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EA: We're After More Than "Game Of The Year" GTA IV

Electronic Arts reiterated this morning that its $2 billion buyout offer for Take-Two is not based on the company's short term valuation, and neither is it affected by the performance of a certain single franchise (guess which?).

Yesterday Take-Two's stock nudged up over $26 per share, a higher value than EA's $25.74 per-share bid. But EA's Mariam Sughayer, senior manager of Corporate Communications, says the company's looking further down the line — despite predicting that GTA IV is the likely contender for game of the year.

"We believe our offer is based on the long-term valuation of the people and franchises that make up the TTWO - not a one-time event within an important franchise," Sughayer said. "In addition — we believe that TTWO's price prior to our offer already reflected that this would be a global blockbuster - the stock was trading at approximately $17."

She added, "We expect GTA IV will be a huge blockbuster - and #1 game of the year."

As of market open on launch day, though, Take-Two has not seen any further resurgence in its share price, sticking firmly within the range of $26-and-change. This lends credence to the argument put forth by EA and many industry analysts that the highly-anticipated commercial success of GTA IV is already reflected in the share price.

Cowan Group analyst Doug Creutz agrees, commenting, "We expect the release of the game to have a minimal impact on TTWO share price, as it continues to be driven by arbitrageurs on the likely outcome of the outstanding Electronic Arts tender offer."

Take-Two has said multiple times that it wouldn't entertain any discussions on a potential acquisition until after the launch of GTA IV — which means the two companies could sit down and confab together as soon as tomorrow.

For his part, Creutz believes the acquisition is likely regardless of how GTA IV sells, if EA raises its offer a little: "We continue to believe that the most likely outcome is a sale price in the $28-30 range, and do not believe that the success of GTA IV is likely to impact this meaningfully," he says.

8:00 AM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Leigh Alexander
5,655 views
45 comments

Comments

Ashkihyena at 08:08 AM on 04/29/08
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Sure it won't EA. Don't do it T2, don't sell your soul to this devil, they'll screw you up big time.
RogueSquid at 08:09 AM on 04/29/08
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Connectedness Index: 28

You know head-of-EA is sitting there estimating the figures from GTA IV and going "SSSSHIIIIIIITTT".

Then, into his speakerphone, "Margret, send in Wilmo* the Clown, I need cheering up"...

*What if Wilmo ain't really a clown, or indeed human... I wonder what it could be... What do EA execs hide under their desks for pleasuring purposes after a bad morning?
SubKamran at 08:09 AM on 04/29/08
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NO, NO, NO. EA, you've ruined more franchises than most publishers (*cough* C&C*cough*). Surely T2 will be smart enough to not go under their wing.
Derigor at 08:12 AM on 04/29/08
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"We are after more than just GTA"
Yea, like 2K sports? Cause you know competition for sports games sucks!

EA, you bastards. I used to love you when you developed good games. Now you just crap on everything else I love. Never forgive you for C&C Generals and killing Westwood studios... and Origin for that matter. I could still be playing some bad ass Ultima if it werent for you!
iby777 at 08:12 AM on 04/29/08
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Old Snake has something to say about this on June xD
Chewbenator at 08:13 AM on 04/29/08
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Hear that GTAIV you're a contender.
sluissa at 08:13 AM on 04/29/08
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I miss the old electronic arts, the one that made games like Chuck Yaeger's Air Combat and Indy 500. I don't like the new corporate bully EA. And I ESPECIALLY hate the fact you can't skip past their logo in their games.

I hope T2 fights this to the end, if only to keep EA's unskippable branding off their game.
sluissa at 08:15 AM on 04/29/08
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@sluissa: Sorry, Chuck Yeager. I didn't mean to spell your name wrong.
Garo at 08:16 AM on 04/29/08
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@Derigor:
"...killing Westwood studios... and Origin for that matter."

Oh no you made me cry, I had already forgotten... sniff.
Balius at 08:19 AM on 04/29/08
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Is Game of the Year an official prize now? I was pretty sure that each magazine/site/critic just picked their own, and that there's rarely a universal winner. It's a lot less prestigious when there's a half dozen games of the year...
DigiMish at 08:26 AM on 04/29/08
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@Balius: if the metacritic score for GTAIV indicates anything, it's that GTAIV is GOTY hands-down.
Does Not Equal at 08:30 AM on 04/29/08
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I dunno... they seem so confident in their press releases, but the sheer number of them and the unshakeable tone they take? I get the idea that as each week passes, they can feel this deal slipping away. In the beginning, they talked like it was already a done deal, but the constant delays can't be good for this deal.

