Who Will Buy Take-Two? Microsoft, Activision, EA?

Ben Feder's confidence took a beating on Friday.

Feder, Take-Two Interactive's (Nasdaq: TTWO) CEO, stepped down on Friday. Shares of the video game publisher climbed 5% on the news.

Don't take it personally, Feder. The stock only rose because Take-Two's viability as a buyout candidate just went through the roof. The gamer fave's been a popular buyout candidate before, but now, with Executive Chairman Strauss Zelnick wearing the CEO hat, potential acquirers are freer than ever to make their bids.

[MURKERR]

And will be a formidable force fullstop

[Iceland]

Off all these, EA should buy Take-Two Interactive

[MURKERR]

If ms acquire take two that will be the biggest coup in gaming, just couldnt stand the gloating from greenberg seriously cant stand that guy and his spinning.

Is sony acquired take two the franchise would benefit from bluray but i dont believe the 360 audience should miss out so yeh EA definatly not bobby and activision though

[Shanks]

Whoever gets Take2 will own all this:

BioShock series
Civilization series
Grand Theft Auto series
Mafia series
Manhunt series
Max Payne series
Midnight Club series
MLB 2K series
NBA 2K series
NHL 2K series
Railroad Tycoon series
Serious Sam series
Stronghold series
Tropico series
Codename Eagle series

insane.

[GodsHand]

Civilization is owned my Sid Miers of Firaxis, so I don't think who ever buys out 2K gets that franchise, only the choice to publish the title.

[MaxOpower]

Also, codemasters.

[vsr]

Other divisions like 2k sports...etc, I don't care

[Red_Orange_Juice]

I think EA would be the best for gamers.

[visualb]

simply because they wouldn't want to be tied down to ONE console.

at most, if MS or Sony take them, they'll be multi-plat anyway

either way, hope its EA and not Activision...

[R0me]

GTA is a game which is almost made to be multiplat, I dont know how much money they invested in the production of gta4 but it was a huge amount of cash.

If it would be ps3/xbox only, MS/Sony had to pay them the money they lose for lower sales and this would be too much, so it wouldnt be profitable anymore.

On the other hand gta exclusive could have an major impact on console sales, so that maybe it would be worth it.

All in all I think Rockstar wants to stay independant and thats the best for all gamers.

[Cevapi88]

all im afraid of is these big companies starting to milk the franchises that Take 2 owns...i would not want to see a GTA game every year

[Phaqutomb]

who knows this could be apples way to get into the video game industry. they have been banking cash lately.

[captain-obvious]

edit

sorry my bad
and idk

[DeadlyFire]

Sure EA would keep it mutltiplatform, but they already have so many things going on that owning Take Two would just add another set of games to their list. EA is already almost competing with itself with FPS games. If it owned Take Two there would be no more competition to the EA Sports brand. EA would have to compete with itself to sell its own titles. EA is big enough as it is already.

Sony and Microsoft are not going to buy Take Two. If they did they would just cut it up into more pieces and sell off things they don't like.

[BattleAxe]

Watch Apple come in and buy Take-Two lol

[Troll_Police]

Either EA or Activision. We all know MS don't buy development studios, they would rather spend millions to get DLC delayed on the PS3.

[Killed4Less]

Does your trolling and whining about MS ever stop?

You complain about it yet your precious Sony does the exact same thing. I can list several instances if you like, but I think you know.

[rdgneoz3]

/\ Sony buys studios and exclusive DLC, what "several instances" are you talking about for timed DLC?

[blumatt]

He's got a point, man. This far into the product cycle, there's really not much point in buying up timed exclusive dlc. People have, for the most part, decided which games they're going to get on which console, with the main deciding factor being which console their friends have and play those games on. Microsoft's money would be better spent on buying up a first party studio or two or three..... That's why Sony will ultimately come out on top this gen: They will have the most exclusive games. 2011 is about to show Sony's powerhouse of exclusive games.

[AssassinHD]

Ok Killed4Less, I will bite. List several instances.

