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 Posted: Sun, 24th Feb 2008 23:27 Post subject: Electronic Arts Offers $2 Billion for Take-Two |
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/technology/25game-web.html?ref=business
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Electronic Arts, the video gaming giant, made an unsolicited $2 billion bid on Sunday for rival Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, a deal that would further a wave of consolidation in the rapidly growing industry.
Electronic Arts, which publishes hit games like the Madden N.F.L. and Need for Speed series, offered to pay $26 a share for Take-Two, a 50 percent premium over its share price of $17.36 on Friday. The offer was made publicly after a series of private offers to Take-Two were rejected by its board.
Electronic Arts approached Take Two with a $26-a-share offer on Feb. 19, up from $25 share it initially offered on Feb. 15.
The timing of the bid appears to be an attempt to acquire Take-Two before it releases what is widely expected to be the top-selling game of 2008, the fourth installment of the crime thriller Grand Theft Auto. The Grand Theft Auto franchise, Take-Two’s crown jewel, has sold more than 60 million copies since Grand Theft Auto III took the game industry by storm in 2001.
Through its Rockstar subsidiary, Take-Two is scheduled to release the game on April 29 for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 consoles. If it lives up to consumers’ expectations, the game is expected to sell 10 million copies or more by the end of the year, which would almost certainly make Take-Two more expensive.
Electronic Art’s dominance has been strongly challenged by Activision. Not only has Activision had a recent string of hits, notably Guitar Hero, it also recently agreed to buy Vivendi’s game division to form a company called Activision Blizzard.
At the same time, E.A. has endured a growing chorus of criticism from some investors who say the company has lost its creative and innovative edge.
There is little doubt that E.A. remains the juggernaut of the video game industry. But it has come to rely heavily on sequels.
A merger with Take-Two would be a union of two vastly different companies. E.A. has a reputation for steady growth and fiscal discipline, while Take-Two is known as a mercurial one-hit wonder.
Electronic Arts said it was making its offer public to “bring its proposal to the attention of all Take-Two shareholders.” In a telephone interview on Sunday, Electronic Arts’ chief executive, John Riccitiello, said, “It is an enormous premium,” suggesting that rather than consider the offer hostile, “We think of ourselves as a ‘white knight.’ ”
Take-Two was far less generous. In a statement, Strauss Zelnick, the company’s chairman, said, “Electronic Arts’ proposal provides insufficient value to our shareholders and comes at absolutely the wrong time given the crucial initiatives under way at the company,” referring to the new Grand Theft Auto and other products.
Mr. Riccitiello said, however, he believed that Take-Two’s stock price already reflected an expectation among investors that Grand Theft Auto IV would be a success, and that Take-Two would become less valuable to E.A. after the game’s introduction than it was now.
Mr. Riccitiello said his offer’s timing reflected a desire to integrate Take-Two’s operations with E.A.’s before the all-important holiday shopping season. He said he had formed a relationship in recent years with Sam Houser, one of Rockstar’s founders, but added that he had avoided contacting Mr. Houser while pursuing his negotiations with Mr. Zelnick.
Mr. Zelnick said that Take-Two had offered to initiate discussions with Electronic Arts on April 30, the the day after Grand Theft Auto IV was scheduled for release. “We believe this offer demonstrated our commitment to pursuing all avenues to maximize stockholder value, while we believe that E.A.’s refusal to entertain this path is evidence of their desire to acquire Take-Two at a significant discount,” he said.Mr. Riccitiello refused to speculate about what steps he would take next, but it is possible that Electronic Arts could pursue a proxy contest to oust the board.
Over the next several weeks, Mr. Riccitiello’s main challenge will be to persuade investors to accept the deal and convince employees that Electronic Arts will respect the creative autonomy of Take-Two’s various development teams. Over the last decade, E.A. has acquired many high-profile game studios, including Westwood (the Command & Conquer series), Bullfrog Productions (Populous) and Origin Systems (Ultima), which essentially dissolved after Electronic Arts tried to direct and homogenize their creative output.
Any deal for Take-Two would be largely empty if Take-Two teams like Rockstar and Ken Levine’s group at 2K Boston, which recently released the acclaimed game BioShock, were to depart rather than work for E.A.
