News Room Contributor Posts: 4108 Joined: 12 Nov 2002 | Activision CEO "Concerned" Over EA-Take Two Deal
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has expressed concerns about the possible acquisition of Take-Two Games by Electronic Arts, a deal that would create the largest single publisher in the videogame industry.
The $18 billion merger between Activision and Vivendi that resulted in the creation of Activision Blizzard currently holds the record as the largest deal the industry has ever seen, but Kotick appeared concerned specifically about the potential monopoly of the sports game genre by the merged company. "That's concerning, sure," he said in an interview with Reuters. "When you think about one company in control of the sports category, with no competition from anybody else, that could be a challenge."
In April, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission made a second request to EA for information regarding the attempted takeover of Take-Two, which fueled speculation about concerns over possible anti-competitive issues in the deal. While EA has said it believes the deal would not violate any anti-trust statutes, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said in February that the 2K Sports division was EA's real target in the takeover, adding, "By taking out all of that, EA has a monopoly in sports. If these guys have a monopoly, they're not going to cut pricing on sports games as quickly."
The EA Sports brand dominates the sports game genre, with the only competition of any note coming from Take-Two's 2K Sports division, which publishes NHL, NBA, MLB and college basketball franchises as well as other unlicensed sports games.
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Press Junketeer Posts: 418 Joined: 6 Feb 2008 | Id never thought of that before: EA securing an almost total monopoly on all Sports franchises. |
Pulitzer Laureate Posts: 817 Joined: 29 Nov 2007 | Mmmmm....anti-trust litigation....so delicious. |
Press Junketeer Posts: 384 Joined: 13 Jul 2006 | I thought EA already had a monopoly on the sports category in video games. |
Anonymous Source Posts: 9 Joined: 25 Apr 2008 | Pretty ironic that the CEO of a company just after a huge merger would be concerned about another huge merger. But i guess his point is somewhat valid. |
Activision CEO "Concerned" Over EA-Take Two Deal
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has expressed concerns about the possible acquisition of Take-Two Games by Electronic Arts, a deal that would create the largest single publisher in the videogame industry.
The $18 billion merger between Activision and Vivendi that resulted in the creation of Activision Blizzard currently holds the record as the largest deal the industry has ever seen, but Kotick appeared concerned specifically about the potential monopoly of the sports game genre by the merged company. "That's concerning, sure," he said in an interview with Reuters. "When you think about one company in control of the sports category, with no competition from anybody else, that could be a challenge."
In April, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission made a second request to EA for information regarding the attempted takeover of Take-Two, which fueled speculation about concerns over possible anti-competitive issues in the deal. While EA has said it believes the deal would not violate any anti-trust statutes, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said in February that the 2K Sports division was EA's real target in the takeover, adding, "By taking out all of that, EA has a monopoly in sports. If these guys have a monopoly, they're not going to cut pricing on sports games as quickly."
The EA Sports brand dominates the sports game genre, with the only competition of any note coming from Take-Two's 2K Sports division, which publishes NHL, NBA, MLB and college basketball franchises as well as other unlicensed sports games.
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