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

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

Reader Comments (29)

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

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

pwn'd

no, pawn'd

pr0n'd

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

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

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.

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 =)

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...

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

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

Tomorrow: The world.

can't...resist...

It's only a flesh wound...

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

How bout no?

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

Andrew: I already paid for the preorder.

Vegeta: I totally agree with you.

Tmacairwhatever: Grow up.

@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.

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.

@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...

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.

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

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.

Bad choice of words I guess.

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

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