Crispy Gamer News

It’s no secret these days that video game publisher Eidos is struggling. We’ve already reported on potential buyout talks more than once. Recently, we even reported that Warner Bros. had taken the opportunity to bulk up on its stake in the troubled publisher, increasing its Eidos holdings to a total of about 20 percent. Now, it’s beginning to look more and more like Warner could be positioning itself to take a more active role in the day to day operations at Eidos.

The first sign pointing to a potential Warner takeover of Eidos is actually built on a foundation made of LEGO. Back in 2007, Warner first set things in motion to acquire Traveller’s Tales, the developer behind the hit LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Batman games. Earlier this week, while addressing investors at a conference in Arizona, Warner’s Chief Financial Officer John Martin called the acquisition “wildly successful”.

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(Contributors: Adam Oldakowski - Managing Director GOG.com, Hal Halpin - ECA President, Tom Ohle - CD Projekt RED, Rich Carlson - Digital Eel, Eric Holmes - Radical Entertainment, and Game Trust members Evan Narcisse, Gus Mastrapa, David Chapman and James Fudge)

Crispy Gamer wraps up its Top 21 News Stories of 2008 with our top 7 news stories. See what stories were the most interesting and had the most impact on the game industry and gamers in 2008. We start with #7 right now.  Also be sure to check out #8 - 14 and #15 - 21, if you haven’t already.

Next: #7 –>

According to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Take Two Interactive spent close to 11.1 million dollars to fend off EA’s hostile take-over. Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick, who fought hard against being acquired by EA for a good portion of 2008, presided over a large decline in the company’s stock price - well before the economy at large had a chance to put it to its lowest 52 week ever: $8.50. The stock, which rose to nearly $28 a share, fell dramatically after EA gave up on acquiring the company.

Shortly after EA walked away many analysts said that Take-Two had made a mistake. Of course, given the economic climate we are now in, that position is hard to justify: EA has had its own share of hardships recently and has cancelled projects, closed studios and - most recently - laid off over 1000 workers.. If not for the banking and mortgage industries, who knows what state both companies would be in..

Take Two has officially given up on publishing Cryptic Studios’ upcoming superhero MMO, Champions Online. Not a big shock considering that the developer that brought us City of Heroes is now owned by troubled publisher Atari. Atari will bring Champions online to PC and Xbox 360, as planned, next year. The game is based on the work Cryptic did for a Marvel Comics-based MMO for Xbox 360 and PC, that was cancelled earlier this year.

I’m honestly concerned about the direction Cryptic Studios is heading. First it leaves City of Heroes behind to create a Marvel MMO, which then gets cancelled. Then, just when the company seemed to be on the right track it hires ex-Flagship founder Bill Roper and allows itself to be acquired by Atari, who is not in the greatest financial shape as of late. This in turn will put added pressure on Cryptic to deliver a AAA hit that sells millions. This environment can’t be good for Cryptic in the long term. That’s my opinion, what do you think?

Some might say that today’s results might be a good indication that Take-Two Interactive should have taken that Electronic Arts offer when it had the chance. Some might also say that today’s results are simply a sign of the times. But the more results I see, the more stories I find myself writing about layoffs, cancelled games and shuttered studios, the more I firmly believe that the industry is not at all recession proof as analysts were saying earlier in the year.

Take-Two’s full fiscal year results are a strong indication of this: a loss of $15 million, or 20 cents per share, for the three months ended Oct. 31, compared with a loss of $7.1 million, or 10 cents per share in the same period a year ago. Excluded one-time charges, Take-Two said it recorded a profit of $1.6 million, or 2 cents per share under half of what analysts had predicted. Revenue rose 10.5 percent to $323.4 from $292.6 million in the same period a year ago. Revenue was driven by sales of Midnight Club: Los Angeles, NBA 2K9, Grand Theft Auto IV and Carnival Games.

Looking ahead to the first quarter ending in January, things are looking equally bleak. Take-Two predicts a loss of 70 - 85 cents per share on sales of $175 - $225 million.

The only silver lining to this rather depressing story? Rockstar Games’ founding fathers aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Take-Two announced that it has inked an agreement with Sam and Dan Houser to stay on with the company until 2012. While financial terms were not disclosed, the company said that the agreement includes revenue sharing for the makers of Grand Theft Auto. Without that franchise, it is unlikely that Take Two could survive even one quarter.

Shares of Take-Two dropped more than 20 percent in aftermarket trading to $9.47. Recession proof indeed.

2008 is slowly fading to black. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Here’s today’s news..

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Kalypso Media announced today that it has acquired worldwide rights to Tropico 3 from Take-Two Interactive Software. The first two games in the popular strategy simulation game were developed by Take Two’s PopTop Software. The third installment in the series to be released in summer 2009 for PC. While Tropico 3 is being developed by a brand new developer, Kalypso promises that it will be heavily based on the first Tropico game.

“The Tropico series is a great IP which we are excited to continue. The game will be the biggest project Kalypso has realized so far in its short history and we are focusing on achieving a worldwide PC hit with this brand. The acquisition of Tropico along with other key licenses is fundamental to our future growth,” says Simon Hellwig, Managing Director of Kalypso Media.

Tropico 3 will be developed by Bulgarian studio Haemimont Games, who are also responsible for the development of Kalypso’s Grand Ages: Rome. More details when we have them.