It was just a month ago we reported that Take-Two had purchased Codemasters for nearly a billion dollars, but those deals are often preliminary, and in this case, Take-Two has now been outbid by EA before they could put pens to paper. It seems EA will now buy Codemasters for $1.2B, leap-frogging Take-Two's price and hoping to seal the deal for itself.
According to games journalist Brian Crecente on Twitter, Take-Two is ""considering its position in relation to Codemasters and a further announcement will be made when appropriate." For now, he added, "[t]he Codemasters board appears to be leaning towards an EA buy out over Take-Two."
EA, meanwhile, seems delighted to acquire a studio so prolific in the racing space, though it does leave questions about what Ghost Games and Criterion Games will do now, as they had previously split duties on the Need for Speed. franchise.
"We believe there is a deeply compelling opportunity in bringing together Codemasters and Electronic Arts to create amazing and innovative new racing games for fans,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in a statement. “Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era of racing entertainment.”
“Electronic Arts and Codemasters have a shared ambition to lead the video game racing category,” says Codemasters chairman Gerhard Florin. “The Board of Codemasters firmly believes the company would benefit from EA’s knowledge, resources and extensive global scale — both overall and specifically within the racing sector. We feel this union would provide an exciting and prosperous future for Codemasters, allowing our teams to create, launch and service bigger and better games to an extremely passionate audience.”
If Take-Two so chooses, they may fire back with another offer. Or perhaps a third bider may enter the arena, likely to Codemasters' enjoyment. For now it seems Codemasters is heading to EA, but we'll be more cautious about suggesting it's a done deal than last time.
