video games, 2K Boston, bioshock

EA Bid Could Sweep Up 2K Boston

Wade Roush 2/25/08

Electronic Arts, the world’s largest video game publisher, yesterday said it would push forward with its proposed $2 billion cash takeover of New York-based Take 2 Interactive Software, which owns local game studio 2K Boston (the lead site in the creation of 2007’s award-winning Xbox 360 game Bioshock). The bid of $26 per share represents a 64 percent premium over Take 2’s closing price as of February 15. But the board of Take 2, which is best known for its Grand Theft Auto series, has already rejected the bid once, and chairman Strauss Zelnick said in a statement yesterday that “Electronic Arts’ proposal provides insufficient value to our shareholders and comes at absolutely the wrong time.” Take 2’s Grand Theft Auto IV is scheduled for release on April 29.