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Riccitiello: Take-Two Bid Focused On Holiday Season, Not GTA IV
Posted by Leigh Alexander at 9:20 AM on June 18, 2008
Don't believe what the timing tells you - EA's bid for Take-Two was never about Grand Theft Auto IV. That's what EA CEO John Riccitiello told an audience of investors during William Blair & Company's annual stock conference, where he was a speaker today.
"For clarity's sake, I think you've got a slight mis-remembering of what we said", Riccitiello told an audience member who asked about capitalizing on GTA IV's release value. "We were extremely explicit that there was no possibility whatsoever that we would be able to acquire the company or close the transaction prior to the release of GTA IV".
"What we said is we wanted to close the transaction in time to affect holiday sales for some of the games like Midnight Club, cataloguefor GTA and others. And so the reason we're continuing to extend it, that was our plan all along and that was the way we described it at the time".
The questioner was probably prompted to the question by EA's recurring comments about the time sensitivity of their offer, but Riccitiello said that "the depreciating nature of the asset was not necessarily about GTA".
"It is that one more holiday period where we can sell more puts money onto the bottom line".
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
NullsRevenge
Posted 10:48 AM 18/6/08
I would like to hear just how EA would effect Midnight Club or the GTA catalog. Those games were already popular and I don't see how EA could do anything positive.
I suppose the only positive things they could do would be stuff like add in in game ads, strip out content to sell it as DLC. I guess that would be good for their bottom line.
I guess all that talk of change was just a load of crap to sucker people to buy their games again because it looks and sounds like the same old EA to me.
NullsRevenge
nullterm
Posted 10:37 AM 18/6/08
NO = Show me more money.
nullterm
weeoo
Posted 10:28 AM 18/6/08
Ah E.A., such a greedy greedy company they are:P
weeoo
Cypher19
Posted 10:19 AM 18/6/08
@jasu78:
Actually, considering the timing of everything, it makes perfect sense that GTA4 was not necessarily a target. VU and Blizzard's merger was annoucned last December, and 7 months later, the merger is still not complete. EA annoucned their intention to buy Take Two in, what, March? No way was EA every going to be able to get in on GTA4's success in time, even if T2 was acquired almost ASAP.
Cypher19
Archaotic
Posted 9:44 AM 18/6/08
Bleh, more corporate shit-speak. I hate how outwardly corporate gaming has become these past few years...what happened to it being about the games?
Archaotic
Ignatius
Posted 9:40 AM 18/6/08
"It is that one more holiday period where we can sell more puts money onto the bottom line."
Sell more puts money?
WHY ME TALK LIKE CAVEMAN.
Ignatius
Emperor_Guam
Posted 9:36 AM 18/6/08
Could be true. It probably has more to do with the coming Blizzard Vevendi merger and EA trying to stay seated as the biggest Video Game company on Earth.
Emperor_Guam
Genocyde
Posted 9:35 AM 18/6/08
That is such a Goodfellas pic of Riccitiello.
Genocyde
Morithain
Posted 9:35 AM 18/6/08
Yeah, now that GTA's release has come and gone, of course your buyout isn't focused on it. Not that it was ever solely about GTA IV anyway, EA just coincidentally wanted to buy Take-Two a month before the game launched.
Crafty people they have over there at EA.
Morithain
schwarzsturm
Posted 9:27 AM 18/6/08
Woohaa CEO backtracking on previous statements FTW
schwarzsturm
pwn-master3001
Posted 9:25 AM 18/6/08
durr we aer nto stuipd... :b
pwn-master3001
hk458
Posted 9:24 AM 18/6/08
Don't they understand that NO means NO!!!
Take-Two remember, "Just say NO"
hk458
jasu78
Posted 9:23 AM 18/6/08
Yeah, no one would ever try to take over a company before it releases a game guaranteed to make billions. That makes no business sense at all.
jasu78
dead_red_eyes
Posted 11:13 AM 18/6/08
Man, Riccitiello sure looks like a smug bastard ... and that's probably because he sleeps on piles of money and broken dreams at night.
dead_red_eyes
Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.
Posted 11:11 AM 18/6/08
Suuuuuuuuure.
Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.
dsmx
Posted 11:54 AM 18/6/08
IF I was T2 I would just say fuck off to EA and add you are never going to take over my company now piss off and invest that money into making better and original titles.
dsmx
dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased
Posted 11:49 AM 18/6/08
*cough*BULLSHIT*cough*
dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased
L337fool
Posted 12:58 PM 18/6/08
I think T2 did tell EA to go have at themselves which is why it has been deemed a hostile takeover attempt. None the less I don't see how EA is gonna grab T2 without throwing a bit more money on the table. EA has a history of bleeding their customers so whats happening now is a form of karma IMPO.
L337fool
jasu78
Posted 12:56 PM 18/6/08
@Cypher19: While it's true that merger wouldn't be complete by the time GTA4 came out, the buying price would have been, and as such, all proceeds T2 made from it would become EA's in the end anyways.
So the whole "Oh, we weren't trying to get that GTA4 money, nope, we just want that fat Xmas loot" spiel is corporate talk for "We got boned on getting what we actually wanted, so we'll pretend that we didn't want that so our investors and stock-holders don't riot and ruin us."
jasu78
Kerrell
Posted 2:51 PM 18/6/08
Exactly EA had no intention of grabbing the biggest game of the year before it was released.
Kerrell
Solarion
Posted 3:33 PM 18/6/08
I'm sorry, and someone can ban me for this remark....but someone needs to kill this fuck before he ruins gaming for good.
Solarion
trailracer
Posted 9:02 PM 18/6/08
I love how T2 is an 'asset' (probably to be added to their 'portfolio').
"It is that one more holiday period where we can sell more puts money onto the bottom line."
Strange wording aside, you can tell they're in this for the love of the games, can't you?
trailracer
FLYBOY611
Posted 11:23 PM 18/6/08
What a load of bullshit
FLYBOY611
Dr Terror
Posted 3:24 AM 19/6/08
That guy looks like the biggest whorestabber.
Dr Terror