[Chaos Striker]

1. Batman Arkham Aslyum (Joker challenge mode)
2. Mafia 2 (additional missions)
3. Red Dead Redemption (additional missions)
4. Dante's Inferno (exclusive Limited Edition)

**I love how people disagree with facts

[AssassinHD]

Those are certainly examples of multiplatform games that have exclusive DLC (although the extra Dante's Inferno content is available on XBLM), but nowhere in your post did you provide any evidence that Sony paid for any of it.

A 3 year contract with Activision for timed-exclusive content is proof of payment (contracts are two way streets).

The $50 million money spent on GTAIV DLC is proof of payment.

Nowhere in any of your examples is there any proof of payment.

Edit: It is also worth noting that none of your examples fit the criteria that was set by Troll Police. He was talking about Microsoft paying to delay content on the PS3. The Joker challenge map has not been release on the Xbox 360, therefore it is not a payment for a delay. The same can be said for Mafia 2 and Red Dead Redemption. Dante's Inferno does not even come close to fitting the criteria.

[Chaos Striker]

Well here is my rationale and logic:

-Companies do not give extra add-ons or dlc out of the goodness of their heart (examples such as Criterion are an exception that I will not incorporate because the practice of giving away free DLC is not widespread).

-developing these DLC/add-ons take time and money.
-who will compensate the publisher/developer for this extra time and money spent?

-First method is to release multiplatform to generate the majority of the revenue from the consumers.
-Second method is to release it exclusively but through an agreed upon payment ahead of time.

-Also, a contract between the 2 parties does not have to be announced publicly. Companies have a right to privacy (as much as we don't like it) concerning any matter such as these.

My inference and assumptions leads me to the conclusion that Sony must have paid. There is no other incentive otherwise. And I emphasize, that there is no incentive to do it exclusively unless there is an agreed upon payment.

[AssassinHD]

Your logic is sound, but there are other reasons why a company would want to sweeten the pot on one side of the fence. For example, Dante's Inferno. On the Xbox 360 it had no real competition, but on the PS3 it was in direct competition with God of War 3. So to sweeten the deal a little, and entice people to purchase it on the PS3, EA made a "Divine Edition".

With Medal of Honor maybe EA was trying to entice PS3 owners to purchase the product because they know that the title would likely sell well on the Xbox 360 anyway, considering that FPS is a primary genre on that system.

Perhaps the extra content for Mafia 2 and Red Dead Redemption is just a way to make up for slight graphical differences in the PS3 versions.

I don't really have an explanation for Batman: Arkham Asylum.

[Chaos Striker]

I agree with everything you said as well. I guess we can both agree that there are incentives and motives behind exclusive deals that really hurt the customers. Hopefully this exclusivity crap concerning DLC can be dealt with sooner or later.

It is always good to have some civil discussion on this troll infested website :)

[AssassinHD]

I hate exclusive DLC personally. I don't mind games being exclusive, but if a game is released on multiple platforms then everyone who purchases the game should have access to the same content. Exclusive content is a slap in the face to half of your customers. It is like saying that one customer's money is better than another's.

[dc1]

+Plus bubbles to you both.

It’s very rare (and wonderful) to read through intelligent as well as responsible dialog, especially when the discussion is introduced through a counter point.
... one day all of NG4 will be like this ...
A place where 360 owners and PS3ers can hold virtual hands ...together.

Ok,.. I may not live to see it.. but it will happen.

[BattleAxe]

@ Chaos Striker,

Theres no evidence that Sony paid to have exclusivity with any of those games you listed. Don't forget, that the PS3 is the lead platform for a few of those games you mentioned. Developers are just betting on a winning horse.

[Nitrowolf2]

Hopefully EA

Activision meh, i see extreme dlc milking, same with EA but i respect them more. I really hope its a multiplat company and not single platform like MS or Sony

can you imagine loosing GTA, Bioshock, and Red Dead to just one platform rather then 3?

