EA, Take-Two to close deal before April 10(Rumour)

[Flair]

 

well at least we got all the previous GTA's if they screw it- R* just go make a new GTA with a diff name

no one will buy sh*tty EA's version and thats that

Yes, they will. You can do as much bitching about EA as you want, but the fact is, we'll all continue to buy GTA, game after game.

 

To be honest, I don't think EA are going to do any massive damage to GTA. It's pretty f*cking clear that GTA is already extremely successful, why would EA intentionally compromise that? Rockstar know what they're doing, and I'm sure EA are damn aware of that. You can bitch about EA all you want, but they know how to do business. And overly-interfering with a successful franchise is not good business.

 

I think most of you are full of sh*t. You'll all buy the game regardless of if there's an EA tag on the cover, and don't act like you won't.

People wont refuse to buy the game because EA own it, they'll refuse to buy the game because it just wont be the same GTA we all know and love. There is no doubt EA know how to do business, but the fact is, they have a long history of churning out games just to get revenue, no matter the quality. Just look at games like BF2, it had all the makings of a brilliant game, but all the annoying patches to fix glitches and the obvious overall lack of effort ruin it. I have no idea that this case will apply to GTA, but let's be honest, the majority of GTA fans buy GTA because they can shoot people and cause chaos, and they'll buy it regardless of whoever owns it. Sad, really.

[joker249]

People, R* is the Developer...T2 is the Distributor. If I have read correctly, R* is under no obligation to work with T2 (or if it becomes EA) after 2009. They can move on to another Distributor with no problem. T2 has very little to do with GTA's mechanics. Don't get too worried about this.

 

Also, don't say that you wouldn't buy it, because you will. I'm not a fan of EA but I buy the NCAA Football series nearly every year. Why? Because there is no other option...they hold the sole license from the NCAA.

 

 

[dave1927p]

Take2...Dont do something that you will regret.

obviously they won't regret it. The shareholders will make millions and millions of dollars and thats all they really care about in the longrun.

[Hodgey.]

i f*cking hate this sh*t. f*ck boards of directors. f*ck shareholders. f*ck the stock market. f*ck EA.

Couldnt agree more.

[HenTz]

I really agree about EA ,with every most of EA game I have been bit dissapointed about the bugs and other stuff and Crysis was the last game ,I swear ,I ever buy from EA, they just can't be trusted and if they will try and make a GTA game it would suck ass, have 6million expansions which cost ~30$ and much less people would buy it. Since I'm right now so much waiting for IV, I don't mind about the next GTAs (though i probably will after a year or more) but if EA does something to IV I would f*cking bomb every f*cking EA studio there is and burn all they're damn games.

[Greene]

 

well at least we got all the previous GTA's if they screw it- R* just go make a new GTA with a diff name

no one will buy sh*tty EA's version and thats that

Yes, they will. You can do as much bitching about EA as you want, but the fact is, we'll all continue to buy GTA, game after game.

 

To be honest, I don't think EA are going to do any massive damage to GTA. It's pretty f*cking clear that GTA is already extremely successful, why would EA intentionally compromise that? Rockstar know what they're doing, and I'm sure EA are damn aware of that. You can bitch about EA all you want, but they know how to do business. And overly-interfering with a successful franchise is not good business.

 

I think most of you are full of sh*t. You'll all buy the game regardless of if there's an EA tag on the cover, and don't act like you won't.

To be honest, even if a GTA label was on a EA Game i would not buy it even if it was grand theft auto.

Thats just a really f*cking stupid statement to make. You and I both know that you're going to buy GTA4, and any sequel that follows, regardless of if theres an EA tag on the cover.

 

EA are a f*cking gigantic company. They didn't get that way by making stupid decisions. Rockstar have a winning formula with GTA, and EA know that. Why would they intentionally jeopardise their future profits by changing a winning formula? That would be bad business. You can't really compare GTA to games like FIFA or The Sims. It's a completely different situation.

 

The EA tag on the front doesn't immediately mean that its gonna be a sh*t game. And as far as I know, games like SKATE or Crysis, which are both relatively new games, got great receptions. And guess who published those?

 

EA has a bad history with some games (games which I don't particularly give a f*ck about such as The Sims or FIFA), but they've got the rights to some great games too.

 

This whole "OMG EA SUX" thing is just one big bandwagon in my opinion. Yeah, I won't deny they've been involved in some real sh*t, but refusing to buy a GTA game because of an EA tag on the cover is just f*cking ridiculous.

