Rumor: Microsoft to Buy Epic Games

if nothing else, this rumor will give your eyebrows a workout as they rise up when it’s suggested that Microsoft is poised to purchase Epic Games. This rumor is being reported on by GamePro, according to dBTechno.com, and suggests that the price would be a cool $1 billion. Epic is of course the developer of Gears of War and Unreal Tournament, as well as the oft-used Unreal Engine.

While Epic as a company has yet to respond to the rumors officially, VP Mark Rein sent an email response to develop, stating, “I have not seen the actual GamePro article but if they’re going to make predictions about us selling Epic we would prefer if they started at $2 billion.” What makes $2 billion the magic number?  Rein said, “Because we don’t want anyone thinking that we’re cheap. ”

Rein’s sarcasm aside, we can’t really shoot down this rumor outright – Microsoft Game Studios have seen quite a few defections recently, and it seems quite clear that Microsoft needs to somehow bolster its first party lineup. Ensuring that Gears of War remains exclusive to the 360 (and PC) doesn’t seem like a bad way of doing just that.

EA Attempts To Acquire Take-Two Interactive

 

Electronic Arts announced today that it has proposed to acquire Take-Two in cash merger valued at approximately $2.0 billion. Details are still surfacing concerning the proposed merger, but this is certainly exciting news.

The news follows weeks of rumors that Take-Two would be the subject o an acquisition bid, with Viacom touted as a possible suitor at $1.5 billion. EA has, it turns out, attempted to buy Take-Two for $25 a share, and, after being rebuffed, has upped the ante by a buck. But the firm has warned shareholders that they won’t get a better price. EA’s proposal of $26 per share in cash represents a premium of 64 percent over Take-Two’s closing stock price prior to the company’s bid.

The letter from EA to Take-Two Interactive follows the break:

Penumbra: Black Plague

Publisher: Paradox Interactive   Developer: Frictional Games   Category: Adventure

Release Dates  - 02/12/2008 Digital Download - 02/12/2008

 Intl - 02/15/2008

Official Game Website

Penumbra: Black Plague is a creepy and dark psychological horror experience featuring the adventures of Philip as he sets of in search of his dead father.

Trapped in a shadowy, underground complex, intrepid explorer Philip is determined to discover the truth behind his father’s disappearance.

Surrounded by enemies and assaulted by terror from all sides, Philip must collect clues and solve vexing puzzles while combating the gnawing psychological terrors that assail his mind and threaten to strip him of his sanity.

Can Philip master his fear and finally uncover the truth behind a mystery that has haunted him for a lifetime? Only you can decide…

Brian Reynolds

Brian Reynolds  is a well known computer strategy game designer, formerly of MicroProse and Firaxis Games. He now runs his own game development company, Big Huge Games where he is CEO and creative director, and has been chairman of the International Game Developers Association. He has played a major part in designing a number of multi-million selling games including Civilization II and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.

Reynolds was a gamer in high school, and a SysOp on Randolph School’s (Huntsville, Alabama) PDP-11 mainframe computer. A 1990 graduate of the University of the South, Reynolds briefly pursued graduate studies in Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. This influence is evident in the emphasis on philosophy encountered in one of his more famous computer games, Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.

Official GTA IV Website Launches

Rockstar Games has announced the launch of the official website for their highly anticipated title, Grand Theft Auto IV. Right now, you can head over to the site and get a flash tour of Liberty City. At least, that’s what is supposed to happen in the coming months. Right now though, there’s really not much to see in Liberty City except a few screenshots and videos that we’ve already seen before. Rockstar says you’ll be able to visit specific game locations once the site is fully up and running

 http://www.rockstargames.com/IV

Disney to boost games division

The Walt Disney Co. is launching a major expansion of its Utah video game development business and expects to hire as many as 500 new employees over the next 10 years.
The well-known entertainment conglomerate operates Utah’s Avalanche Software and Fall Line Studios under its Disney Interactive Studios unit. It is now out to expand those businesses, which employ about 140 Utahns, to gain a stronger share of the $47 billion a year video games market.
“We are really pleased with our operations in Utah and are committed to staying in the state for the long run,” said Angela E. Emery, vice president of communications for Disney Interactive Studios.
Disney Interactive acquired the Utah-grown Avalanche Software in 2005. Since that acquisition it has produced Disney game titles such as “Chicken Little,” “Meet the Robinsons” and “Hanna Montana.”
Fall Line studios was created as a sister studio to Avalanche in 2006 to focus on developing video games for the increasingly popular Nintendo Wii console and the DS hand-held gaming platforms, Emery said.
To help soften the expense of Disney’s Utah growth, the Business Development Board of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development on Friday approved a 10-year incentive package, worth a maximum $5.25 million, that will rebate up to 30 percent of the new state tax revenue generated by the expansion.

EA’s next Battlefield game for free

Video game giant Electronic Arts is about to try something radical: Later this year, the company plans to give away the newest game in its popular Battlefield franchise.

The move marks the first time a company has released a mainstream video game title for free in North America and the move could change forever the way video games are sold.

According to the research firm NPD Group, sales of video games in the U.S. shattered sales records set in 2005, passing $12.5 billion US last year. In Canada, sales of video games hit $1.5 billion, an increase of 56 per cent over 2006, or more than four times what Canadian movie theatres took in at the box office.

EA Gives Spore Official Release Date

Electronic Arts has given Spore an official release date. The Will Wright game, which has been highly-anticipated for a good three years now, has been named by EA to hit store shelves on September 7, 2008 for the Mac, PC, and Nintendo DS.

, who brought us the likes of SimCity and The Sims stated “The wait is almost over. We’re in our final stages of testing and polish with Spore, and the team at Maxis can’t wait to see the cosmos of content created by the community later this year.”

The Maxis Chief Designer stated that Spore will be coming to the PC, Macintosh, and the Nintendo DS, along with mobile phones.

Spore has gained quite a few awards from E3 2005 as well as GDC 2005.

The game will be the ultimate simulation, allowing gamers to take one microbe and watch it transform and evolve into an intelligent life form.

An Xbox 360 version and PS3 version are also heavily rumored.

BlackSite

Developer:

Midway

Publisher:

Midway

BlackSite, developed by Midway Studios Austin, is a next-generation game that will redefine the first person shooter (FPS) genre. While other FPS titles claim to feature “action-packed, highly realistic gameplay,” BlackSite takes next-gen gaming to an all-new level integrating cutting edge technology, game design and story writing to create the ultimate entertainment experience. The player’s modern-day emotions and fears are driven into a world charged with grave responsibility affecting lives hanging in the balance and eventually fi nding himself torn between his professional orders and his own ethical standards. In the end, only the actions of the player and his squad can shape the outcome of BlackSite during this potentially pivotal moment in history.

THQ Confirms Red Faction III

THQ CEO Brian Farrell has slipped new details about the next title in the Red Faction franchise. During a conference call, Farrell named the game as “Red Faction III” for the first time and confirmed the new title will be developed by Volition Software.