Gamertell

SouthPeak Interactive has just announced that it has purchased Gamecock Media Group. This means that the independent Gamecock is going to be absorbed into SouthPeak. Its good for Gamecock in a way, since it means they’ll get more money and exposure. Let’s hope it doesn’t stiffle the smaller company’s creativity. Personally, I hope it leads to a new gaming company - SouthPeacock.

Upcoming SouthPeak games include Big Bang Mini (DS), My Baby (DS), NinjaTown (DS), Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger (PC, Xbox 360) and X-Blades (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). Forthcoming former Gamecock titles, which will now be released by SouthPeak, include Legendary (PC, PS3, Xbox 360), Mushroom Men (DS, Wii) and Velvet Assassin (PC, Xbox 360)...

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There has been nauseating levels of acquisition talk in the videogame industry the past couple of months. Although EA hasn’t yet been successful in acquiring Take-Two, another major publisher is getting ready to go shopping for game companies. According to Reuters, game publisher THQ is contemplating a takeover. This leaves us to the question, is it among the mysterious “other bidders” that Take-Two talks about very often?

THQ CEO Brian Farrell told Reuters on Thursday (May 3, 2008) that there are some acquisition opportunities in…

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Take-Two-owned developer Rockstar Games recently brought game development firm Mad Doc Software which will now be known as Rockstar New England. The acquisition was announced on Friday April 4, 2008.

Mad Doc is based in Andover, Massachusetts and develops game technologies and integrating them into games for clients. Its areas of expertise span video game graphics, networking and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Its proprietary technologies, Mad 3D Game Engine and MadAI, are incorporated in Empire Earth II. Mad Doc’s notable games include Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest, Star Trek: Armada II, World War II flight simulator Jane’s Attack Squadron, Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest and Empire Earth II. Mad Doc is also responsible for the Bully port for Xbox 360 and Wii (Bully: Scholarship Edition)..

Read [Take2Games] Also Read [Game Daily]

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The board of directors of Take-Two has once again dismissed EA’s offer and termed it “inadequate in multiple respects.” But it remains open to other possibilities like a merger with a third party or EA. It has advised the company’s shareholders not to offer their shares to EA.

The board has ruled out the possibility of any mergers before the release of GTA IV (April 29, 2008). However, before the game’s release, it is ready to…

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Wedbush Stanley’s lead videogame analyst, Michael Pachter, believes that Electronics Arts might have launched its bid for Take-Two in order to take control of the latter’s sports game division, 2K Sports, which is its only notable competitor in the sports game genre. He told Game Politics that the $26 a share price that EA has offered is fair enough and rebuffed any likelihood of any bidding war for Take-Two.

“I do not think there’s another bidder,” Pachter said. “I don’t think there’s any prayer of a bidding war.” He further suggested that it didn’t make sense for…

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RealNetworks has announced the acquisition of the casual games syndication firm Trymedia from Macrovision. The acquisition can be seen as a major boost for its casual games arm, Real Games, which stands to enjoy a far greater reach. The syndication partners of RealGames will double when the deal is closed later in this quarter.

Trymedia has syndicated distribution partnerships with more than 250 companies including AOL, Yahoo!, Telstra, IGN and T-Online. The company basically deals with portals, online retailers and game developers, helping them distribute PC games in a secure manner through physical and digital channels.

As the deal will expand RealGames’ reach, the casual games publisher expects that more developers will come to it for getting their games published. The financial details of the deal haven’t been made public as yet.

Read [Fierce Mobile Content] Also Read [Next Gen] Site [TryMedia]

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The $18.8 billion deal to combine Activision and Vivendi Games will see the creation of a new company, Activision Blizzard, which is expected to be the world’s largest and most profitable pure-play video game publisher. Vivendi, which is going to be the majority stakeholder in the new company, has taken a major step towards the materialization of the deal. It has secured a loan of $5.13 billion to fund the acquisition.

The loan will not only be used to close Vivendi’s acquisition of Activision but also that of Neuf Cegetel, a French telecommunication firm. The syndicated loan has been fully underwritten by a pool of banks lead by Societe Generale, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Fortis Bank. Around $2.1 billion dollars of the loan amount is a bridging loan, while the remaining $3 billion is a revolver loan.

It seems that the deal will be closed by mid-2008 as originally planned and very soon Activision Blizzard will be a new force to reckon with in the video games industry. Vivendi Games and Activision had originally announced the merger on December 2, 2007.

Read [Next-Gen] Also Read [Gamasutra]

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