How are they being hostile? Are they threatening people with assault rifles and violence? Bombs? Hostages?

The article reads like a yellow press dramatization. "Hostile" is just a buzz word to make it sound more interesting, when it is otherwise a standard purchasing of shares on a publicly traded market.

I think that hostile takeover is a term used when an entity tries to take over another entity whose majority of their board does not want it, but does not posess enough shares to stop the legal procedures from starting.

good if they fire those who make these stupid icons on maps!

Do you understand business terminology? Do you make comments without knowing what you talk about? Did you think that the Cold War was incorrectly named, since temperatures were not all that cold to warrant the name? Do you always take things literally?

A 'hostile' takeover in business lingo denotes a takeover that bypasses the company's management and goes directly after shares held by private shareholders. In other words, the management of the company do not necessarily have to want the takeover to take place, but as long as enough shareholders are convinced to sell, it can take place regardless of the wishes of the current administration/management. A 'non-hostile' takeover is one that happens with the agreement of the company's current management, without circumventing them as is the case of a 'hostile' takeover.

Sometimes this is not really feasible. Many companies have to raise funds by making more than 50% of their shares available in stock markets. Oftentimes, you simply do not have a choice, as it may be required to keep a positive cash flow and/or health liquid assets. 

Yup, I can confirm this, Vivendi is trying to purchase various companies, among which are Ubisoft in France and Mediaset in Italy, in Italy Vivendi was sued for hostile takeover since to prevent small companies from being taken over there's a set maximum percentage of shares a company/individual can buy in a set timeframe so that the company can react to the buyers. Vivendi exceeded said percentage so they were sued, probably a similar law exists in France aswell...

Call me a salty asshole but I don't feel any sympathy for Ubisoft. However, there's a possibility that their business practices and creative bankruptcy could get worse if this goes through.

Is Vivendi Associated with Activision Blizzard?

Good! Maybe then they can stop milking Assassin's Creed geez!

Hostile takeovers are some of the most entertaining things to watch.

"Here, we're selling our company on a public market place.! Please buy us!"
"OMG STAAAAHP! Please don't buy any more of us!!"