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Electronic Arts made an unsolicited $2 billion bid on rival Take-Two Interactive, to consolidate the rapidly growing industry. A merger with Take-Two would be a union of two vastly different companies. E.A. has a reputation for steady growth and fiscal discipline, while Take-Two is known as a mercurial one-hit wonder.
Electronic Arts’s dominance has been strongly challenged by Activision. Not only has Activision had a recent string of hits, notably Guitar Hero, it also recently agreed to merge with Vivendi’s game division to form a company called Activision Blizzard.
At the same time, E.A. has endured a growing chorus of criticism from some investors who say the company has lost its creative and innovative edge.
Over the last decade, E.A. has acquired many high-profile game studios, including Westwood (the Command & Conquer series), Bullfrog Productions (Populous) and Origin Systems (Ultima), which essentially dissolved after Electronic Arts tried to direct and homogenize their creative output.
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