number three: Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos

Also, please don't forget about our Readers' Choice Award. Time is running out to vote. We will announce on Dec. 18. Although there is a clear leader at this point, enough nominations for another individual could still turn the tide.

Time to reveal our second pick...

While we selected Alex Rigopulos at #3 for his inspiring contributions to the game music genre, our next award goes to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick.

Rigopulos may have created Guitar Hero, but Kotick and Activision had the business acumen to lock up the franchise. From a business perspective (and this is GameDaily BIZ after all), Activision recognized the incredible potential of the music genre and particularly of the Guitar Hero brand, which seemingly continues to grow by the day. In November alone, Guitar Hero III sold 1.9 million units across all platforms in the U.S. And, year-to-date the title has sold 3.3 million units in the U.S., with Guitar Hero 2 close behind at 3.1 million units (according to NPD data).

Under Kotick's leadership, Activision's growth this year has been truly phenomenal. Back in July, the company became the first independent publisher this decade to overtake leading third party Electronic Arts (for the first half of calendar 2007). Not surprisingly, Guitar Hero was credited for this in part as well. Chief Financial Officer Thomas Tippl noted that the series was "the fastest Activision brand in the company's history to hit $1 billion in sales."

More recently, for the publisher's second fiscal quarter and first half ended September 30, Activision's net revenues in Q2 were its highest in the company's history while first half revenues more than doubled to $813.2 million.

And while Guitar Hero is certainly a huge contributor, what makes Activision so successful is the breadth of its portfolio. Top series like Call of Duty and Tony Hawk don't seem to suffer from franchise fatigue; in fact Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare just obliterated the competition in the U.S. during November with more than two million units sold across Xbox 360 and PS3. And even Activision's many license/movie-based games such as Spider-Man, Shrek and Transformers continue to do well despite lukewarm reviews.

Furthermore, Kotick and Activision made two hugely strategic moves in 2007. In late September the company surprised the industry by acquiring developer Bizarre Creations, the studio behind the very popular Project Gotham Racing franchise on Xbox. The move eliminated one of Activision's weaknesses – a lack of racing titles. Although the Project Gotham series remains a Microsoft IP, the purchase of Bizarre gives Activision immediate entry into the important racing genre with a talented staff that knows how to craft 'AAA' racing titles.

Of course, the second strategic move is the one that the industry will still be talking about for years to come: Activision Blizzard. The mega merger between Activision and the Vivendi Games unit immediately made the publisher a real superpower, a legitimate #1. It also eliminated several more of the company's weaknesses by providing them with the biggest property in online entertainment (World of Warcraft), a presence in the Far East, and far stronger global distribution. In the blink of an eye, Activision rose from practically nothing to a leader in the online space.

As Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime revealed recently, he and Kotick had been talking about working together for some time prior to the merger and you can be sure that Kotick played a large part in orchestrating the monumental deal. Kotick will lead the new Activision Blizzard entity for good reason; as CEO since 1991 he's largely credited with overhauling a company that was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy to turn it into one of the most successful video game companies of the last decade. Fast forward to 2007, and Activision is now is now expecting its 16th consecutive year of revenue growth.

Bravo, Mr. Kotick. Bravo.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for our top pick and your Readers' Choice.