It’s official, EA has given up their talks with Take-Two and, as a result, the stock of both companies is falling like a stone. While gamers may cheer knowing the Grand Theft Auto and 2K Sports product lines will continue to compete with EA products, share holders are doing a WTF?
Take-Two has had its share of financial difficulties, but nothing shakes up a stock more than a break in discussions when the words acquisition have been spoken. It causes uncertainty and lack of understanding on the part of the game industry and share holders. EA’s stock dropped 2.7% upon opening this morning but has begun to stablize as it’s clear EA isn’t in any financial peril from this breakup in discussion.
Take-Two’s stock, however, is in epic free fall with a 25% decline since the discussions ended. One theory is that, “is taking a huge beating as everyone and their mother tries desperately to sell the shares the figured EA was going to to buy.” (kotaku)
As the game industry gets more competitive, builds bigger bank-roll and becomes a staple entertainment icon there is always more business savvy people getting into the game trying to make a fast buck. In this case, the shareholders obviously aren’t pushing for Take-Two’s future decisions or product launches — this is the reaction of business folks trying to make money.
There is huge risk with block buster 100-million dollar titles and all the crazy hype involved with some of the biggest games in history. They break sales records, smoke box-office numbers and bring new gamers into the industry but it’s all at risk when money gets involved. One bad move and a company making a title like GTA can find themselves in financial peril.
With risk comes reward, but failure is always sneaking up around the corner so watch out!
@Notch earned $101M in 2012, may buy car
Good for him.
@Sony teases “See the Future” event on 20th February
It could also be some sort of TV or virtual reality device. But again, unless the announcement includes price drops, I’m not interested.
@Rumor: PS4 hitting Europe in 2014, will have 8GB GDDR5
Hmm. Dunno. Higher end PCs run on 8GB today, and a console should aim for the future. On the other hand, there isn’t too much using up RAM on a console except the game.
I agree with Jonah though, the difference in RAM speed will produce only a small bump in performance. Common bottlenecks for games are at the CPU and GPU.
@Feedback leads Kawata to “slightly revise” opinions on Resident Evil
I say blame the movies for influencing the games.
As for changing genres, anyone remembers Command & Conquer: Renegade? I loved the strategy games, I also loved Renegade. But apparently I was part of a minority.
And if you think of it, other game featuring vehicular combat released after Renegade did enjoy success.
So it seems that switching genres will impact sales, regardless of the quality of the end product. Therefore, be careful when making drastic changes. If possible, don’t make them.
@Source Code director signs on for Legendary Pictures’ Warcraft adaptation
Moon was good. Still, I foresee an action movie. Think of Prince of Persia.
@Controversial torture interrogation from Splinter Cell: Black List removed
Dunno. If I were to make a game about war, I’d make it as gritty as possible. War is like that. You’d play the game, feel awful about it.
@Rumor: Halo 3 finally hitting PC – on Steam?
Never was a Halo fan, so you know what? I hope it doesn’t sell. When you make exclusives, there’s always a gamble. Heck, Halo 4 is out for XBox, and just now Halo 3 comes up for PC?
@QOTW
Oh … this is difficult. There are plenty of NES games that I’d like to see re-made. Dunno, “Mission Impossible” I guess.
“It could also be some sort of TV or virtual reality device.”
Not with a hashtag #PlayStation2013.
@Kick it up a Notch
Quite a success story. Contemporary Bill Gates. In my opinion he deserves it. Minecraft is possibly one of the most influential games of our time. If only the gaming industry had more people like Notch, we would have more innovative games.
@Sony’s crystal ball event
What a tempting ambitious name. Although it will probably be some fancy prototypes of some Star Trek tech that won’t see the light of day for another decade. Sony needs to grab attention. But I don’t think they have anything to back it up. Otherwise we would have heard about it already. Roll on 20th of feb and let me see Sony fail to prove me wrong.
@PS4 hitting Europe in 2014
And we get it later than anyone why? If Xbox comes out in 2013, this move will be the death of PS4 in Europe.
@GTA delayed
Nintendo does it all the time. I don’t see why someone else can’t. If it’s for the best of the game then I can wait. Besides, I am yet to play GTA4. Don’t know why everyone is bashing GTA these days. You don’t like GTA 4, you make a better game and then you can talk.
@QOTW
Too many. As long as it’s a proper remake. Not a Nintendo style remake of taking on new controls and charging full price i.e. Ocarina of Time 3DS. My pick would be Final Fantasy 7. I would go for Morrowind, but since it’s a PC game it already has fan made graphic updates which make it look like Skyrim.