The giant game monolith known as EA has another game company in its crosshairs and that would be none other than Ubisoft. Electronic Arts already has a 20% share in the company and most industry observers see the inevitable happening…the eventual absorption of Ubisoft into the EA fold.
The Borg would be proud of them.
Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, said that the prospect of his company being bought out by EA is being considered by the board. Previously, Ubisoft has strongly resisted any such actions.
Ubisoft Executive Director, Alain Corre, shot down the possibility last year by, saying, "We have the capability, the management, the brands, the studios and the energy to go on alone."
But Guillemot seems more receptive, "We’re still considering. The first option for us is to manage our own company and grow it. The second option is to work with the movie industry, and the third is to merge. We think the market is going to grow fast, and we can take a big share of that market, so we don’t have to change the way things are done at the moment."
While taking over game companies is a way of life for EA, industry watchers have criticized the practice because of its penchant for buying up game ideas instead of developing original content and its over dependence on cranking out franchise titles.
Sims anyone?