Mr. Riccitiello seems aware of the danger and is taking steps to convince the game industry of E.A.’s newfound respect for creative talent. At a well-received speech at an industry conference in Las Vegas earlier this month Mr. Riccitiello promised that in future deals, Electronic Arts would avoid killing the creative golden goose as it has in the past.
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| Posted: Sun, 24th Feb 2008 23:36 Post subject: |
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I don't think you have any idea how much i hate EA and their fucking monopoly over the gaming industry (and it's getting worse and worse). They are all about quantity over quality
Can someone pull an antitrust lawsuit on their ass please ? I'm not sure it would even be feasible but i'm just pissed that they keep buying more and more companies. This stiffle creativity and is very bad for gaming as a whole.
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Epsilon
Dr. Strangelove
Posts: 9240
Location: War Room
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| Posted: Sun, 24th Feb 2008 23:51 Post subject: |
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I couldn't care less, it's capitalism. It's not as if theres a fixed amount of creative people in the world, new talents rise and fall all the time.
You just have to get used to the fact that not all good games 'needs' the latest shader effects and hollywood soundtracks to be enjoyable.
Once you realise that, you'll find that many innovative games are still being made, innovative in gameplay that is.
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 00:03 Post subject: |
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| Epsilon wrote: | You just have to get used to the fact that not all good games 'needs' the latest shader effects and hollywood soundtracks to be enjoyable.
Once you realise that, you'll find that many innovative games are still being made, innovative in gameplay that is. |
I don't know whether it's due to nostalgia or simply to the fact that games aren't as good as they used to be, but I find myself enjoying older games much more than newer ones.
And believe me, I couldn't care less about graphics
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 00:31 Post subject: |
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great news, this could bring gta4 faster to pc
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
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Location: Ramat Gan, Israel 🇮🇱
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 00:32 Post subject: |
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| Epsilon wrote: | You just have to get used to the fact that not all good games 'needs' the latest shader effects and hollywood soundtracks to be enjoyable.
Once you realise that, you'll find that many innovative games are still being made, innovative in gameplay that is. |
Yes, but imagine those innovative games using the latest shaders and Hollywood soundtracks... I think it would be a much more enjoyable experience and best of both worlds. |
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Epsilon
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 00:55 Post subject: |
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| LeoNatan wrote: | | Epsilon wrote: | You just have to get used to the fact that not all good games 'needs' the latest shader effects and hollywood soundtracks to be enjoyable.
Once you realise that, you'll find that many innovative games are still being made, innovative in gameplay that is. |
Yes, but imagine those innovative games using the latest shaders and Hollywood soundtracks... I think it would be a much more enjoyable experience and best of both worlds. |
Without question, but creativity have always vaned once the publisher starts to focus on graphics and instant gratification. |
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LeoNatan
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 00:58 Post subject: |
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Yes, that's sadly true. But look at what has happened so many times. An independent dev makes a great game (or any other product), big company sees said product, sees potential revenues and buys independent dev.  Money always wins. No one is willing to stand to such big companies when such huge offers are made.
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 01:27 Post subject: |
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I remember WESTWOOD= red alert, look what they did there, monopoly is never good...
ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe- AMD 64x2 6000 windsor 125w- 4 gig OCZ gold ddr 800- nvidia MSI 8800gt 512 OC- Audigy 2zs platinum- WD 250g sata 3 16mb -1 liteon dvd r/w non combo- Vista ultimate x64 -Antec 900 gamer -Coolmaster pro 650 psu
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Serben
Banned
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Location: Sweden
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LeoNatan
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 01:34 Post subject: |
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Yeah, they all say that... Until they sell out. 
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Serben
Banned
Posts: 1428
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 01:35 Post subject: |
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I'm a communist. Money means almost nothing to me. As long as i have a decent computer, a fast connection, and a giganews account, i'm all good. Everything else i can live without.
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Epsilon
Dr. Strangelove
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 01:39 Post subject: |
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Yes thats one of the reasons that I work where I do, this company still believes in the vision on which it was founded, so many years later.
