Analyst: EA being Rockstar's 'white knight' is 'bullsh*t'

by Alexander Sliwinski { Mar 18th 2008 at 6:30PM }

Amidst EA's hostile takeover of Take-Two, EA Chief Exec. John Riccitiello told the New York Times last week that his company would "represent a white knight" to a developer like Rockstar (GTA, Bully) and bring its games to a wider audience than Take-Two could. GameDaily spoke with a couple of the industry's leading analysts, like Janco Partners' analyst Mike Hickey, who called the "white knight" statement -- wait for it -- "total bullsh*t, and disrespectful" to Take-Two's new management team.

DFC Intelligence's David Cole says that Rockstar doesn't need EA's help to bring its games to a wide audience. Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter thinks Riccitiello doesn't really understand the definition of a "white knight." He points out that Rockstar is no "damsel in distress" and could become independent, even though it wouldn't own GTA -- Take-Two owns the GTA IP and that belongs to whichever company owns it.

Read -- Analyst: EA's Riccitiello 'Disrespectful' Towards Rockstar, Take-Two
Read -- New Shareholders to Weigh Take-Two Bid

Tags: cole, ea, hickey, pachter, riccitiello, rockstar, take-two, taketwo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mr.ESC @ Mar 18th 2008 6:44PM

Well as far as I know Take Two distributes their games worldwide so it's true Rockstar don't need EA.

DefDealer @ Mar 18th 2008 6:45PM

Oh man...EA's white knight just got their ass kicked from a Rock Star's black pawn...

Tiptup300 @ Mar 18th 2008 9:23PM

pwn'd

Farseer (GDI) @ Mar 18th 2008 10:38PM

no, pawn'd

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Mar 18th 2008 11:06PM

pr0n'd

Cal @ Mar 18th 2008 6:51PM

Hmmm, well since GTA:SA has sold over 20 million units I doubt they need much help bringing their games to a wide audience...

J @ Mar 19th 2008 3:03PM

I know, right!? The only way EA could bring it to a wider audience is by dumbing it down and making it rated Teen.

Marlos Hill @ Mar 18th 2008 6:54PM

Its so ridiculous...like seriously how DO you get a wider audience than the GTA Franchise has? i mean for the life of me, i can't figure out how you broaden the demographic save for making GTA: Disney and pretty up with technocolor rainbows and frilly bearlike figures who you give candy rather than shoot, beat or run over.

All jokes aside though, EA = batnutscrazy.

Cal @ Mar 18th 2008 7:14PM

They could always EA-erise it by releasing the same game every year with a new feature or two and ever so slightly better graphics. Oh and you can't forget crappy dedicated servers, where you can get free lag =)

John McPoop @ Mar 19th 2008 12:15AM

They would probably release it on the Mac, iPhone, other cellphones, those little old school hand held AA battery games, board games, card games, Live version, PSN version, Wii Ware Version and then you would also see even more of a marketing blitz with GTA cereal, beef jerkey, baseball bats, beretta 9mm GTA edition etc.. They would just whore it out and ruin it more than likely...

Nick the Hero of Canton @ Mar 18th 2008 6:57PM

Yesterday: WiiWare dev: XBLA is 'full of sh*t'

Today: Analyst: EA being Rockstar's 'white knight' is 'bullsh*t'

Tomorrow: The world.

JakubK666 @ Mar 18th 2008 7:00PM

can't...resist...

It's only a flesh wound...

Markusdragon @ Mar 18th 2008 8:52PM

Look, you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left!

Killer @ Mar 18th 2008 7:04PM

Well put Mr. Hickey. Couldn't have summed it up better. It really is bullsh*t.

kevinski @ Mar 18th 2008 7:06PM

You know, while it probably wouldn't happen, I'd love to see Rockstar sign over all of its major properties and projects to a company who simply couldn't be acquired so easily just prior to the Rockstar acquisition, just out of spite.

Jcarpio @ Mar 18th 2008 7:47PM

To go on that.. Since Rockstar is independent. They could just leave after the inevitable buy out and go to activision blizzard. THAT would be spite.

Shiba @ Mar 18th 2008 7:58PM

It's Rockstar, you know they have SOMETHING up their sleeve. I feel like some sort of comparison could be made like Rockstar is to the gaming world what The Pirate Bay is to the P2P world.

On a slightly related note, anyone else notice the lockbox you can get with GTA IV? Tell me that isn't spite, They only did that so no one can use the "What if kids take and play a parent's copy of the game without permission" argument anymore, Which is pure awesome.

Sora267 @ Mar 18th 2008 9:52PM

I'd love to see Rockstar buy the GTA IP from 2k (2k owns it, not Rockstar) right before the buyout, then go to ActiBlizzard. That'd splatter PWND all over EA's face.

andrew @ Mar 18th 2008 9:26PM

i have an idea. if they get T2 and/or rockstar before GTAIV comes out, NO ONE BUY GTAIV

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Mar 18th 2008 9:27PM

How bout no?

tmacairjordan87 @ Mar 18th 2008 9:37PM

i would succumb to the horror and buy a wii before i ever refused to buy GTA 4 for well....any reason imaginable

playwhutyalike @ Mar 18th 2008 9:50PM

Andrew: I already paid for the preorder.

Vegeta: I totally agree with you.

Tmacairwhatever: Grow up.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Mar 18th 2008 9:54PM

@play

Exactly. A boycott is fucking stupid. So I shouldn't play the game because EA's name is on it? That's ridiculous. This game is going to kick fucking ass regardless of whether EA buys Take-Two or not. That's not going to stop me from buying this game.

And besides I already put $10 down.

Hoamer @ Mar 18th 2008 9:42PM

it is refreshing to hear an analyst call a spade a spade: ea's characterization of themselves could not be described any better than that.

they ought to be looking for their own white knight, vis a vis some original and creative IP's instead of the same old crap rehashed every year. played tiger woods 08? madden 08? these stinkers did not merit a new version, and the gaming community is beginning to see ea for what it really is: a lazy, greedy, faceless corporation that will not succeed at its current rate.

cant wait to see their stock slip, big time.

Ferro @ Mar 18th 2008 11:58PM

@Sora267

I would love nothing better then have Rockstar own the rights to GTA and be independent and do what they want. But they are not they are owned by Take2. I could be wrong about this and maybe they bought their themselves back like Bungie, but ... yeah... I mean without Rockstar and GTA licence there isnt much reason that EA would want to take over T2...

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Mar 19th 2008 12:04AM

Ding ding ding. Basically GTA is the only reason why EA would even consider trying to buy out T2. Without GTA, T2 would have been dead along time ago.

John McPoop @ Mar 19th 2008 12:19AM

So is this just EA trying to go around Rockstar's back(so to speak) and buy the GTA franchise by acquiring Take 2?

32_Footsteps @ Mar 19th 2008 12:56AM

Worth noting that Take-Two holds the all-time third-party record for both selling a game and for reaching the largest percentage of a console's install base. And EA thinks they can do better, even though history has shown repeatedly that they can't (and in fact, nobody really can)?

I actually think the analyst is kind. "Bullsh*t" applies if EA thinks that it can promote artistic freedom at Rockstar. But doing better sales and increasing their reach? That goes straight past bullsh*t to flying unicorn sh*t. I mean, at least bullsh*t really exists.