 

Oh well, your loss. You keep on 'fighting the man' while the rest of us continue to enjoy GTA.

[Ash_735]

One side effect to EA taking over though is that the companies have to abide by their record deals and sound department, meaning Bye Bye Radio Lazlow, who have produced the Radio since GTAIII. They also wouldn't have a diverse soundtrack that GTA games have come to have to have, instead we'll have EA TRAX shoved down our throats on every radio station and we'd have like 3 stations each full of Pop sh*t, Modern Dance crap, Shiity Current Rap stars like Souja Boy or some sh*t and those pathetic "New Indie" and Emo bands, f*ck that. Just by EA taking over, the soundtrack would nose dive into sh*tness and people who have good music taste will just be pissed off having f*cking Chart Top 40 America shoved in our faces!

[chrisisking]

Wow, EA ain't the most loved or respected company are they! I was talking to a man about a dog the other day and he said "Dude I got this awesome game made by EA, and I gotta say they do care about the customers. They released about 15 patches for it in like, 1 week. Now like, thats customer care!" See, they do care

Edited March 12, 2008 by chrisisking

[chrisisking]

One side effect to EA taking over though is that the companies have to abide by their record deals and sound department, meaning Bye Bye Radio Lazlow, who have produced the Radio since GTAIII. They also wouldn't have a diverse soundtrack that GTA games have come to have to have, instead we'll have EA TRAX shoved down our throats on every radio station and we'd have like 3 stations each full of Pop sh*t, Modern Dance crap, Shiity Current Rap stars like Souja Boy or some sh*t and those pathetic "New Indie" and Emo bands, f*ck that. Just by EA taking over, the soundtrack would nose dive into sh*tness and people who have good music taste will just be pissed off having f*cking Chart Top 40 America shoved in our faces!

Very good but also very frightening point

[SovietWarrior42]

I don't think EA will have too big of effect on GTA, but time will tell. I just wonder about other Take2 games that aren't as big as GTA, like Bioshock, are they gonna mess with it? Probably not, though.

 

The only reason EA is doing this is to get official rights on all of the 2K Sports games, making them the only player on the court when it comes to sports games. Didn't San Andreas have some cars with special license plates saying "EA SUX" or something? Shows what Rockstar thinks of them

 

 

but after listening to everyone saying how bad Saint's Row was... I didn't believe them... and I bought it... and I have desire to waste my money on a similar sh*tty product again. I just feel like if EA put out its own GTA game it would be like the bastardized son of Saint's Row

 

Saints Row is made by THQ, not EA.

 

 

[$tr4nger]

I hope we get another update report on this tomorrow or soon after because this horrible situation is stressing me out.. If EA get what they want and take over before IV's release then we have another f*cking delay and I am not ready to deal with that!! It's bad enough they will be interfering with future GTA titles but jumping in and messing about with IV one month before release is god damn ridiculous! T2 are clearly trying to compromise and EA won't have it!!

 

I don't know about anyone else but can't think about the game right now.. This sh*t is stressing me out too much. I sure as hell hope the next report will be good news..

[Greene]

If EA get what they want and take over before IV's release then we have another f*cking delay...

No, we won't.

[ahmad34]

if GTA IV is delayed cause EA bought T2, im marching down to headquarters and finding every EA person there, ripping out their throats rambo style, pick up all the original T2 workers and sit them back down in their chairs, and talk to the owner of T2 that if he ever thinks about selling T2 to anyone, i will personally kill his family infront of his eyes and slowly kill him.

[Rykane]

 

well at least we got all the previous GTA's if they screw it- R* just go make a new GTA with a diff name

no one will buy sh*tty EA's version and thats that

Yes, they will. You can do as much bitching about EA as you want, but the fact is, we'll all continue to buy GTA, game after game.

 

To be honest, I don't think EA are going to do any massive damage to GTA. It's pretty f*cking clear that GTA is already extremely successful, why would EA intentionally compromise that? Rockstar know what they're doing, and I'm sure EA are damn aware of that. You can bitch about EA all you want, but they know how to do business. And overly-interfering with a successful franchise is not good business.

 

I think most of you are full of sh*t. You'll all buy the game regardless of if there's an EA tag on the cover, and don't act like you won't.

To be honest, even if a GTA label was on a EA Game i would not buy it even if it was grand theft auto.

