Ubisoft would consider EA takeover, if price was right
by Ross Miller 
{ Sep 22nd 2005 at 5:15PM }
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot told a local
French newspaper today that he would consider an acquisition if the price was high. From a company who publishes
Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Myst, Far Cry, and the upcoming King Kong,
that price would have to be pretty massive (Beyond Good & Evil should be mentioned, too - not as a
financial success, but an achievement that Ubisoft published it). Who could afford such a bid – everyone's favorite
Electronic Arts, of course. "We are not safe from a hostile action from Electronic Arts, which it would be difficult to
block if they make a genuinely interesting offer," Guillemot told the paper.
From a corporate standpoint, this makes sense - most shareholders must have thought so, too, as Ubisoft's stock rose
after these statements. Would an EA takeover affect your decision to buy a previously Ubisoft franchise?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jay @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
urgh they better not. EA are utter crap. Ubisoft still have a bit of quality left in them.
james @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
If ubisoft was bought out, I probably wouldn't refrain from purchasing games that were currently under development during the buyout. Although, it's very likely that in the future I would be much more skeptical of the quality of new games, and the probability that said games were being rushed to market prematurely.
sean @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
This would suck. I hate games made by EA. They're all written for one system and ported based on the original system. Ubisoft's titles would never be the same if EA took em over. Consider this the end of era if it happens.
Not Impressed (Dmitri) @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Why the hell does everyone say EA is crap when they have made such great games such as Burnout and SSX?
Jealous bastards.
Pretty Obvious @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Because people have been taught to hate big powerful companies. Most people still hate Microsoft even though out of this generation the Xbox brought the most to the table. Figure that one out.
b @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
well, they mostly do crap, even if they have a few good ones like burnout, lotr, and the sims. But why don't they look at it the positive way? I mean, it's Ubisoft taking control of EA, not the other way around. That way titles will get better. But who knows what will happen at a corporate level. EA backs blu-ray, and therefore sony, while Ubisoft is probably imparcial.
Google Nazi @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
EA is crap because of what EA has done in the past (Not only about some low quality games).
Electronic Arts basically bought out everything they could find and at many times they would just destroy what they bought, leaving many unemployed. They even canceled alot of games including the all anticipated Ultima X (3D version of ultima online) and they let go over 100 employees last year in one shot.
Let's not forget that they are stingy and wants everybody to do what they are doing which this includes moving to florida and making florida the gaming state. (Doesn't make sense except its cheaper to held offices over there)
Within the past few years EA has done alot of bad shiznit including horrible games such as NHL 2004, 007 games, and of course the destruction of Ultima Online. Have you seen the 8th age yet? It is nothing new! It just has old stuff bundled leaving only 2 staff members working on the game now. Just a matter of when...
Research EA and you will understand why the hate towards them.
MILES @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
"Ubisoft still have a bit of quality left in them."
RainbowSix:Lockdown Is one of the Most Dissapointing games ever, it was hyped up and the Fans waited for ages to get their hands on it.. What a load of crap.
Maybe EA and Ubisoft belong together because R6:LO was the kind of game I would expect from EA.. Crap.
GuyManDude @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Microsoft Dmitri, Microsoft.
The1 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
You see the latest Rainbow EA put out for the XBOX? They are being just as careless as EA in my opinion.
Pickypants @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Oh yeah the Xbox brought the most to the table.
If by "the most" you mean the biggest controller, and the "least" amount of fun exclusive titles.
Have fun with Halo.
Spencer @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Uhh...yeah. EA sucks. They churn out crappy games, all of which seem to be based on the same three engines (Madden, Baseball, and everything else.)
On top of that, EA writes a game, and ports it in an incredibly crappy manner to the other two consoles.
@10, right on. @5, you suck. Learn about video games.
XBox may have come out last, and thus, brought the most power, but the fun is with the GCN.
It's perfect! It's not crappy like the PS2, and it's got more than two fun games, unlike the XBox. Not to mention the fact that not all titles are rated M.
gmrc @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
GuyManDude is right.
Microsoft should this as a sign that Ubisoft is ripe for the picking.
In all honestly, MS *should* buy Ubisoft and lock up those killer franchises. Sam Fischer was a quasi-mascot for the xbox for a while there after all .....
Puh Fifer @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I love some ubisoft and some EA games, but for the most part they've been lackluster lately. Yes, Splinter Cell and Burnout are great, but what about the 10 other disappointing games each company has made this year. They will still make good games, no doubt, but this will accelerate their degrading quality.
This is like diarhea buying out vomit
Stephen K @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I find EA's games to be very inconsistent. Some games are really great (Burnout, for instance) but some games are really bad (do you really want examples?). In my opinion, Ubisoft has had a much better track record in making consistently good games (BG&E, SC3:CT, POP:TSOT), and so I'd be hoping for EA to leave Ubi alone. Ubisoft is one of my favorite developers; I'd hate to see it devoured by the ever-growing EA.
Pretty Obvious @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
#12 You seem to know jack about videogames putting the GC on top of PS2 and the Xbox.
Yes the Xbox came out last, yes its the most powerful, and still it was the most innovative console in history, Xbox Live anybody??? Hello.
Hate to turn this thread into something else but the GC has the LEAST amount of grade A titles out of the 3. How is there more fun to be had? Got rid of my Cube after Resident Evil 4 and before that it collected a whole lot of dust for a year and a half.
And I will have my fun with Halo, you can keep Mario Partying with yourself buddy.
paralipsis @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I'm not a fan of big companies on principle, but that is not what concerns me most with a potential buyout of Ubisoft by EA. For me the primary concern is that I don't want to see the largest European developer become just another part of a big U.S. company. I think it's important that we have development going on on both sides of the Atlantic. Being owned be EA would meant the the studios currently run by Ubisoft in Europe could be threatened if it were determined that it was cheaper to develop games in the U.S.
jay @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
"and still it was the most innovative console in history, Xbox Live anybody???"
yes like online has never been done before. oh hi there mr. Dreamcast, oh whats that Super Nintendo? satellite download system!
MS does not innovate. look at Windows for proof. they copy others, stealing companies when they can in the vain hope of making progress.
Sloopydrew @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
"Would an EA takeover affect your decision to buy a previously Ubisoft franchise?"
Yes. I won't buy anything associated with EA games. I've had to pass on a lot of quality titles, but there are plenty of other NON-EA games out there to choose from -- that won't be the case if EA keeps buying everything up and gamers keep buying up crap from EA.
NergiZed @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
NOOOO!!! They've already taken DICE (the makers of battlefield), trauma studios (the makers of Desert Combat), and even Westwood! (I loved Red alert so much, but it seems that Generals might be the last Command and Conquor game :( )
Damn you EA!! Damn you Legion of Evil!!