GTA IV vindicates response to EA, says Zelnick

Enjoying your copy of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360? Then good news, as Take-Two are also enjoying GTA IV, but in a completely different way. Needless to say, they’re rolling in it.  Check out all the details in the full article, and see how the success of the sandbox game of the century has pretty much led to a stalemate between aspiring takeover agent and potential takeover victim.

Grand Theft Auto IV has finally been released for both the PS3 and Xbox 360, and with its runaway success on both the critics and the fans, Take-Two is nothing short of giddy about it.
And with good reason, too: after the release of GTA4, Take-Two stock has been closing on prices higher than Electronic Arts‘ last revised offer of US$ 25.74 per share. And they’ve got something to say about that, too.

So, what did Take-Two say to EA? That the success of Grand Theft Auto IV pretty much justifies their decision to make the potential buyer wait. Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick‘s exact statement about this entire matter, verbatim:

The critical and consumer response to Grand Theft Auto IV vindicates our strategy of waiting until the launch with regard to EA’s offer.

Of course, EA has their own comeback at this. Their rebuttal:

We’ve seen a share price above and below our offer and it doesn’t change anything. We knew the game would be an extraordinary success. All of that was factored into our offer of $2 billion.

Statement above was made by one Jeff Brown, a spokesman for Electronic arts. Can you say stalemate, then? We sure can, but there’s no denying it that Grand Theft Auto IV has indeed given the stock price of Take-Two a shot in the arm. Here’s hoping that this draw breaks soon, though. Updates as we get them.

Buy: [Grand Theft Auto 4 (PS3) (Xbox 360)]

Via NY Times