Electronic Arts: We Don't Want Grand Theft Auto

Electronic Arts has announced that it will no longer be pursuing an acquisition of Take-Two.

In a statement, EA said, "...while EA continues to have a high regard for Take-Two's creative teams and products, after careful consideration, including a management presentation and review of other due diligence materials provided by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., EA has decided not to make a proposal to acquire Take-Two and has terminated discussions with Take-Two."

Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of the Board of Take-Two, responded to the announcement, saying, "We remain focused on creating value for our stockholders and our consumers. This has been our goal since EA launched its conditional and unsolicited bid six months ago, a bid which was repeatedly rejected by our stockholders.

The key point of his statement went as follows, "As part of that commitment, we remain actively engaged in discussions with other parties in the context of our formal process to consider strategic alternatives. We're especially proud of the success we've enjoyed over the past eighteen months and we remain confident in our ability to generate value for stockholders."

Focusing on Take-Two's future, with little reference to EA, Ben Feder (CEO of Take-Two) said, "Take-Two's business has continued to strengthen since the time EA first made its offer. We have delivered terrific products to our consumers and we've been rewarded with very strong financial performance.

"We have an exciting future ahead of us, powered by our profitability, a significant cash position, the absence of debt, an undrawn credit facility and a terrific lineup of games. We are confident in the unique value of our business given our strong position in what is a growing and dynamic industry."

Commenting in the announcement, EA's own CEO, John Riccitiello, acted as though EA was never bothered anyway. In case you care, his completely irrelevant utterance went as follows - "EA is tracking toward a record breaking year. We're launching 15 new games including award-winners like SPORE, Dead Space and Mirror's Edge, great new titles from the Sims, new family titles with Hasbro, and the highest quality slate of EA SPORTS titles on this generation of consoles. We're also expanding beyond our core business with a series of direct-to-consumer launches including Warhammer Online.”

The announcement is likely the result of the impending collapse of global capitalism as the US government nationalises all American industry.