14 DAY TRIAL // Take-Two has had some quite troubled times lately. Before launching Grand Theft Auto IV, they weren't doing all that great in terms of sales and profit. BioShock really did save them in 2007 and the company, although confident in GTA IV, did seek out a long term solution. Luckily, Electronic Arts, one of the biggest game companies out there, offered to buy the publisher for quite a large sum of money. It was the most logical solution; EA would have gotten rid of a pretty major player on the market and would take into account very big franchises like GTA or Bioshock. In the end, after quite a lot of negotiations and talks, EA dropped out due to Take-Two's unwillingness to co-operate during the talks between the two companies. Now, after a period when no other offers appeared, Take-Two has announced that they are suspending any merging talk.
“Following detailed discussions with various interested parties over the last five months, Take-Two's Board of Directors has determined that it is in the best interests of stockholders to conclude its review of strategic alternatives and to continue operating and building Take-Two as an independent company,” read their official press release.
The company also added, through the voice of their Chief Executive Officer, Ben Feder, that, “Take-Two's recent performance demonstrates our potential to create value for the long term. We have delivered solid financial results and expanded our portfolio of leading titles, which includes the powerful Grand Theft Auto franchise, as well as 15 other wholly owned brands with sales of more than one million units each”.
In the end, I think it's the best course of action for the company. It's always nice to have diversity because if it weren't for the not so major publishers and developers, we'd be assisting to a one on one match between Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts.