EA to publish GTA IV?
- Posted March 20th, 2008 at 17:21 EDT by
- 33 Comments
The bickering that is taking place between Electronic Arts and Take Two Interactive is entering into new levels. Yesterday we reported on the “White Knight” comments that EA took criticism for. Now it appears that new information is surfacing up in regards to whether or not EA will be the publisher of Grand Theft Auto IV which is set to release April 29th.
As known, Take Two has stood by their statement that they will not enter into any negotiations with EA until after GTAIV has been released. Now as it appears from the UK based site, MCVUK, some analysts believe that EA will be the publisher of GTAIV, despite what Take Two believes.
In support of the belief that EA will publish GTAIV and Manhunt 2 in the UK, former GameShadow and Lodestar freelance analyst, Nicholas Lovell told MCVUK:
“I do believe GTA IV will be an EA game. Whether it is the same game that it would have been under Take Two remains to be seen.
“I could also imagine EA trying to keep the Rockstar brand as an edgier label in the same way that wholesome, family-friendly Disney released films like Pulp Fiction or Gangs of New Your under the Miramax label.”
Backing up Lovell’s statement, Parker Consulting’s Nick Parker added:
“The timing is crucial – hostile bids can take a long time to resolve and who knows T2 may be successful in defending it. If EA succeeds, it should benefit from some of the GTAIV revenues although the reason to buy T2 should be based on longer term potential of all IPs, not just on this year’s results.”
However not all would agree that EA publishing GTAIV is a possibility and the takeover would take some time before anything like this happens. Maintaining this conviction is Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter as he comments:
“The deal won’t close for two or three months, so neither GTA IV nor Manhunt 2 will be released under EA’s watch (unless, of course, one or the other is further delayed).”
DFC Intelligence president David Cole added:
“A takeover like this will take some time. For one it has to get regulatory approval. I don’t think there is any way GTAIV would be an EA game before release.”
Furthermore, Lazard Capital Markets’ Colin Sebastian commented: "I doubt that EA could close a transaction so quickly, but clearly they would like to capture as much GTA revenue as possible this year.”
So we shall see where these discussions may lead. Until then, feel free to add your comments below. Do you feel that EA is taking this too far? Or is this something you support?
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Die-romantic
- 1:48pm EDT - March 20th, 2008
- 3
On San Andreas one of the cars licence plates says EA sucks
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zombieking36
- 2:10pm EDT - March 20th, 2008
- 5
Rockstar can always pull out, they could all try and reacquire their on studios, only problem is the loss of their name and need of money to start up again. Sony would happily offer them shelter probably, give them jobs and not interfere with their work; they would probably give them loads of money for their projects too.
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InfernoReaper
- 2:11pm EDT - March 20th, 2008
- 6
At least the majority of GTA IVs will be sold in the first month, before EA can snatch the revenue.
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AclayPS3
- 2:14pm EDT - March 20th, 2008
- 7
EA just wants some of the profits from GTA4, and that's why they want to buy Take2 as soon as possible. Maybe if EA had a better reputation for it's game titles and put more effort in their games then maybe I would support EA's decision to buy Take2. I still think that Take2 should remain independant.
It seems as if EA is trying to be a Monopoly and is buying out all of the smaller Game developers to try to take out as much competition as possible and increase it's own revenue. EA needs to work on it's game development before they even think about buying other game companies. I sure hope that EA's game Dead Space lives up to my expectations because that's the only game developed/published by EA that I've even thinking about buying.
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FinalAtk
- 3:15pm EDT - March 20th, 2008
- 14
EA has almost 2 billion dollars burning a hole in its pocket where Take-Two has less than 60 million in cash. If EA wants to take over it seems to me like they will. There won't be much that could be done to prevent it except maybe a competitor putting up a rival bid.
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Straits
- 3:31pm EDT - March 20th, 2008
- 15
I dont think what this guy says carries any weight at all. He says "I do believe GTA IV will be an EA game. Whether it is the same game that it would have been under Take Two remains to be seen." when at this stage, changing publisher wouldnt make any difference to the final outcome of the game at all, 1 month away from release, it will be finishing, if not have already finished gold testing, and will be ready for manufacture and distribution. Theres no chance of GTA4 being under any form of influence from EA, thank god.
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Bigdoggy
- 8:06pm EDT - March 20th, 2008
- 20
even if EA buys TakeTwo...I will still buy GTAIV since EA didn't do anything programming for it. Any GTA game after that I wont buy. The President of EA needs to understand that whatever game they touch ends up turning into a crap game or just soso. They can buy out 10 companies if they want and no matter what they always have to put a hand in a game to make is even more crap.
I really hope one day EA bites the dust but I doubt that will ever happen.
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