Thats just a really f*cking stupid statement to make. You and I both know that you're going to buy GTA4, and any sequel that follows, regardless of if theres an EA tag on the cover.

 

EA are a f*cking gigantic company. They didn't get that way by making stupid decisions. Rockstar have a winning formula with GTA, and EA know that. Why would they intentionally jeopardise their future profits by changing a winning formula? That would be bad business. You can't really compare GTA to games like FIFA or The Sims. It's a completely different situation.

 

The EA tag on the front doesn't immediately mean that its gonna be a sh*t game. And as far as I know, games like SKATE or Crysis, which are both relatively new games, got great receptions. And guess who published those?

 

EA has a bad history with some games (games which I don't particularly give a f*ck about such as The Sims or FIFA), but they've got the rights to some great games too.

 

This whole "OMG EA SUX" thing is just one big bandwagon in my opinion. Yeah, I won't deny they've been involved in some real sh*t, but refusing to buy a GTA game because of an EA tag on the cover is just f*cking ridiculous.

 

Oh well, your loss. You keep on 'fighting the man' while the rest of us continue to enjoy GTA.

You have good points there. Although I have bought many EA games and all of the have been f*cked up in one way or another, either by a patch or them creating a game in-house themselves.

 

Even if they do have great support they will break down the development of the next GTA's to nearly yearly doses for the community to buy which means we will have half decent games every year for £40 a pop and people will complain about how sh*t it will be. So if you want to buy half decent games which EA games always seems to dish out go ahead its your money going down the sh*t hole.

Edited March 12, 2008 by [email protected]

[$tr4nger]

If EA get what they want and take over before IV's release then we have another f*cking delay...

No, we won't.

They might not delay it, but how can we know for sure? I mean if it drifts into mid April and the deal goes through...

[Syxius]

EA are a bunch of g*ys. Take Two should understand that with the release of GTA IV and Future Gta(s) they will earn the big bucks. EA are trying to get all the Developers they can, and they are ruining the competition.

[Greene]

 

Even if they do have great support they will break down the development of the next GTA's to nearly yearly doses for the community to buy which means we will have half decent games every year for £40 a pop and people will complain about how sh*t it will be so if you want to buy half decent games which EA games always seems to dish out go ahead its your money going down the sh*t hole.

Suit yourself. I'll be off enjoying GTA.

 

@People above: GTA4 will not be delayed. Not a chance. It would be a disaster for everyone involved. It will be released April 29th, no matter what. The deal won't stop the release. It would be financial suicide to delay again.

[WarburtonsMediumSlice]

this is what i hope happens, two scenarios here

 

1) things continue on as they are, EA does not buy Rockstar (unlikley)

2) should the inevitable happen, i hope EA strip rockstar and the GTA licence and continue it in-house at EA. the rockstar staff then go off and form a new studio where the creation of a brand new GTA-esc game is made.

[Gangster07]

GTA4 may be the last good GTA,ah sh*t goodbye GTA

[miqueloz]

I hope we get another update report on this tomorrow or soon after because this horrible situation is stressing me out.. If EA get what they want and take over before IV's release then we have another f*cking delay and I am not ready to deal with that!! It's bad enough they will be interfering with future GTA titles but jumping in and messing about with IV one month before release is god damn ridiculous! T2 are clearly trying to compromise and EA won't have it!!

 

I don't know about anyone else but can't think about the game right now.. This sh*t is stressing me out too much. I sure as hell hope the next report will be good news..

Riiiiiiight...

[Coons2k4]

Well if they end up selling out, then they are gonna be the ones that suffer, not us. how you ask? Well when they realize no one is buying there sh*tty f*cking games, then they'll have a franchise that no one cares about on their hands.

 

GTA games are great, but if they do become sh*tty then no one will buy them. Simple as that. It'll force them to up the quality or inevitably deal with sh*tty sales figures. The power is in OUR hands you guys, dont ever forget that. They NEED us to buy the game, and if we dont, then they are f*cked.

[$tr4nger]

I hope we get another update report on this tomorrow or soon after because this horrible situation is stressing me out.. If EA get what they want and take over before IV's release then we have another f*cking delay and I am not ready to deal with that!! It's bad enough they will be interfering with future GTA titles but jumping in and messing about with IV one month before release is god damn ridiculous! T2 are clearly trying to compromise and EA won't have it!!

 

I don't know about anyone else but can't think about the game right now.. This sh*t is stressing me out too much. I sure as hell hope the next report will be good news..