[rdgneoz3]

Yep, definitely hope EA gets it. Activision will milk the franchise to death with a new game every year and then charge $15 for stuff already on the disc. MS might try to get it since no more Halo and not a lot of first party studios pumping out exclusives.

[blumatt]

None of those games you mentioned are on all three platforms. lol (They're not on Wii.)
----------------------
I personally hope, and I know it's not gonna happen but humor me, that Sony buys Take Two so we can see a PROPER GTA with full utilization of the PS3's assets, blu ray and the cell processor both maxed out.

[Nitrowolf2]

i was including PC as a platform for them

[Nihilism]

"whoever gets taketwo gets gta as an exclusive
And will be a formidable force fullstop "

rofl.

That's just like raising a flag for whichever publisher gets Britney Spears' contract when it's up...GTAIV sucked FULLSTOP.

When you have 5 years of tech and gameplay advancement and you can have me, a former 'console first' gamer laugh at the quality of GTAIV on PC compared to the PS2 version of GTA:SA then you know you suck as a developer. If anything Rockstar owe me a free game. As a buyer of ALL their previous games; and I will take this opportunity to point out that at no point was GTA a PS3 exclusive, GTA1 and 2 were PC exclusive and GTA 3 was on both PC and PS2 ( possibly later on xbox ), and Vice city was on all 3 as well as GTA:IV...I won't buy GTA:V unless it has RPG elements back and does not spin out at 20kph around corners...

[visualb]

and GTA / rockstar being a huge important franchise when it comes to making money
they fact that GTA was arguably one of the lesser GTA's (big GTA fan here myself and I agree with your comment)

it still doesn't change the fact that GTA is a HUGE HUGE franchise, and will sell regardless of your personal tastes

[ash_divine]

It doesn't matter how good or bad GTA4 was. It was still a juggernaut in sales.(as is the franchise). Infact, it seems as if most people thought it sucked yet the game still ended up selling like 10 million copies. That should be indicative of the franchise's financial strength.

[lukeb4dunk]

While I wouldn't say that GTA4 "sucked FULLSTOP", IMO, it was the lesser of the rest.

I would like to see a return of the RPG element that you speak of. I would also like a return of rewards for completing collectibles, police/ambulance missions and buying property.

I'm not the first to say this, but 4 felt like a gimped version compared to at least the last two.

[r1sh12]

Take Two will not be sold. With Red Dead becoming a serious player in the game market they really have no reason to sell it, with future hits expected from both red dead and GTA.
We all know we are due another GTA and with even more gamers out there, it will sell very well.
Do not forget the 2K games, which have been gaining some momentum and eating into EA sales. I think take two are in a real growth period, they know they can improve by themselves.
I really dont mind if anyone buys them as long as its not kotic/activision.

[PS360fanboy]

Take2 being bought?! What did I miss? Who's rich enough to affor it!?

[lelo2play]

It would be a killer move by Microsoft if they acquired Take Two... but i don't think the Microsoft bosses are smart enough to make this kind of move. They prefer wasting money of stupid things.

Take two will probably keep them selfs independent.

[Lyr1c]

It would be smart for Sony as well. Take Two is huge.

[vhero]

MS has never acquired such an expensive studio before and I doubt they will start now. I doubt Sony would bother either I could see EA buying them up to be honest or some other major company. MS right now are too busy anyway with Kinect hoping it sells and can't really afford to spend any more money on anything and well Sony are being rather quiet on everything.. Nintendo NEVER buy anybody..

[avengers1978]

Witch is why is see MS going after Taketwo... if they could get gta as an exclusive on the 360, well that being huge sorta goes without saying.
My vote is for EA, and the most likely company to get them.

[ksense]

It would be a sad day for gamers if any of those companies buyout take two. If it comes down to it I guess I would rather have EA or Activision buy it instead of microsoft or Sony because those guys would make it exclusive to one system and that is loss for gamers.

The best would be if this never happens and take two can hold their own.

