Not content with ruining football games by eliminating the competition, Electronic Arts is looking to lay waste to the rest of the video game sporting world. EA has begun its $2 billion “hostile takeover” of Take-Two Interactive They are currently offering stakeholders in Take-Two Interactive $26 dollars per a share, 2 dollars over what Take-Two is currently trading for. The offer is set to expire on midnight April 11^th, but can be extended.

Electronics Arts has a history of flexing its financial muscle to eliminate the competition. In 2003, EA obtain exclusive rights to the NFL license after facing strong competition from a superior NFL2K game that was selling for half the price. This move eliminated any competition there was when it comes to football games and now alls you get for you 60 dollars is the previous years football game with an update roster; unless of course you are upgrading systems, because then you get a watered down version of last years games with updated rosters and graphics. With Take-Two being EA's main competition in baseball, basketball(College and NBA), and hockey; the merger would potentially mean paying 60 bucks for upgraded rosters like in their NFL product.

Take-Two Interactive is not limited to sports, they have published many critically acclaimed games including BioShock and Oblivion. Take-Two's most notable franchise is the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series. With the forth installment of the GTA series set to released on April 29^th, it looks as if EA wants to get in on some GTA action.

Check out the tender offer here . And read more about the take over here .