Riiiiiiight...

Right what? You got something to say or are you just trying to be smart a$s?

[GamerShotgun]

EA taking over T2? OMFG... that means some really f*cking crazy translations for the GTA series...multilangual GTA omfg..

 

BTW, the only thing why this would be a big step is that, we'd get every GTA title for PC...

 

But seriously.. T2 will get a lot of money with the release of GTA IV.. i don't really think they'll need to sell out to Electronic Arts, but we can't do sh*t about it... Time will tell.

 

@Greene: I swear i'm not going to buy any future GTAs with the EA logo on them. Just because i don't like EA.. they have f*cked up a lot of my favorite titles and that's all.... But you have a good point saying it won't affect the GTA series that much..

[miqueloz]

I hope we get another update report on this tomorrow or soon after because this horrible situation is stressing me out.. If EA get what they want and take over before IV's release then we have another f*cking delay and I am not ready to deal with that!! It's bad enough they will be interfering with future GTA titles but jumping in and messing about with IV one month before release is god damn ridiculous! T2 are clearly trying to compromise and EA won't have it!!

 

I don't know about anyone else but can't think about the game right now.. This sh*t is stressing me out too much. I sure as hell hope the next report will be good news..

Riiiiiiight...

Right what? You got something to say or are you just trying to be smart a$s?

You're... stressed?

 

And second, just wait and see. It might be GTA's just get better with the extra funds. Don't be overly dramatic.

[$tr4nger]

I hope we get another update report on this tomorrow or soon after because this horrible situation is stressing me out.. If EA get what they want and take over before IV's release then we have another f*cking delay and I am not ready to deal with that!! It's bad enough they will be interfering with future GTA titles but jumping in and messing about with IV one month before release is god damn ridiculous! T2 are clearly trying to compromise and EA won't have it!!

 

I don't know about anyone else but can't think about the game right now.. This sh*t is stressing me out too much. I sure as hell hope the next report will be good news..

Riiiiiiight...

Right what? You got something to say or are you just trying to be smart a$s?

You're... stressed?

 

And second, just wait and see. It might be GTA's just get better with the extra funds. Don't be overly dramatic.

Yes, to an extent, did I not just say that twice already in my comment you quoted. Don't see how this interests you though..

 

And I'm not being overly dramatic. Why don't you read some other comments in this topic and you'll see the people who really being overly dramatic. Don't see why you would pick my comment out of some other (swear ridden) comments to call overly dramatic..

 

 

[GTA_dog]

"Grand Theft Auto. A corrupt game made by EA"

"Now! Kill bugs! Don't shoot anyone or it's game over. You can't steal cars, but they look pretty nice! Look at the Stallion! Looks nothing like a Stallion! It's Grand Theft Auto: No Stealing Cars, No Killing People, No Problems. Walk and don't see a cop! YOU WIN!" "Rated EC for early childhood"

BULLsh*t MY ASS!

[5HT2a]

This is why EA will royally f*ck up gta:

 

Criticism

 

EA is often criticized for buying smaller development studios primarily for their intellectual property assets, and then making the developers produce mediocre games on these same franchises. For example, Origin-produced Ultima VIII: Pagan and Ultima IX: Ascension were developed quickly under EA's ownership, over the protests of Ultima creator Richard Garriott,[12] and these two are considered by many[13] as not up to the standard of the rest of the series.[14][15]

 

EA is also criticized for shutting down its acquired studios after a poorly performing game.[16] [17][18] The historical pattern of poor sales and ratings of the first game shipped after acquisition suggests EA's control and direction as being primarily responsible for the game's failure rather than the studio. Magic Carpet 2 was rushed to completion over the objections of designer Peter Molyneux and it shipped during the holiday season with several major bugs. Studios such as Origin, Westwood Studios, and Bullfrog had previously produced games attracting a significant fanbase, and when they were closed down many top designers and programmers refused to stay with EA and formed rival studios. Many fans also became annoyed that their favorite developers were closed down, but some developers, for example the EALA studio, have stated that they try to carry on the legacy of the old studio, in this case Westwood Studios. EA has also received harsh fire from labor groups for its dismissals of large groups of employees during the closure of a studio (see below). Such was the case with the game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent.[19]

 

The lack of support is notable in many games, assured by the fact that EA declared openly that it would no longer support relatively new but still buggy titles, like Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Need for Speed: Underground and some of the latest Command & Conquer[20] games.

