UbiSoft Bid Twist

Real life developments are now more interesting than any game UbiSoft has published (sorry Settlers, I didn’t mean it). According CBS Market Watch (which in turn had spotted unnamed sources from French business newspaper L’Agefi that told that Vivendi and UbiSoft had some preliminary talks), the latest twist to the story comes in a form of a white knight, called Vivendi Universal. Vivendi could make a competing offer and UbiSoft stock is surging. This is the kind of publicity that UbiSoft needs if they are to block the hostile bid from Electronic Arts (hope you still remember what I said about UbiSoft’s announcement of Prince of Persia franchise sales).

There were also few analysts’ opinions in the article and it seems to be the general opinion that Electronic Arts was expected to make a move towards Eidos, which is in sort of a financial trouble and is looking for buyer. The slate of Eidos’ product portfolio is also said to fit better for Electronic Arts, while Vivendi Universal would be better match with UbiSoft. The biggest question mark appears to be the way in which Electronic Arts has made their move. According the article, game industry is very close-knit and a move without any consultation like Electronic Arts did with UbiSoft is going to be considered peculiar. As a final remark, combined Vivendi/UbiSoft would create a giant as big as Electronic Arts. From European point of view, this could be quite fun.