Weakened Eidos in Play? ...EA, Ubisoft Said to be Circling
Weakened Eidos in Play? ...EA, Ubisoft Said to be Circling
December 1, 2008
SCi, the parent company of Tomb Raider publisher Eidos, is apparently a takeover target.
UK newspaper the Daily Mail reports that Electronic Arts and Ubisoft are both considering an acquisition of the troubled firm.
Given that SCi is on hard times, EA and Ubi are no doubt enticed by the prospect of picking up Eidos's popular Tomb Raider and Hitman franchises on the cheap. From the Daily Mail story:
[The merger talk] follows a nightmare year for the firm in which its losses have quadrupled and the share price has slumped 92 per cent... From a peak of £1billion at the height of the dotcom boom it is worth just £50million today... As recently as a year ago the games developer was worth more than £600million.
But a series of self-inflicted wounds coupled with the precipitous slide in the stock market have conspired to drag the shares down from a 12 month peak of 243p to just 18½p yesterday...
The source said the suitors have been waiting to see if SCi would deliver the latest Lara Croft game, which has been delayed, but finally came out this week in time for Christmas.
Via: Edge Online
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Posted 07/04/09 at 11:04pm
Leet Gamer Jargon: @AE: Wait, wait, wait: JT has a Twitter account?! Are you serious?
Leet Gamer Jargon: @AE: Wait, wait, wait: JT has a Twitter account?! Are you serious?
Posted 07/04/09 at 09:24pm
PHX Corp: For those that want to know what i watching it's called man vs cartoon(a.k.a fixing Wile E. coyote's Mistakes one trap at a time by EMERTEC)
PHX Corp: For those that want to know what i watching it's called man vs cartoon(a.k.a fixing Wile E. coyote's Mistakes one trap at a time by EMERTEC)
Posted 07/04/09 at 08:20pm
GoodRobotUs: Went out for my Mum's 65th Birthday, which is the only relevance 4/7 has in the UK for me ;)
GoodRobotUs: Went out for my Mum's 65th Birthday, which is the only relevance 4/7 has in the UK for me ;)
Posted 07/04/09 at 08:18pm
Andrew Eisen: Beach + fireworks + root beer + strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, whipped topping, and pound cake = my Fourth of July!
Andrew Eisen: Beach + fireworks + root beer + strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, whipped topping, and pound cake = my Fourth of July!
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:58pm
GoodRobotUs: Which seems to be the only point Jack proved, that some people find some games offensive. i.e. Nothing.
GoodRobotUs: Which seems to be the only point Jack proved, that some people find some games offensive. i.e. Nothing.
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:57pm
GoodRobotUs: The discussion was supposed to be whether games were dangerous not 'Do you find some games offensive'...
GoodRobotUs: The discussion was supposed to be whether games were dangerous not 'Do you find some games offensive'...
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:55pm
GoodRobotUs: Some agreed, some didn't, but it was their choice to make, not the governments.
GoodRobotUs: Some agreed, some didn't, but it was their choice to make, not the governments.
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:55pm
GoodRobotUs: By asking the audience their opinion, he more or less proved that it's a matter of personal choice
GoodRobotUs: By asking the audience their opinion, he more or less proved that it's a matter of personal choice
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:55pm
GoodRobotUs: Meh, he ended proving Mark's point for him
GoodRobotUs: Meh, he ended proving Mark's point for him
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:26pm
Erik: Jack if you are reading this you are a LIAR. There is no legal weight to the MPAA's ratings.
Erik: Jack if you are reading this you are a LIAR. There is no legal weight to the MPAA's ratings.
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:24pm
JDKJ: I still think my buddy the midget who rides a unicycle backwards while juggling four bowling pins would have been a much bigger hit with that crowd. And he can make up statistics and misinterpret studies, too.
JDKJ: I still think my buddy the midget who rides a unicycle backwards while juggling four bowling pins would have been a much bigger hit with that crowd. And he can make up statistics and misinterpret studies, too.
Posted 07/04/09 at 06:33pm
Alyric: Of course, Mark falls into the common trap about Columbine, which had nothing to do with bullying, etc. See: http://slate.msn.com/id/2099203/?GT1=3256 for a more thorough explanation.
Alyric: Of course, Mark falls into the common trap about Columbine, which had nothing to do with bullying, etc. See: http://slate.msn.com/id/2099203/?GT1=3256 for a more thorough explanation.
Posted 07/04/09 at 06:32pm
PHX Corp: Read this http://www.destructoid.com/sgc-09-liveblogging-the-jack-thompson-debate-138502.phtml#ext
PHX Corp: Read this http://www.destructoid.com/sgc-09-liveblogging-the-jack-thompson-debate-138502.phtml#ext
Posted 07/04/09 at 05:54pm
PHX Corp: JT is afraid of such ban then advocates it That's what i call a total Hypocrite
PHX Corp: JT is afraid of such ban then advocates it That's what i call a total Hypocrite
Posted 07/04/09 at 05:50pm
PHX Corp: AE: JT is a -Bleeping- Jackass
PHX Corp: AE: JT is a -Bleeping- Jackass
Posted 07/04/09 at 05:07pm
Andrew Eisen: JT "knew it would be a good audience." Not what he said on Tuesday.
Andrew Eisen: JT "knew it would be a good audience." Not what he said on Tuesday.
