Ludlum estate on EA vs. Activision: 'We're dealing with grown-ups now'

Variety is reporting more details on Electronic Arts' recent ten-year acquisition of the Robert Ludlum estate license, which grants the company rights to create games based on the Bourne novels, among other things. According to Ludlum estate CEO Jeffrey Weiner, Electronic Arts was the first choice for the license after it was dropped by Activision. Weiner said that EA CEO John Riccitiello almost bought the license in 2005 while he still worked for Elevation Partners, former owner of both Pandemic and BioWare. "So when Activision decided to terminate the license we reached out to him because we like John and it's a great company," said Weiner, "We feel we're in a much better position now."

Apparently, Vivendi didn't do a very good job with the Bourne license, as one Ludlum estate agent noted that EA "had the best take on the property, and they know how to grow the IP and have unquestioned worldwide market reach," adding, "We're dealing with grown-ups now."

Finally, Variety reports that Radical Entertainment's Treadstone project has been canceled, making the upcoming Starbreeze game the only Bourne project currently in the works (that we know about, anyway).