What're they gonna do when the new deadline passes? Add another month?
Derigor at 08:30 AM on 04/29/08
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@Garo: I'd offer to cuddle but that wont bring the dead back to life. I do have some tequila and a Sega Genesis, we can get drunk and pretend EA still does things like Road Rash, Madden 92, NHL, and Mutant League, and of course Desert/Urban/Jungle Strike.
archibaldleech at 08:32 AM on 04/29/08
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Too bad it's not Activision wanting to buy them. Activision is not evil like EA.
DigiMish at 08:35 AM on 04/29/08
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@archibaldleech: In my mind, Activision is on par with EA, maybe even worse because atleast EA is trying new IPs, while Activision just milks its own to death (Call of Duty, Guitar Hero).
Derigor at 08:35 AM on 04/29/08
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@archibaldleech: No Activision isnt evil like EA. Activision is like a Kid with matches that is looking for things to burn. Zomg Guitar Hero!!! burn it! Tony hawk, burn burn burn!, Call of Duty? CoD4 is awesome, lets burn it really fast!
axiomatic at 08:56 AM on 04/29/08
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I actually am a Take 2 shareholder and if EA buys it I will dump it ASAP. EA is not to be trusted to manage creativity.
RTW at 08:56 AM on 04/29/08
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I think some of you forget, that the CEO's at T2 are just as greedy as the ones at EA. This whole gaming thing has turned into a greed war about money. Then again, that's exactly what it was based on with Nintendo and Sega.
dead_red_eyes at 08:59 AM on 04/29/08
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Connectedness Index: 444

@archibaldleech: - "Activision is not evil like EA."

I don't know about that.

@Derigor: - ""We are after more than just GTA"
Yea, like 2K sports? Cause you know competition for sports games sucks!"

Yeah, I was thinking the same exact thing.
HurricaneDave at 09:01 AM on 04/29/08
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I guess EA figures if there are no sports competitors they will no longer have to pay licensing fees because they'll be the only game in town.
Tiber at 09:03 AM on 04/29/08
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If nothing else, at least EA will lose out on a big chunk of GTA IV profit if the merger does go through.

As for Activision, I see them as the slightly annoying kid who looks a lot better when compared side-by-side to the a-hole jock.
R3load at 09:03 AM on 04/29/08
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Id say that too had I not acuired T2 before the GTA Launch. While im sure GTA isnt all theyre atfer, it was one of the things they wanted heavily.
mva5580 at 09:08 AM on 04/29/08
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Oh man.

So yesterday I went into Gamecrazy, and after the following conversation was overheard I really wish I didn't.

A couple of real overachievers in life were at the counter talking to the clerk who clearly A) can not POSSIBLY make more than near-minimum wage, and B) most likely had not showered in oh, I'd say about a month.

Anyway the guys ask him about EA buying Take 2 and the clerk says "Yeah it's already happened behind the scenes, but they haven't announced it yet. From what I heard, it's already happened." Then the 2 whiz kids, (and actually they were closer to adults than kids, which is even sadder) gaze upon him just looking for some more incredible nuggets of information, and he throws this one at them: "And also from what I've heard Rockstar does not want to be in a big corporation, so Rockstar will probably disband and that will be the end of the GTA series."

And these 2 freaking guys respond to that as if they totally believe him and it's as good as happened already. I swear to God, I haven't gotten the opportunity to see a lot of this video game store stupidity that people talk about, but after I heard the end of that conversation I just walked out and I don't know if I can ever go in that store again. Idiots.
KirbyMorph at 09:09 AM on 04/29/08
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Uh, I think the stockholders should have sold. They won't make much more off of GTA4 and in the long, the company is still tanking with most everything else it puts out. Still seems like a bunch on insider deals and the CEO or whatever getting kick backs based on how high the stocks are when they sell the company makes me think they're just getting screwed over as shareholders by not selling.
ilyag at 09:10 AM on 04/29/08
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GTAIV is a red herring. What they really want to do is to monopolize the sports game industry. Take2 is their only serious competitor.