Posted 07/04/09 at 05:01pm
Andrew Eisen: VG cause violent behavior. VG companies influence behavior to get sales. Yeah, that makes sense. (To be fair, the Twitter feed makes deciphering JT's point pretty tough.)
Andrew Eisen: VG cause violent behavior. VG companies influence behavior to get sales. Yeah, that makes sense. (To be fair, the Twitter feed makes deciphering JT's point pretty tough.)
Posted 07/04/09 at 04:52pm
Andrew Eisen: Yes, it's been proposed but as far as I know it has not been passed. Big difference.
Andrew Eisen: Yes, it's been proposed but as far as I know it has not been passed. Big difference.
Posted 07/04/09 at 04:50pm
Cheater87: http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news/formats/xbox360/all-violent-video-games-be-banned-in-germany-$1301757.htm
Cheater87: http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news/formats/xbox360/all-violent-video-games-be-banned-in-germany-$1301757.htm
Posted 07/04/09 at 04:49pm
Andrew Eisen: Far as I know, Germany has not banned all violent video games.
Andrew Eisen: Far as I know, Germany has not banned all violent video games.
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
You've gotta wonder. If the comapny is doing SOOO badly, then why do other companies think they can do better with the same set of cards?
If it were as easy as cutting the bad to allow the good IP's to prosper, Eidos would have done it themselves.
Maybe someone thinks that the lack of profit is caused entierly by bad management of the IP in question... i dont know.
I actually think that is right on the money. Poor management can be compounded by familiarity to the product. The current management may not be able to properly manage the current IP. It would take a large influx of new eyes to manage it correctly.
It is a common event in programming. You could look at a few pages of code for days trying to figure out why it is not compiling. Then one day a fellow coder walks by and points out an improper comparison operator and the code compiles.
The same can be true of management.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
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It seems like all the video game companies are taking it hard, Eidos is doing nothing wrong.
--- Official Protector of Videoland!
Except for the subtle fact of messing around with the press? Ex: Gretsmann-gate
What do you guys mean by IP?
--- Official Protector of Videoland!
Intellectual property, a broad term that covered any owned ideas or copyrights such as stories or such, most games are considered IP in that sense. Its a term of owenership applied to things that arent physical by nature.
I think the media manipulation (e.g. GerstmannGate, the Tomb Raider Legend Metacritic stuff) and the consumer backlash might have something to do with their decline.
I think Edios IPs that are only worth taking are Tomb Raider and Hitman, and both which I don't see fitting with either companies since those dont exactly fit with Ubisofts Tom Clancy games, and EA already has Mercinaries and Mirror's Edge. So I don't see any value in taking them over for either companies.
Are there any other IP's that Edios has that are any good?
Ubisoft releases a lot more games than the Tom Clancy stuff.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/okceca
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Like Petz and Dogz, and Imagine Babyz! Dude don't kid yourself, the hardcore portion of Ubisoft is basically Tom Clancy. Well there is Far Cry and Assasins Creed though.
AC+Tomb Raider? Makes sense...
I'm pretty sure Ubisoft developed a lot of good games besides Tom Clancy. Beyond Good & Evil, The Sands of Time trilogy, Rayman... I could go on. Give the folks some credit.
Deus Ex and Theif are still their IP I believe.
Well with Ubisoft I don't think they want two stealth games competing against each other. (Splinter Cell vs. Theif) and Deus Ex is something for both publisher that fills a gap they don't have.
But they wouldn't compete. They have different themes that appeal to different gamers. I could see them doing well together. Now if you released them at the same time, then there could be problems.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/okceca
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1325674091
But you have got to imagine, especially from a publisher angle that it would be more cheaper and make much more sense to take the Splinter Cell code and just paint it over with Theif. Both the stealth light and dark work in both games, and both have a working aiming and shooting system. So what you would essentially be getting is a mod on Splinter Cell. I'm just saying that there's a certain danger when you have two games that are very similar to each other, and that is warrented in games with different themes and enviroments like Oblivion and Fallout 3, which uses the same engine and plays very similar to each other.
Yeah but EA don't want amazing games, just ones they can spin out for fifty sequels worht of profit.
Are you still living in pre-2004?
Assassins Creed! Great game.
Ubisoft should do it, lord knows EA needs a BIGGER monopoly.
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
Fantastic reasoning you have there!
Well, IF EA gets their greasy mits on it, be ready see several dozen crappy sequels to everything in the Eidos portfolio, with perhaps a few gems being released that were already in development. After that the studio will probably be taken quietly out back and shot.
Not that Ubisoft wouldn't do the same thing, but the end result may be better overal.
Well EA has it's hands off developer policy now, so I doubt that will happen right now how things are going.
What the CEO screams at the top of his lungs to the outside world and what EAs excessively massive management actually does are 2 very different things.
Their CEO wants to turn things around, and I applaud his initiative, but until he fires about two-thirds of the management at EA, I doubt any change will happen.
I dunno if you know this, but the economy is spiraling the drain right now. And it's not just EA doing layoffs, if you get your news sources outside of Game Politics, THQ also did massive lay offs, and even before that Blizzardvision also kicked out a lot of teams and a lot of games as well.
Well if Ubisoft buys them then EA will have a stake in them since they have roughly a 23% stake in Ubi.
Yeah, doesn't surprise me. EA and ubisoft both put out crap games, but their marketing is top notch. Somehow every release they manage to blind gamers with the hype until two months out when gamers realize they got maybe 15 hours out of a 60 dollar purchase.
Yay more crap.