It's finally the day where all gamers can rejoice for the fact that EA has dropped there $2 billion bid to acquire Take-Two. This comes to us as a shock after the Federal Trade Commission said a few weeks ago that it had conducted an investigation of a merger of the companies, but said no further action was required and closed the investigation. EA released a statement earlier on Sunday and had this to say.
"After careful consideration, including a management presentation and review of other due diligence materials provided by Take-Two Interactive Software, EA has decided not to make a proposal to acquire Take-Two and has terminated discussions with Take-Two," EA said in a statement Sunday.
Over at Take-Two they released this statement
“We remain focused on creating value for our stockholders and our consumers. This has been our goal since EA launched its conditional and unsolicited bid six months ago, a bid which was repeatedly rejected by our stockholders. As part of that commitment, we remain actively engaged in discussions with other parties in the context of our formal process to consider strategic alternatives.”
Source: CNet News
Take-Two has just released the third quarter fiscal 2008 results. As expected, Grand Theft Auto IV sold well, moving over 10 million units. EA's offer was a costly offer for Take-Two as professional fees and legal expenses racked up a bill of $10.7 million. The results also bring news that may make you want to smash your computer. Midnight Club: Los Angeles has been delayed for a third time. The new release dates are October 21st and October 24th in North America and Europe, respectively. Though the thing that surprised me was that Bully for the PC wasn't mentioned in the press release or the conference call which has already been quietly announced by Rockstar.
Press Release: Third Quarter Fiscal 2008 Financial Results
Take-Two has announced that they will be having their Conference Call for the Third Quarter Fiscal 2008 on Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 4:30 PM EDT.
From the press release:
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a leading worldwide publisher, developer and distributor of interactive entertainment software, hardware and accessories.
Take-Two's product offerings include titles for the leading hardware platforms - PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, Xbox 360® and Xbox® video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft, Wii™, Nintendo GameCube™, Nintendo DS™ and Game Boy® Advance, and for the PC. The Company publishes and develops products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games, 2K Games, 2K Sports and 2K Play; and distributes software, hardware and accessories in North America through its Jack of All Games subsidiary.
The Company's proprietary brand franchises include Grand Theft Auto, Sid Meier's Civilization®, Max Payne, Midnight Club, Manhunt, Red Dead Revolver, BioShock, Sid Meier's Railroads!®, Sid Meier's Pirates!™, and Top Spin. Licensed brands include the sports games Major League Baseball® 2K, NBA® 2K, NHL® 2K, and College Hoops 2K.
Take-Two is headquartered in New York City, with its international headquarters based in Geneva. The Company has development studios in Edinburgh, San Diego, Vancouver, Toronto, Leeds (England), London, Novato (California), Quincy (Massachusetts), Hunt Valley (Maryland), Canberra (Australia), Camarillo (California), Bellevue (Washington), Gateshead (England), Shanghai, and Paris; product testing studios in Lincoln (England), Northridge (California), and New York; sales and marketing offices in New York, Geneva, London, Paris, Munich, Madrid, Milan, Sydney, Breda (Netherlands), and Albany (New Zealand); and distribution facilities in West Chester (Ohio) and Mississauga (Canada).
Take-Two's common stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TTWO.
Check back for all the information released during the call on Thursday.
Just moments ago, Take-Two held a press event for this years E3. Unlike last years press conference, bloggers from Gamespot and IGN could actually blog about the event. Two things from Rockstar were revealed at the conference. Firstly, a new trailer for Midnight Club: Los Angeles was shown. According to Gamespot, the trailer showed "Shots of detailed street racing that were accompanied by pumping techno from French DJ duo Justice." Hopefully, Rockstar will release the trailer very soon. The second thing from Rockstar that was shown was the logo for the next Red Dead Revolver game. Neither of the bloggers went into detail about the logo. Most likely at the request of Rockstar. The next Grand Theft Auto, Chinatown Wars, was briefly talked about but no new information was mentioned.
EDIT: Gamespot has since changed their story about seeing the logo for the next Red Dead Revolver. It seems the author confused the first Red Dead Revolver logo as the logo for the upcoming sequel. My question is, how do you get them confused? If it was the logo for a squeal, you would have clearly seen a "2" next or on the logo. Go figure. I suppose the information about seeing the next trailer for MC:LA is also a "mix up".
Source: Gamespot
It's a very rare honor to have the chance to talk to this man, Sam Houser, the brains behind 'Grand Theft Auto' and many other very successful gaming series' developed by Rockstar Games. Grand Theft Auto IV is obviously his latest and undoubtably his most popular creation yet. Recently he has been talking to the media about himself and his games, something he very rarely does. The Houser Brothers, Sam and Dan, don't like having the spotlight put onto them, they rather people discuss their games rather then them themselves; very nobal really.
The Wall Street Journal has been lucky enough to speak with Sam Houser about Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar, the EA vs. Take-Two takeover and himself as a whole. The article is a must read for anybody who enjoy's hearing about the behind-the-scenes happenings of Rockstar Games, you can see the full article here. Below are some snippets we felt you might link to read, however we do insist you read the full article, it's well worth the read...
On Sam Houser:
Mr. Houser, 36 years old, sports a scruffy beard that stretches to the top of his chest. In a rare interview, he joked that associates have described him as a "lunatic" -- a reference to his creative intensity. Last year his studio hired a spiritual healer to exorcise bad vibes after the deaths of two fellow employees. He makes a habit of walking the streets of New York to study a hidden underworld of ex-cons, vagrants and other Diane Arbus-worthy subjects. Some of them have inspired characters in his games.
He's also a man of contradictions. "I'm about the most conservative guy you'll ever meet," says Mr. Houser, who lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two young children. "I have a panic attack if I get a parking ticket."
On Rockstar:
The "talent" at Rockstar, as they're called internally, make star-caliber money and might find EA's more traditional pay structure jarring. In 2005, a particularly strong year, Take-Two paid royalties of $84 million, according to company filings. The bulk of funds, say people familiar with the matter, went to Mr. Houser and other Rockstar executives. If EA succeeds in acquiring Take-Two, some analysts believe EA's star developers might demand a bigger share of game proceeds.
Another possible kink: Rockstar's history of autonomy. If EA ends up with Take-Two, Mr. Houser says it's unlikely that he would go so far as to seek EA's approval for game content. Still, he calls Mr. Riccitiello "the real deal" and sees some appeal in an EA alliance, which he says would make Rockstar a "much smaller fish in much bigger pond."
"I'm not someone who has any kind of problem with that," says Mr. Houser, who says EA turned him down for a job in the late 1990s. [Ironic really isn't it? They turned him down for a job a mer 15 years ago (if not less...) now they would kill to have his million dollar studios under there belt.]
The journal also showed some visual data of Grand Theft Auto, one is of the profit from games, the other is from the sale of games:
Left: As we see here Grand Theft Auto pushes the profit through the roof each time one is released, take 2004 for example, this was the year San Andreas was released, the profit was $1 billion dollars approx. Followed only by 2005 which had the PC version of San Andreas released, which made Take-Two and Rockstar $1.2 billion, so the PC version of games must be very popular when it comes to PC. Could be a hint as to why we may have a PC release of GTA IV? Let's hope so!
Below: It's clear that GTA IV is doing fantastically all ready, in the first week it sold 6 million copies, GTA VCS sold 4.5 million in it's entire time, with GTA LCS selling only 2 million more than IV in it's entire time. So from this we can see that the Grand Theft Auto series has a huge affect on the profit of Take-Two and Rockstar.
For more, we highly recommend reading the article at The Wall Street Journal article.
