I was reading Dallas McNews today, and the stock analyst said that when large companies keep buying up smaller ones, it's usually a sign that the large company has run out of entreprenurial juice. Since they can't perform and can't really compete, they start absorbing the smaller guys trying to prop themselves up. No surprise there.
jzero: If that's a sophisticated way of saying "EA will collapse soon" I appreciate that. Can you apply that to geopolitics (countries attacking smaller ones and annecting their natural ressources)?
Actually I think Dice's choice happened when they went public. As a publicly traded company, they don't have too much choice who buys up their shares, unless they keep a majority of the shares to themselves. And that would defeat the purpose of going public (infusion of capital).
If 60% of the shares are up for grabs and EA goes and buys them, it doesn't matter much what Dice management think about it. They could resist -- then it's a hostile takeover -- but once EA has a majority of stock it doesn't really matter.
I don't see why this is out of the norm; EA and Dice have been working pretty close together a lot in the past with the titles that Dice developed; it's pretty common for a publisher to purchase a solid developer if they have a good relationship and sales. This could mean big news for Dice in terms of growing and making new stuff.
if EA had bought Dice any other time it might have seemed normal but coming on the heels of the 'scandal' of the EA employee overtime issues, then the accquisition of exclusive rights to the NFL it seems all the more sinister.
yup, we got bought. No changes around the office yet, exact same as the day before we knew. At what point should I expect the EA storm troopers to bust in, tattoo us with a number, and chain us too our desks All kidding aside DICE has been working with EA a long time, and from my lowly character artist position it dosent really affect my day to day work. It probably mostly affects overall game design and projects we work on.
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I was reading Dallas McNews today, and the stock analyst said that when large companies keep buying up smaller ones, it's usually a sign that the large company has run out of entreprenurial juice. Since they can't perform and can't really compete, they start absorbing the smaller guys trying to prop themselves up. No surprise there.
/jzero
Man, my buddy Jay works there - and he actually posts here too - would be nice to see what he thinks.
But man, holy shit. I was thinking that once EA sets their sites on a company, its pretty much inevitable that they'll get it. This sucks.
Companies like Dice do have a choice and I think that people tend to forget about that.
Being bought by a company like EA is very attractive for the management of the Dice's of this world. It means they can retire at age 40 or whatever.
Don't blame EA ... blame Dice's management! I'm pretty sure that they also had the choice of staying independent.
But then again I work for a (non game dev) company similar to EA so my view of the corporate world is a bit tinted.
If 60% of the shares are up for grabs and EA goes and buys them, it doesn't matter much what Dice management think about it. They could resist -- then it's a hostile takeover -- but once EA has a majority of stock it doesn't really matter.
even I have in the past bought a couple of ea-published games, I've helped them reach their evil godlike position ;_;..
Hot on the heels of that awesome news
BF2 slips
Hey, wait. Oh crap. EA now owns me, and I don't even work there. You commie bastards!!!
edit: ooops, I mean capitalist. You capitalist bastards.