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View Full Version : Ubisoft bets on the ‘Wii' to fend off EA (Ubisoft’s North America boss statement)

RobertoOrtiz
10-06-2006, 07:41 PM
QUote:
"Ubisoft’s North America boss has said that the publisher’s ample Wii launch lineup is integral to fending off major Ubi stakeholder and competitor Electronic Arts.

EA and France-based Ubisoft have been at odds for some time now. In December 2004, mega-publisher EA bought a 20 percent stake in Ubisoft—a move that the house of Rayman regarded as a “hostile takeover” of Sam Fisher proportions.

Ubisoft vowed to stay independent at the time, and it plans to keep it that way. “Our goal is not to sell to EA but to beat EA," said Laurent Detoc (pictured), president of Ubisoft North America in a Reuters interview this week.

He hopes that an early adoption of the Wii platform will help push Ubisoft up from the fifth largest independent publisher in North America to the fourth. Worldwide, the company is ranked fourth, although that excludes Japan.
"

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3952&Itemid=2


-R
RuinedMessiah
10-06-2006, 08:00 PM
Seems unusual to hedge your bet so drastically on a Nintendo home console. I'm sure Wii will do great but third party software sales aren't traditionally strong nintendo consoles, outside of the handheld market. Of course, time will tell if they trend will be bucked for next gen consoles.
OneSharpMarble
10-06-2006, 08:15 PM
EA seems to be really out of control. If they continue buying studios could they not be considered a monopoly and thus be broken up?

I know very little about law and business.
Dennik
10-06-2006, 08:31 PM
EA seems to be really out of control. If they continue buying studios could they not be considered a monopoly and thus be broken up?

I know very little about law and business.

Yeah, there should be definitely a law that puts a limit to how much a company grows or how many other companies they buy. Or there should be a law protecting the rights of the employees in cases like that.
P_T
10-07-2006, 03:05 PM
Didn't EA try to buy Ubisoft a while ago before the french government stepped in and stopped them?
PhilOsirus
10-07-2006, 03:18 PM
No, EA became Ubisoft's biggest stockholder (they own 17,90% shares at the moment). There was no politics that ever got involved in this.

They bought the shares at around 17euros and now they are worth 47euro and still doing well:)
Johny
10-07-2006, 04:11 PM
i wil gladly support them with my money heheh...
P_T
10-07-2006, 04:15 PM
No, EA became Ubisoft's biggest stockholder (they own 17,90% shares at the moment). There was no politics that ever got involved in this.

They bought the shares at around 17euros and now they are worth 47euro and still doing well:)Ah my mistake, this article (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6090) was dated from April last year so my memory was a bit fuzzy on this.
Another party believed to be watching proceedings closely is the French government, which is believed to fear the loss of the last major decision making centre in France for the videogames industry. French newspaper La Tribune reported that the government is considering supporting the company in any bid to fight a buyout - which could include moves such as making low-cost financing available to the firm.
private
10-08-2006, 02:33 AM
Monopolies are legal in Canada.
RuinedMessiah
10-08-2006, 05:02 AM
But what about a... Connect Four? Maybe if EA could get Ubisoft, diagonally (since they are pretty tricky, sis), then the Canadian Government would have no choice but to pull the red bar to the left...
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