Gears of Acquirement: Legendary Pictures in Talks to Buy Epic Games?

Wade Larson — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 03:17:48 +0000

The word on the Locust infested streets of Sera is that Legendary Pictures is looking to purchase Epic Games. No clue as to whether or not the companies would change their name, but they might as well go for “Uber,” I can’t really think of any thing else that tops Epic or Legendary (Artifact perhaps?)

The two studios have been working closely with each other on the film adaptation of Gears of War, and apparently have bonded over a love of Chainsaw Bayonets, leading to speculation that the purchase is at the very least being discussed seriously.

Legendary Pictures’ chairman Thomas Tull has shown interest in video games before, as he was co-founder of publisher Brass Entertainment, but subsequently left, as the company was focused on Hollywood licensed productions, and we all know how those tend to go.

So perhaps Tull has gotten a taste for gaming and is looking for a real company to get involved with. He could certainly do much worse than Epic, which owns the Gears of War franchise and the Unreal Engine.

Legendary offered no comment but Epic had some nice things to say about Legendary, which at least indicates they play well together, so getting hitched isn’t totally out of the question.

“We have publicly announced that Epic and Legendary are partnering on the “Gears of War” movie. We’re very excited about that project and have the highest regard for Thomas Tull and his organization,” said a spokesperson for Epic.

The pairing would provide Epic with whole helluva lotta money, and Legendary would get an epic game studio (sorry, couldn’t resist.)

Stay tuned for more info as it comes.

Source: Variety

EA to Destroy Videogaming Starting August 21st

Dan Landis — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:54:46 +0000

Industry giant and evil overlord Electronic Arts reported this morning that it had finished its wheeling and dealing with the Federal Trade Commission concerning the takeover of Take Two Interactive.

In its regulatory filing, EA said it would not go through with the previously offered $2 billion deal (because Take Two rejected it), and would instead return to the table, presumably with hired goons, no sooner than August 21 of this year. The news apparently convinced some people that this deal will happen, as stock prices rose for both companies. We have just experienced the beginning of the end.

The average gamer knows this to be true. It was a sad day when EA acquired BioWare, and that’s just one developer. Take Two represents one of the four legs (along with EA, Ubisoft, and ActiBlizzion) that holds up the bed of videogames that we all sleep in. Combining two of those legs into one will certainly make the bed unstable, and we will most likely not have as much fun in it any more for fear that it will break and splinters will pierce our fun-parts.

The EA Sports games are a perfect example of what a lack of competition does to the quality of their products. EA just doesn’t give a shit. They know that if you want NFL-branded football, you will buy their game, so they have no motivation to make it anything other than passable. If EA acquires Take Two, all sports games will begin to suck harder.

I know the reality of a Take Two buyout is probably not as doom and gloom as I think it is. I still have faith that BioWare will continue to make great games despite being under the EA banner of douchebaggery. The point I’m trying to make is that competition breeds innovation. The more competition EA disposes of through either acquisitions or exclusive licensing, the lower their need to focus on quality, and the shittier the average game will end up being. Just look at the history of AT&T for a perfect example.

Hopefully, if EA continues its trend of gobbling up every other company, it will actually end up like AT&T — broke into a thousand pieces that end up giving us better choices and service. If not, I’ll just go back to boring things like spending time with my family.

Source: Reuters via Yahoo News

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Gears of Acquirement: Legendary Pictures in Talks to Buy Epic Games?

EA to Destroy Videogaming Starting August 21st