 

EA has also been criticized for other aggressive business methods like the acquisition of 19.9 percent of shares of its competitor Ubisoft in what was called a "hostile act" by Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot.[21] However, this has not materialized into anything hostile and Guillemot later indicated that a merger with EA was a possibility.[22]

 

[edit] Employment policy

 

Electronic Arts has been criticized for employees working extraordinarily long hours—up to 100 hours per week— and not just at "crunch" times leading up to the scheduled releases of products. The publication of the EA Spouse blog, with criticisms such as "The current mandatory hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.—seven days a week—with the occasional Saturday evening off for good behaviour (at 6:30 p.m.)".[23] The company has since settled a class action lawsuit brought by game artists to compensate for "unpaid overtime".[24] The class was awarded $15.6 million. As a result, many of the lower-level developers (artists, programmers, producers, and designers) are now working at an hourly rate. A similar suit brought by programmers was settled for $14.9 million.[25]

 

[edit] Exclusive licenses

 

After Sega's ESPN NFL 2K5 successfully grabbed market share away from EA's dominant Madden NFL series during the 2004 holiday season, EA responded by making several large sports licensing deals which include an exclusive agreement with the NFL, and in January 2005, a 15-year deal with ESPN, much as with Take Two Interactive's exclusive licensing deal with baseball's Major League.[26] The ESPN deal gives EA exclusive first rights to all ESPN content for sports simulation games. On April 11, 2005, EA announced a similar, 6-year licensing deal with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) for exclusive rights to college football content.[27]

 

[edit] Game quality

 

For 2006, the games review aggregation site Metacritic gives the average of EA games as 72.0 (out of 100); 2.5 points behind Nintendo (74.5) but ahead of the other first-party publishers Microsoft (71.6) and Sony (71.2). The closest third-party publisher is Take 2 (publishing as 2K Games and Rockstar) at 70.3. The remaining top 10[28] publishers (Sega, Konami, THQ, Ubisoft, Activision) all rate in the mid 60's.

 

However, EA's aggregate review performance has shown a downward trend in quality over recent years and is expected to affect market shares during competitive seasons. Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson has said, "Poor reviews and quality are beginning to tarnish the EA brand. According to our ongoing survey of GameRankings.com aggregated review data, Electronic Arts' overall game quality continues to fall...Although market share has not declined dramatically to date, in years such as 2007, which promises to have tremendous competition, it seems likely if quality does not improve."[29][30]

 

EA has also received criticism for developing games that lack innovation vis-à-vis the number of gaming titles produced under the EA brand that show a history of yearly updates, particularly in their sporting franchises. These typically retail as new games at full market price and feature only updated team rosters in addition to incremental changes to game mechanics, the user interface, and graphics. One critique compared EA to companies like Ubisoft and concluded that EA's innovation in new and old IPs, "Crawls along at a snail's pace."[31], while even the company's own CEO, John Riccitiello, acknowledged the lack of innovation seen in the industry generally, saying, "We're boring people to death and making games that are harder and harder to play. For the most part, the industry has been rinse-and-repeat. There's been lots of product that looked like last year's product, that looked a lot like the year before."[32].

 

[edit] Editing of Wikipedia

 

On August 15, 2007 it was revealed that IP addresses registered to EA had made changes to its Wikipedia entry favoring EA.[33][34] The changes made included downplaying the importance of the founder of EA, Trip Hawkins, as well as playing up the importance of former CEO, Larry Probst.[33] Other changes included attempts to remove information regarding the infamous EA Spouse scandal, which involved the poor treatment of workers. In addition, several paragraphs under criticism were removed completely. [33]

 

EA's response was that "Many companies routinely post updates on websites like Wikipedia to ensure accuracy of their own corporate information."[35] It did not, however, address the specifics of the changes.

[havoKXT]

Does this mean EA could produce, distribute, develop, or all of above for the next GTAs? (GTA 5 - GTA 78)

[5HT2a]

Does this mean EA could produce, distribute, develop, or all of above for the next GTAs? (GTA 5 - GTA 78)

That is very likely to be in the agreement. EA isn't going to go through with this if they don't own GTA.

[TheGameKisser]

Hi im not to buisness smart so can someone explain how EA might get take two or r* or GTA or whatever, are take two in debt or is it a open share company or something? and GTA IV will make aload of dosh for take two so if its to do with money why not just wait to reap the rewards, i hope people understand this.