EA Makes A Bid For Take Two: Soon You'll Be Able To Shoot John Madden In GTA
from the who-will-make-a-video-game-about-a-consolidating-market? dept
It really was only a matter of time after the announced ActiBlizsion merger that someone was going to make a bid for Take Two Interactive, makers of the super popular (if controversial) Grand Theft Auto series of video games. Given Activision and Blizzard are focusing on their own merger, it probably makes sense that industry leader EA has stepped up to make the Take Two bid. EA apparently tried to get Take Two's board to agree to a deal, but when it turned EA's offer down (at a rather large premium), EA decided to go directly to the shareholders in a hostile bid. Take Two claims that the current offer undervalues the company (despite being a 64% premium on the stock price) because it expects the company's stock to rise after it releases the next edition of GTA in the spring. Of course, aren't stock prices supposed to reflect that kind of thing already?
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: consolidation, video games
Companies: ea, take two
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Video Game making companies
Have a hunch it will highly make the gaming market very bland.
Thank gawd that video game startups are easier than other fields.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
That would be the end of GTA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: That would be the end of GTA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: That would be the end of GTA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: That would be the end of GTA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
New Slogan for EA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Fire the board
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ditto to all the comments...
You know... I have no beef with EA other than their ability to work their developers and staff into the ground with almost 80 hour work weeks, removing the developers creativity and vision with their own "view" of how the games should be developed, and their skill to make enjoyable titles disappear. Other than that... they're pretty keen. :-/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Ditto to all the comments...
Well that might not be true but it would still sell huge numbers even with that AO rating. You could then turn to its critics and say "what do you want, it has the highest rating possible." Maybe other publishers would take a chance at AO games.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ummm...
They're like Ubisoft...
I think the only games they really "develop" are the sports series.
But, how they will impact the "acquired" developers is in their marketing strategy and how a particular game "style" or "topic" will affect EA's reputation and stocks. That's where the big issue lies. They now have the power to say that they won't publish a particular game because of its public abrasiveness for example.
You wouldn't see a game like Postal 2 coming from EA or Ubisoft. Stocks rule the world my friends and big businesses just want more money. They're not in it for the "fun" of it. It's the money.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
!!!!
Seriously didn't EA announce plans to stop doing this cause they realized they were destroying every company they "assimilated?"
Would some one please put EA down already.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Valve pwns
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's anti-competitive
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re #6 syn-ack
Second, I am going to say that is what is wrong with a great many companies and the public today.
Way way too focused on the here and now, with zero long term goals.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]