What is Electronic Arts thinking? The video game giant says it wants to buy Take-Two Interactive, the company behind the Grand Theft Auto francise, but it doesn't seem like it's in any hurry. Since making its original offer in February, the EA (ERTS) has lowered its bid, then continually extended its offer, even though Take-Two (TTWO) management and shareholders have been holding out for more money.
Here's a theory that's been making the rounds recently: EA will be bailing out very soon. It's only sticking around for the time being, the argument goes, because it's waiting for Federal regulators to sign off on a theoretical acquisition. And that approval should be in the works, since Take-Two decided last week to cooperate with the FTC and avoid a court date.
What happens once EA gets Hart-Scott clearance? In theory:
- EA makes one last now-or-never offer to TTWO shareholders, perhaps for a bit more than its current $25.74.
- Then it walks away.
- Then TTWO shares plunge back into the teens, where they'd been prior to EA's original bid.
- Then EA comes back in a few months, or later next year, and makes a similarly sized offer, which desparate TTWO owners agree to right away...
New report from Skillsearch found that 22% of those surveyed had been laid off within the past 12 months.
It's a step forward for Stop Killing Games.
The Callisto Protocol director thinks the solution involves the right people, the right timing, and perhaps a little bit of AI
I don't agree with that. I WISH I could agree with that. But buying habits and customer opinions prove otherwise
We've seen developers in the AAA space try new things and ideas. More often than not, the customers aren't willing to give things a chance, or not enough people buy into the project for it to grow.
Creativity works better in the indie space because the budgets, pressures, and expectations aren't the same.
it's a nice idea and it worked during the PS2/PS3-era when AAA didn't cost hundreds of millions of dollars. smaller budgets and shorter development time left room for more creativity and more risk. a game didn't need to sell 4 million+ copies to break even. things are different now.
This is the guy who bragged about crunching his staff and having them work through the night. Crunch culture has lost more talent and done more damage to the industry than any other factor. Screw him.
when ea can learn that not everyone wants to be bought
I would after that giant $#*T wad they dropped in our laps called GTA4.