EA's Take-Two Takeover Bid on Hold Pending Government Review
EA's Take-Two Takeover Bid on Hold Pending Government Review
June 5, 2008
According to Reuters, Electronic Arts has reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to delay its attempt to acquire Take-Two Interactive while FTC investigators address regulatory [i.e. - monopoly] issues.
What might the FTC be looking into? Newsweek's N'Gai Croal covered this in great detail recently, including mention of my fears that consumers will suffer if EA is successful.
Cnet's Daniel Terdiman wrote yesterday "that [EA is] losing its credibility with each new extension." Frankly, however, I can't see Terdiman's point. Credibility is a non-issue here. The dollars - and government regulatory clearance - will ultimately dictate whether this deal gets done.
Meanwhile, on his Anti-Tust Commentary blog, attorney Matthew Wild offers some legal insight into the EA's strategy:
Under the agreement, EA must give the FTC 45 days’ notice of its intention to close. Parties often grant the Antitrust Division and FTC more time to review their transactions with the hope of convincing the agencies not to challenge the merger or to allow them to negotiate a remedy.
The most important take-away here is that EA is obviously worried that the FTC may have some concerns about the deal. As a game consumer, it's reassuring to know that regulators are taking a good look at the proposed merger.
As I've pointed out before, EA's track record with the Madden franchise demonstrates that the game publisher is willing to lower prices when faced with serious competition. The Madden case also shows that EA will take agressive steps to eliminate its competition and, if successful, will raise prices in a non-competitive landscape.
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Posted 11/07/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: BREAKING: In photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
JDKJ: BREAKING: In photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Copyright © 2007 ECA. All rights reserved.
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
Compeition is good for consumers as it encourages lower prices and better products.
It speaks volumes that instead of improving it's product to make it more appealing they're trying to eliminate competition so they can price their half assed product how they see fit. Someone doesn't like it, they can say "You have no choice, haha!!!" which would likely actually hurt EA in the end.
And honestly ,giving all this, if I were a Take Two stock holder, I'd have decided not ot sell long ago.
-kurisu7885
I know I'm old but I'm sure I can't be the only person here who remembers when EA used to be THE company when it came to top class creative boundary pushing games (Filled polygons on a C64? Barely anyone else used polygons at all and none of them were FILLED!). Nowdays they're still determined to be THE company but only beccause there's no alternative.
It's especially sad given their recent drop in quality output. They got where they are by making stuff that was so good everyone bought it (and this was in the days when piracy only needed a double tape deck) but now they seem to have turned their backs on creativity entirely. It's a sad reversal, like a jedi turning to the dark side or the shop no longer stocking those biscuits you like
"Indeed, we've been down this road before with EA, and it was a train wreck for gamers. Some Joystiq readers will recall the NFL 2K series from Visual Concepts. It was a very good pro football game franchise that originated on the Dreamcast but later migrated over to the PS2 and Xbox. Some reviewers actually came to prefer NFL 2K to EA's Madden series. What's more, Take Two, in a competitive effort to win market share in later years, priced it very aggressively ($19.99). Declining to go that low in price, EA was forced to reduce Madden to $29.99 just to stay competitive (there's that word again).
So what happened next? EA secured an exclusive license with the NFL and NFL Players Association. Quicker than a LaDainian Tomlinson sprint to the end zone, the NFL 2K series ceased to exist. The next edition of Madden, no longer facing competitive pressure from NFL 2K, jumped up in price to $49.99. EA's revenues, of course, shot up. Gamers, however, had to plunk down twenty bucks more than the previous year and lost the opportunity to choose their pro football game based on a competitive comparison of features and price. You either played Madden – at EA's price - or you went home."
'nuff said.
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Papa Midnight
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EA, you tried to take them over and they don't want it. By continuing to find excuses to extend a bid they don't want, you're looking foolish. You lost, deal with it.
It's entirely possible that this may be the end of EA sports domination. They gotten to the point where very real damage to the consumer is occurring and competition is not steep enough between the two parties for them to pull a Coke-Pepsi deal.
First, EA ends up buying every video game company, then they flop and go out of business, now we will have another video game crash of 1983.
If EA buys T2, I will eat my hat.
"Cnet's Daniel Terdiman wrote yesterday "that [EA is] losing its credibility with each new extension." Frankly, however, I can't see Terdiman's point. Credibility is a non-issue here. The dollars - and government regulatory clearance - will ultimately dictate whether this deal gets done."
I do, every time EA extends it's offer after a deadline, it makes the next deadline much less credible. Thus shareholders won't be in a rush to decide to sell, and are even more likely to hold out for a better offer.
Basically EA said "Here's our offer, take it or leave it, but it expires while you wait." They've keep showing that the "expires" part is false. Now people will be expecting the "take it or leave it" part to be false as well.
EA can go to hell.
Thats pretty much all I need to say.
EA bought Hell and then closed it down after interfering with its work which resulted in a sudden drop in quality and sales.
They killed Need 4 Speed. You Bastards!!!
As far as I care, Take-Two are gods.
Ugh.... After the whole DRM mess with Spore and Mass Effect (which I am still pissed off about to this day) EA can take a flying leap into a pit of rabid badgers. I'm just so bloody sick of EA destroying so many good companys. In otherwords, keep your dung stained hands off of Take-Two!
I'm glad to see some people are relising that with this takeover EA will be killing a brilliant company and will run it dry then toss the EA-molested left overs aside. EA have had names on some games such as Crysis and Hellgate: London, but unlike some uncivilised people (not refering to anyone here) I see past the big 'EA' logo that you can never skip and look at the REAL designers of the games such as 'Flagship Studios' and 'Crytek'. Admittedly, I do enjoy C&C series, but I have a bad feeling that is going to go downhill soon. The sooner this deal is chucked into a hole and hid away from the world the better.
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SAY NO TO THE EA TAKEOVER!
Cafalump