[Blaster_Master]

EA is gonna out bid everyone,, it means no more NBA live or Madden competition, they could quit making Mafia games and make GTA instead, but if Microsoft bought them, it might be the thing that saves them from depending so much on third parties. But now that I think about it, I dont think Microsoft will buy them cause they just spent $500,000,000 on advertising for the Kinect.

[PS360fanboy]

You have a point there. No more competition for EA Sports.

[FAGOL]

Microsoft = Exclusivity to 360
Activision = Bobby Kotick and his shareholders
EA = Might work

[Matthew94]

Apple will buy them!

[ksense]

you know I actually thought that. What better way to enter the console industry with a new console and rockstar making games for it exclusively. With rumors of Apple having a lot of cash and looking to buy companies I wouldn't doubt this to not happen. We shall wait and see

[GodsHand]

Damm you beat me to it.

But I was going to say, and out of the left corner Apple comes in and swoops up the company.

[OSU_Gamer]

I don't wan't MS to buy them, but MS would be smart to do so.

[zaz12]

ZeniMax could buy it

[Sarobi]

lul'd, i approve of this

[Genecalypse]

No one.

[OSU_Gamer]

mispost

[GodsHand]

3K will buy them out.

I don't get it. I see small (not saying 2K is small) compaines changing their store name all the time, to stay in bussiness, and avoid paying taxes. Why could 2K not do the same, and use these loop holes.

[denero1]

why wasnt sony mentioned can sony not buy take two?i saw microsoft but not sony

[vhero]

fanboyage mostly and the fact MS like to throw money about but out the 2 Sony would be most likely to buy as they do buy up studios but the price they would need to buy Take Two would probably be too much for MS or Sony considering how long it would take to get the money back straight away. EA could wait several years to get the money back whereas MS/Sony would want it back this consoles lifecycle.

[pinkyxyz]

Buy them now!!!!

[8thnightvolley]

i am feeling zenimex, EA or Microsoft.. could probably step in to get this cash cow.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

They would buy 2k...but keep certain titles multiplatform to keep the revenue stream as big as possible and only keep a few cornerstone titles like a GTA as exclusive.

[King-Leonidas]

MS can't.afford to buy anything for quite some time now since they spent half bill on Kinect

[Chaos Striker]

I find it highly unlikely that any of the current publishers will be willing to acquire Take-Two. Right now, the market value for T2 stands at about $929.22M which is pretty undervalued at this point. But, assuming at least a 50% premium on the current stock price of $10.94, the acquiring price will be at least $1.4B + any additional value for the assets.

EA doesn't have the financial stability and ability to pony up that much money, especially at this point when they are on see-sawing between a profit and loss.

Activision is a slight possibility because they have the capacity to handle such an acquisition, especially with their current cash reserves.

Ubisoft is a toss-up, because I do not know their financial position, but I recall that they were also see-sawing between a profit and loss.

However, I find it highly likely that someone or some people (Carl Icahn on the board) will take the company private through a buyout of the whole company, especially since the stock price is low and the perceived market value is not that high.

My 2 cents as a finance major.

**Microsoft/Sony won't pony up the money to be entrenched with T2's costs is my assumption.

[visualb]

agree'd, they are too focused on the motion controllers, advertisement and other deals to be able to buy an extremely expensive studio.

[vhero]

Agreed the money is just too much even for the big boys to bother with as they are a huge studio themselves. Plus MS and Sony will lose out making games like GTA single platform as they lose a massive audience = lost profits. At least straight away anyway.

[wetowel]

I hope none of them buy take2 and the operate on their own. I hate monopolies.

[jay2]

This is the only thing I'll say, if someone takes it over, they should return GTA to where it really should be, not losing 40GB of space and 'Exclusive 360 content' if not I don't care, (I'll still buy GTA5 day one on PS3, of cause.)

[ElementX]

Where should GTA really be? It started on PC...

[vsr]

.

[ElementX]

Yeah, a lot of games are associated with Playstation, but Final Fantasy, GTA, and many others started on different systems. It's only the younger, ignorant gamers who associate longtime franchises with Playstation. They think the Playstation is the f#*king messiah.

