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EA Trying to Buy Ubisoft Shares
jujubees writes "What is going on with Electronic Arts these days? This morning it was revealed that EA is trying to acquire 19.9% of the Ubisoft shares owned by Dutch investment company Talpa Beheer B.V. If approved by the US Antitrust department, the buyout would instantly make EA the biggest shareholder, ahead of the Guillemot brothers. Whether this is a hostile takeover attempt is not clear at this point, no financial terms were disclosed." An anonymous reader also wrote in to mention a GamePro Editorial about the company, regarding its past as an honorable games-maker and its current reputation.
It is a very sad time for EA right now. I saw a "history of video games" type show on GSN a few months ago. On it, they had some of the original guys from Electronic Arts... they talked about how EA was formed to give developers more freedom, and to make better games. It was founded on the idea that one day video games could be considered an art form. Hearing that almost made me cry. EA is just about the worst comapany against all those things it once stood for. I'm glad to see people are finally realizing what EA's really like, even though I've been saying it (and boycotting) for years...
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
I'm not sure how approaching someone to purchase a 20% stake is considered by some as a hostile takeover.
As far as employment goes, if you recall previous stories, many developers left Ubisoft to work at EA. In fact, Ubisoft was one of the companies who sued the employees claiming they should not be allowed to work for a competitor in the game industry since they signed a non-compete clause.
In the bigger picture, this consolidation is inevitable and it sucks. With the recent article about the Game Industry overtaking Hollywood, those same business techniques will be used. Expect little innovation. They will do what they think will work without risk (ie; Halo 3, Far Cry 2, WOW 2, Doom 4, expansion packs). Just like the movie/television industry...find a hit with something, cookie cutter it, and sell it until everyone was sick of it a year ago.
Personally, I've never been a fan of EA games - partly because I don't care for the sports genre, but partly because EA's model seems to be; release the same game yearly with some tweaks. ie; 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005. It similar to the Intuit/Quicken model. Release to generate a steady revenue stream, not because of innovation.