Ubisoft Continues Fight Against EA

[Doctor Setebos]

At this year's E3 (http://e3expo.com), Ubisoft called for shareholders to continue to keep their stake in the company (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4586171.stm), and not to give in to a potential 'hostile' takeover by video game publishing giant, Electronic Arts.

"If our shareholders are happy with what we do they will not sell their shares, they will keep them as it is a great investment for them," he said.

[...]

"We are in a business of creation," said Mr Guillemot, "we need to keep the creativity and that is the value of the company."

[BlindSwordsman]

Ubi Soft for sale? (http://www.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=MTFH6737 1_2005-05-16_06-52-42_L16619796_NEWSML)

hrm...maybe something is being lost in translation.

[TrackZero]

Personally, I like rooting for Ubisoft in this. I haven't played an EA title in years and certainly don't want Ubi getting taken by them. They've given me gems like Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia and Star Wars Episode 3 for the DS. EA's given me shit all (I don't touch sports games).

[Hieremias]

I'm no EA fan, but Battle for Middle Earth wasn't terrible. At the very least it provided a very cinematic experience, letting you revisit some parts of the movies. A first-rate strategy game it wasn't, but a cinematic LotR experience it was.

[Goronmon]

EA's given me shit all (I don't touch sports games).
You are missing out with the Fight Night games. Controlling punches with the control stick is pretty much the only decent innovation I've seen in games for a while.

I've had the game for months and I still load it up to beat the crap out of Ali or Holyfield every now and then ;)

[Phades]

EA doesn't make great games, they buy companies that make great games. Westwood, Criterion, Maxis, etc...

They're just continuing what they've always done. Bastards, I miss some of the Westwood games like Kyrandia or Lands of Lore.

[NACIONAL]

"We are in a business of creation," said Mr Guillemot, "we need to keep the creativity and that is the value of the company."

Wow... that is a direct hit

[bobbler]

Honestly, I hope EA just buys them... Guillemot never seems to shutup about his fears of being eaten by EA. If EA really wanted the company they could get it... They do have 20% share themselves alone (maybe more, the 20% was snagged in one go pretty recently, I believe) -- if EA can show that ubisoft will be better under their wing then the share holders will let it pass (ubisoft is rather powerless in this situation; that odor isn't guillemot's breath, its desperation).

Not like Ubisoft has made that many great games (their only real successful games are those tom clancy branded games). I know they've made a few, but I don't see them as being in trouble of losing their creativity by buying purchased by a company with resources that are nearly unrivaled in the game industry. If people stop buying EA's stuff, they'd change their ways -- they make good business decisions and buy up good dev houses (just like Microsoft, oddly enough -- which is far more terrifying than EA can ever be).

[TrackZero]

Honestly, I hope EA just buys them... Guillemot never seems to shutup about his fears of being eaten by EA. If EA really wanted the company they could get it... They do have 20% share themselves alone (maybe more, the 20% was snagged in one go pretty recently, I believe) -- if EA can show that ubisoft will be better under their wing then the share holders will let it pass (ubisoft is rather powerless in this situation; that odor isn't guillemot's breath, its desperation).

Not like Ubisoft has made that many great games (their only real successful games are those tom clancy branded games). I know they've made a few, but I don't see them as being in trouble of losing their creativity by buying purchased by a company with resources that are nearly unrivaled in the game industry. If people stop buying EA's stuff, they'd change their ways -- they make good business decisions and buy up good dev houses (just like Microsoft, oddly enough -- which is far more terrifying than EA can ever be).


All EA does is take good franchies and try to "mainstream" them, or buries them completely if the developer won't match their vision. Ubisoft has done great work, even their Clancy titles have impressed me over the years (this is from someone who HATED Rainbow Six). EAs buyout would be a total shame.