[cache.kotaku.com]
PearceShea at 09:24 AM on 04/29/08
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@axiomatic: You should probably sell now, regardless. Take Two hasn't been managed well, historically, and I haven't seen anything from ZelnickMedia to suggest that T2 has been sufficiently re-organized to suggest that after all this settles down and if EA _doesn't_ buy, that shares won't drop to below $20 again.
tomsamson at 09:27 AM on 04/29/08
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in midterm the share value would only go up more if the gta IV sells exceed expectations a lot, which could happen but is difficult as the expectations are very high.
Then again if the expectations get exceeded by a lot and then also once the gta iv hype calms down a bit in a few months,when then T2 announces another great game,let´s say first teasers for bioshock 2, hm, then it doesn´t look good for EAs offer anymore.
Its mostly just about if T2 can stay up long enough.
Tenth at 09:33 AM on 04/29/08
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This is going to end horribly for Take 2. EA knows what it's doing.
jambe at 09:47 AM on 04/29/08
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Game of the year? Maybe. It's still got MGS4 to take on, and that also has game of the year/decade potential.
Everyoneshouldbekilled at 10:12 AM on 04/29/08
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I miss the Hard Hat Mack Electronic Arts
Derigor at 10:16 AM on 04/29/08
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If EA does snatch up 2K Sports then well... I am going to write many letters to Tecmo asking them to make a new Tecmo bowl.

Or how about a new SNK soccor brawl.
arstal at 10:54 AM on 04/29/08
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They're more after sports monopoly then GTA IV, and want to do it before the Dems take out, since they might implement things like anti-trust on them.
Frank at 11:01 AM on 04/29/08
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@sluissa: Holy crap, I remember both those games. O_o Pixellated goodness, though having to enter that code to start them up was annoying.
Altima NEO at 11:20 AM on 04/29/08
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Of course, EA is after killing its sports competition as well.
Oyn at 11:53 AM on 04/29/08
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No EA, don't chew up and spit out and then piss on T2's broken corpse like your previous acquisitions. PLEASE.
if_deez at 12:23 PM on 04/29/08
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@Tenth: EA is almost as bad as FOX
RPGuy at 01:09 PM on 04/29/08
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@Derigor: Apparently, a new Tecmo Bowl title may already be in the works.
axiomatic at 01:29 PM on 04/29/08
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@PearceShea: Doing so right now in fact. Talked with my other colleagues who also own Take-Two. Dumping it now.
justhesh at 01:34 PM on 04/29/08
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FUCK OFF, EA.
Fireblast at 04:18 PM on 04/29/08
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Game of the Year? I'd consider it a dark horse for my nomination but there are bound to be I'd say 3 better games that come out this year. Two come out in June. The other one comes out in either September or November. Ninja Gaiden II, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Gears of War 2 are bound to at least be Game of the Year in my book.
kagai at 05:18 PM on 04/29/08
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RESIST ASSIMILATION!!!!
stranger at 05:54 PM on 04/29/08
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K- Take Two's stock price hasn't been under $26 a share since around April 18th...
Tarislar at 07:56 PM on 04/29/08
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Fuck off and die EA.
the_yellow-dart at 12:37 PM on 05/03/08
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I dunno. EA seem to release games on the PC (yes, heard about Madden, I'm not from the US, so I don't really care) so, I'm all for it. C'mon Take 2, succumb to the true gaming overlords.
NeVeRMoRe666 at 02:45 PM on 05/03/08
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Now before people write me off as one of those EA "for the hell of it" bashers,I am a huge Madden Fan, but I really do dread the acqusition of T2 by EA. Could you imagine a GTA where an annoying pop up comes up after every single song you hear on the radio. Or actual cars being featured in the game? Imagine, you would lose all of those brilliantly named and built cars like the Coquette (Corvette) and T2 would be forced to bend over for the games advertisement sponsors. No more brilliant ingame fake ads or TV shows, you would actually get snickers billboards. Not only would it detract from the ingame world, but it would cheapen the whole experience overall. I hope T2 does the sensible thing and reject EA for everything it is and has become.