EA is all about the multi play but legally in an acquisition the parent company has to honor all previous contracts.  the only way the ps3 is getting the exclusive to 360 dlc is to buyout microsoft.

 What about LA Noire and the other PS3 new IP exclusive, is there a contract agreement in place?

Nooooooo EA are awful... Soon the day will come where all is EA, thats the day when Gaming dies!

Don't worry, they can't buy Nintendo (not enough money).

MS should just come in and offer 2.5bil, then lets see what EA does then

@NJ5

I hate Nintendo games so thats not really a comfort!

I blame HD!!!

The news made it to the front page of the New York Times in the breaking news section. A choice quote from Pachter:

A key question would be whether EA could retain the Rockstar studio behind the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise, said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan.

"Of the video game companies that could manage Take-Two's assets, EA could do it," Pachter said.

"But the Rockstar guys are not the classic kind of studio that fits into the EA fold," Pachter said. "It seems like an awful lot to pay for 'GTA' with no guarantee that the team sticks around and is not a great cultural fit."

EA made a website about this proposed buyout:

http://www.eatake2.com/

There's a FAQ there:

Why does EA want to acquire Take-Two?
We have enormous respect for the creative teams at Take-Two. We think we can provide those teams with a stable creative environment, a strong publishing partner with a global and more comprehensive publishing platform that includes packaged goods, online and wireless, capital to invest in the growth of existing and new game franchises, and a team of executives that know the game industry well. Most of all, we can offer them the creative freedom to do what they do best – make great games.

Why now?
We’ve waited to ensure that our proposal did not disrupt development on GTA IV. The game is scheduled to launch in about two months, which means the core development should be essentially complete.

At the same time, the reorganization of the EA Labels is basically done and our newest studios – BioWare and Pandemic – are settling in. Under the reorganization, creative teams at EA have a new sense of freedom and responsibility. There are more brand-new titles in development today than at any time in our history.

Finally, this is a good time to align our publishing strengths to Take-Two’s game roster. A timely integration would give a big boost to Take-Two’s games that are scheduled for release later this year and for their entire catalog leading into the holidays.

How long has EA been planning to bid on Take-Two?
We have been looking at Take-Two for some time and have been in communication with them on-and-off for about a year. We opened a dialogue to discuss our intention to acquire Take-Two with the company’s management in December and followed up with a formal proposal on February 6th. We made a second proposal on February 19th.

Is this a hostile proposal?
Our proposal is friendly to Take-Two shareholders, developers, partners, and customers. We continue to seek a friendly, negotiated transaction.

Would Take-Two retain its organizational identity?
Take-Two is an organization made up of several extraordinary creative teams at R*, Visual Concepts, Irrational, Firaxis, etc. We’d expect each studio to retain its own unique identity.

Would the R* team be happy at EA?
We think so. We have great respect for the R* leadership team and some of our executives have worked with R* leaders while in previous positions with other companies. We believe EA’s decentralized label organization will be attractive to Take-Two’s creative talent.

With an even larger organization, how will you ensure the quality of the games or implement the improvements that you’ve discussed recently?
We have a very strong team and the human and financial resources to get the job done. Last year, we implemented a decentralized label organization that allows game development teams a lot of creative freedom and responsibility.

Will this interfere with the integration of BioWare and Pandemic?
No. The BioWare and Pandemic teams are working well within EA. It’s still too early to call the transition complete but these creative leaders enjoy a great deal of respect and freedom within the EA system.

Where would Take-Two roll up within EA’s new label structure?
It’s too early to discuss plans for managing and integrating the Take-Two team. What we can say is that EA’s new decentralized structure and Label-based model can give these teams the freedom and responsibility they need to continue making great games.

Do you expect to terminate any Take-Two employees?
We’re not going to begin managing a company until our proposal is accepted and the deal is done. However we have enormous respect for the creative teams at Take-Two and consider their talent to be one of the most attractive elements of this company. We really want to work with these teams.

Do you intend to kill or restrict any of the R* franchises?
We strongly believe that behind all the controversy is a core of great intellectual property and development talent. These titles don’t sell millions because they’re controversial; they sell because they’re great games. We have no plans to change that.

Would you kill 2K Sports?
Any integration starts with our respect for the teams and people that make great games. Beyond that, it’s too early to discuss plans for managing Take-Two.

Would you close Take-Two publishing?
Again, it’s too early to discuss plans for managing Take-Two.

Would you keep Take-Two’s New York headquarters?
R* is based in New York and we have no plans to change that.

What is EA going to do next?
EA has gone through a lot of dynamic change in the past year. The company is full of talented people with plans for making great games. We’re incredibly proud of our creative teams and many blockbuster franchises from EA SPORTS to EA Games, The Sims and EA Casual Entertainment. We’re excited about the recent release of Burnout Paradise and looking forward to the upcoming launch of Army of Two, Warhammer Online, Mercenaries2, Dead Space, Boom Blox, Spore and many more.