Street.com Columnist: EA Could "Kill the Spirit" of Take Two

Street.com Columnist: EA Could "Kill the Spirit" of Take Two

February 25, 2008
GamePolitics sought reaction to EA's run at Take Two from Priya Ganapati, who has written frequently about Take Two for TheStreet.com.
I am surprised but not shocked. This is the best time to bid for Take-Two before the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. If EA buys Take-Two it stands to make significant financial gains--which fits in with [EA CEO] John Riccitiello's recent financial goals set for the company.

But the bigger question is can EA stomach Take-Two, its baggage and the controversies that it brings with it? EA's corporate culture probably will clamp down and sanitize Take-Two, which will kill the spirit of the company. And I do think that the Rockstar folks will take off if the merger goes through - which negates the point of the deal.
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Comments

Submitted by Thomas P. - February 25, 2008 at 11:46 am -0500
EA Games. Take everything.
Submitted by Father Time - February 25, 2008 at 11:49 am -0500
Ea Games.

Because monopoly is so much more fun when you use real money.
Submitted by Cheater87 - February 25, 2008 at 8:44 am -0500
I agree. GTA will be more watered down then Willie's lemon aid.
Submitted by kurisu7885 - February 25, 2008 at 8:51 am -0500
That's likely the biggest reason Take Two refused.
Submitted by DavCube - February 25, 2008 at 9:23 am -0500
@ Cheater

All the more reason for me to NOT care about it... XD
Submitted by Papa Midnight - February 25, 2008 at 9:24 am -0500
Rockstar would immediately split off as a separate entity if such a buyout occured. GTAIV and possibly the next release of Bully could more than supplement any needs.
Submitted by Steve - February 25, 2008 at 9:36 am -0500
EA Kill the spirit of a successful studio? Nonsense!

Kill is just to simple a word. They don't kill anything. They assimilate anything they touch into bland mediocrity. Once the original staff is fed up enough with the water constantly being added to their games, they quit or are forced out and replaced with what I think are robots programmed to release the same game over and over again each year with minimal changes.
Submitted by koku - February 25, 2008 at 9:53 am -0500
exactly.

we'd end up with watereddown gta expantion packs.
Submitted by Paul Kerton - February 25, 2008 at 10:06 am -0500
Bullfrog and Westwood. Two great games companies. If Take Two are brought by EA, expect Bioshock and GTA to be torn apart.

The Rockstar guys will just split off, and Ken Levine wouldn't stay for long.

I'd prefer Ubisoft over EA, and thats saying something!!
Submitted by Overcast - February 25, 2008 at 10:10 am -0500
Yeah - you hit the nail right on the head Koku.

You'll get the initial GTA game - where you can get in the car and get a simple handgun. If you want to do anymore, you'll need the expansion pack..

Rinse, Repeat.

I bought the newest expansion for the Sims 2 - due to installation issues, it's sitting, uninstalled. I don't feel up to reinstalling the original game and all like 8 expansion packs again.

EA seen the last of my purchases with that, it's just too much of a hassle.
Submitted by Father Time - February 25, 2008 at 11:39 am -0500
Ea games.

We were asked to make a video game version of monopoly and we took it way too literally.
Submitted by Xantar - February 25, 2008 at 1:03 pm -0500
I have to say as much as I hate EA's takeover practices, this situation was partially of Take Two's own doing. The company management has been incompetent at best and criminal at worst. Small wonder that the stock price is low enough that EA could contemplate a move like this.

I have to say that I'm not particularly worried about GTA being sucked dry. There have been enough installments in the franchise for me. What alarms me is that Take Two owns 2K Sports. This takeover would be the final deathblow to competition in American football games.
Submitted by Matriculated - February 25, 2008 at 1:48 pm -0500
"EA’s corporate culture probably will clamp down and sanitize Take-Two, which will kill the spirit of the company. And I do think that the Rockstar folks will take off if the merger goes through - which negates the point of the deal."


What a load of rubbish. Priya seems to be under the impression EA are paying $2 billion just to get hold of GTA. EA are after T2 for the sport titles. Of course they'd would like to get publishing rights to GTA but that's hardly going to be a deal breaker.
Submitted by Paul Kerton - February 25, 2008 at 2:08 pm -0500
T2 brought 2K Sports from Sega 3 years ago for $24,000,000... Whilst I think securing a monopoly plays a large part in EA's interest, GTA (and Rockstar as a whole) and Bioshock play their part too.
Submitted by Nathan - February 25, 2008 at 6:03 pm -0500
If EA buys T2 before GTA4 comes out, I will NOT be buying it.

End of story.
Submitted by Oz - February 25, 2008 at 6:07 pm -0500
If this deal happens, Rockstar and Irrational (2K Australia/Boston) would either try to split off or just leave.

The GTA and Bully franchises will get raped to death by numerous sequals, and Bioshock as well. Which is sad considering Bioshock works better as a single game.

At the same time, the developers at Rockstar and Irrational can go elseway and be innovative.
Submitted by chadachada(123) - February 25, 2008 at 7:35 pm -0500
While I would gladly patiently wait for a T2 Bioshock sequel, I don't want to see what EA would do to it. That series is way too precious to me. I don't even want to think about the GTA series...

I doubt that 2K sports is the main focus of this deal, considering how close it is to the release of GTA IV. Sure, having a monopoly on American football would be nice, but having GTA and Bioshock would seem much more appealing to me.
Submitted by Masticina Akicta - February 25, 2008 at 7:44 pm -0500
Atleast Take2 comes with some interresting games, something EA seems to have lost. And yes poor Bullfrog the day they joined EA they we're sucked dry killed off and Populous was never to be again. A real shame!

Shame on you EA for killing good games, may your own souls burn like the souls you have sucked out of some good healthy projects!
Submitted by Aliasalpha - February 26, 2008 at 3:56 am -0500
@ chadachada(123)

Oh come on man, whats the worst that could happen? Call Of GTA: Rapture where you drive 1940s cars around an underwater city doing drivebys on splicers that respawn infinitely unless you deactivate the trigger and taking missions from random big daddys on the street to whack other big daddys that have been trying to usurp his control over his little hook... sisters? I mean imagine the fun you could have in massively multiplayer online games...

God I feel like I need a shower for just thinking about that. A shower or a punch in the head...
Submitted by Ian Charles - February 26, 2008 at 8:09 am -0500
I love the hatred of EA on here. Feel the love!

I don't want EA to buy Take Two either.... but i don't hate EA. heck, I LIKE EA.

I do hate GTA though.
Submitted by nemesis91286 - February 26, 2008 at 8:32 pm -0500
lets hope that ea doesn't buy rockstar games i dont wanted to see them killing grand theft auto like they did with thrill kill

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