I could never work for someone at a prolonged period if they were only in it for the money.
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LeoNatan
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 01:39 Post subject: |
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Say that when you have 3 kids and a wife.
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 01:40 Post subject: |
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That's great! We don't need all this competition. Choice is bad.
...
And so the weakness of capitalism is revealed; eventually someone will become rich enough to just buy up everyone else and thus get rid of all competition.
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Serben
Banned
Posts: 1428
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 01:43 Post subject: |
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| LeoNatan wrote: | | Say that when you have 3 kids and a wife. |
I would give them the bare essentials, nothing more. If they want fancy toys/jewelery because all the "other" kids/wives have them, they can go get jobs of their own. Any family member whose affections can only be bought with material trinkets is a family member who might as well be a complete stranger.
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LeoNatan
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Posts: 73196
Location: Ramat Gan, Israel 🇮🇱
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 01:51 Post subject: |
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| Raap wrote: | | eventually someone will become rich enough to just buy up everyone else and thus get rid of all competition. |
You mean when MS buys EA?  |
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 02:04 Post subject: |
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That'll be the day. I'll actually laugh. At least there'll be no losers then, since EA only produce crap anyway ^_*
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 02:13 Post subject: |
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| Serben wrote: | | LeoNatan wrote: | | Say that when you have 3 kids and a wife. |
I would give them the bare essentials, nothing more. If they want fancy toys/jewelery because all the "other" kids/wives have them, they can go get jobs of their own. Any family member whose affections can only be bought with material trinkets is a family member who might as well be a complete stranger. |
The Sweden dwelling communist with his hard-boiled life plan. Hahaha, you're still in your teens right?
"Techniclly speaking, Beta-Manboi didnt inject Burberry_Massi with Benz, he injected him with liquid that had air bubbles in it, which caused benz." - House M.D
"Faith without logic is the same as knowledge without understanding; meaningless"
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 04:30 Post subject: |
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After GTA4 comes out, take two will buy EA and M$, and with spare money they will buy Warner Bros to make a movie about themselves.
Sig too big. -Nothing is too big for Fedor. Expect a nasty armbar.
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 06:01 Post subject: |
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Atleast EA will not have the chance to fuck with this game.
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Karmeck
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Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 08:05 Post subject: |
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Another great company ruined. But well, judging latest interviews with EA's directors they don't seem to like their current state of games at all, so maybe they will improve it. At least there's now LOTS OF improvements possible.
PC: Yes. Console: No.
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Weedo
Posts: 1506
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 08:41 Post subject: |
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Rockstar in EA's hands? Then we can say goodbye to all the violence, crime and controversy of their games.
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Serben
Banned
Posts: 1428
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 09:15 Post subject: |
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| AnimalMother wrote: |
The Sweden dwelling communist with his hard-boiled life plan. Hahaha, you're still in your teens right? |
No, i'm not. And what the fuck makes you think that just because YOU'RE a sellout, that i will be one? You make it sound as if selling out to some huge corporation to support the proverbial wife and kids is some kind of necessity of life. Does your wife/girlfriend and/or kids always whine about how they want you to buy them shit? Is that the only way you can get them to like you? Because then you've seriously failed in life. And if you weren't talking about that, but instead other shit like retirement and bills and shit, i've got that covered. You must think i'm some kind of hippie who thinks he can live off sunshine. If i ever have a family, i will make sure they are taken care of, and i will put money away for my retirement and pay all the bills and shit. But if they start demanding trivial material bullshit, they can fuck right off.
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Serben
Banned
Posts: 1428
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Feb 2008 09:17 Post subject: |
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| Epsilon wrote: | Yes thats one of the reasons that I work where I do, this company still believes in the vision on which it was founded, so many years later.
I could never work for someone at a prolonged period if they were only in it for the money. |
That's fucking great man. I respect someone who stands by their principles.
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) on them, and tell them to go fuck their mothers. If i had a great product, i wouldn't have to sell out, since i'd make money anyway. If i didn't, then i'd have no business in the game business in the first place. So i don't see the point of selling out. I wish more people were like Bruce Springsteen and had the balls to tell all the corporate whores to fuck off and refuse to sell out.