[Lyr1c]

It hit popularity on the Playstation. If Playstation made them big, Sony should be the first company in mind.

[blumatt]

Completely agreed man. I want a REAL GTA like San Andreas remade on PS3 with all 50gb of blu ray space used up and the Cell processor used to the max. GTA 4 was a mess.

[SuperStrokey1123]

I hope MS doesnt buy them, that would mean borderlands 2 would be a 360 exclusive and i dont have a 360 lol.

[RadioactiveTouch]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple buy them if they really are for sale. If Apple indeed wants to get into the console industry as everyone believes they do, they would have to buy either EA or 2k to be taken seriously. EA brings them a sports franchise on top of proven developers whereas 2k also brings them big-name series. If 2k is for sale, they'll be able to be taken seriously for considerably less money than a purchase of EA would require.

[HoangLow]

i'll buy take two lol

[jonboi24]

With Sony's close relationship with Rockstar, I wouldn't be surprised if they buy them. As far as all of Take-Two goes anyone but Activision. I would easily prefer EA to buy them. Having the combining the 2k sports developers with their own could do magic.

[Raoh]

if they had the money, i'd like to see valve buy them.

[Truth]

EA or Sony. I think EA would be the right choice in this scenario, but my inner Sony fanboy wants to see a GTA game that maxes out the PS3 like many have said above me.

[beast242tru]

it betta not be microsoft i dnt want e.a to get it but i rather them over m.$ and they betta not fuck up nba 2k

[ksense]

if sony or microsoft buy it the console sales would probably skyrocket for that company. Even though I would love to see Sony buy them and make exclusives the way they should be made I would feel sad for the millions of gamers that would be forced to buy a console in these tough times...

I mean how can you ignore games like gta, bioshock, red dead etc...

[SSKILLZ]

Sony should to pût thé final nail in thé coffin

[clintos59]

But if ever MS ever made a splash, this would be huge for them. Imagine GTA, RDR, Bioshock, & MS already has halo, this would be big but I dont think it would happen besides sony has take two signed for "Agent". I just cant see MS coughing up billions to buy take two which im sure they have no problem doing but look what has happened to rare. Their as great a studio ever since MS bought them. U never know what can happen but im hoping could buy them, it only makes more sense.

[DaBadGuy]

NO!

Activision and Bobby Beelzebub cannot get their paws on Take Two and the GTA AND Red Dead license.

They'll bi-annualize them and ruin them like they do with the IW and Treyarch CoD games, you know, GTA, then Red Dead, GTA, then Red Dead, then add quickscoping a noob tube, perks and ruin them forever.

EA buying them makes the most sense.

Microsoft buying them would be a huge coup and is possible.

Sony could also buy them though.

I could see MS throwing a huge amount of money at them like they did for Rare.

Make em' an offer they can't refuse.

[PlayStation360]

This would be the perfect time for Apple to get in the Gaming universe. If what some say are true, and Apple is looking to spend some of that massive dough. Why stop at T2? Acquiring T2 and EA would no doubt be an investment worth banking on. And with EA having already tried, and failed, to get T2 back in '08. It shows it would take a massive amount of moolah to grab them. And that's exactly what Apple has.

Imagine. GTA, RDR, EA Sports, Medal of Honor, Borderlands, Battlefield, Bioshock, Dead Space, on and on of great franchises, all under one name. With deep pockets. That is sick. With so many great titles, every season could bring millions of games sold for them. And going so far as to say a guaranteed GOTY contender every year.

If Apple goes the route of multi-platform, keep everything fair, let the devs do what they do best, and of course not having the mind set of Kotick, it would go a long way in being respected by gamers, being a contender and having a great future in the world of gaming.

Just my thoughts, anyways.

[dorron]

No one will buy Take Two...

[GigaGaia]

Just because a CEO has stepped down and stocks went down a little because of that, doesn't mean anybody will buy them.

In fact, there is a very high chance no one will actually buy Take-Two.