EA Gazumps Take-Two in Codemasters Takeover Bid!

Last month, details were revealed that UK based game developer, Codemasters, was currently in the process of a potential buyout by Take-Two Interactive. While nothing was set in stone, it did seem more likely than not that the deal was likely to go ahead pending a few formalities. With an 11th-hour bid having been made by EA, however, they may have successfully gazumped this offer as following a report from GamesIndustry, with a fair bit of rubber-stamping still admittedly required, it looks like this new deal has been pretty much all but legally confirmed.

Like it or not, EA is 99.9% set to own Codemasters!

EA to Buy Codemasters

It is understood that EA has successfully agreed on terms for a $1.2 billion purchase of Codemasters. A figure that is, at the risk of sounding obvious, significantly greater than the circa $800m offer made by Take-Two Interactive last month. – While unclear if Take-Two Interactive ‘upped’ their bid in response to EA, it seems that regardless of which, Codemasters has formally accepted the offer by EA.

“[We] have a shared ambition to lead the video game racing category. We feel this union would provide an exciting and prosperous future for Codemasters, allowing our teams to create, launch, and service bigger and better games to an extremely passionate audience.”

What Does This Mean?

The biggest attraction towards Codemasters is undoubtedly their licensing agreement for the production of Formula 1 based gaming titles. As such, with this acquisition, EA clearly wants to add a little more prestige to their racing game line-up and are willing to pay big bucks to do so.

For those of you who are avid fans of the F1 gaming series, however, I daresay that this news isn’t overly welcome. That being said though, between EA and Take-Two Interactive, neither company exactly has a glowing reputation when it comes to releasing quality sports titles. Fingers crossed though, while EA is likely set to be confirmed as Codemasters owner by the end of Q1 2021, this won’t affect the quality of development at the studio. – Well, either that or Codemasters is set to become the latest developer that EA runs into the ground!

What do you think? Do you think this is a good move? Which company would you have preferred to have made the purchase? – Let us know in the comments!