It’s surprising if it’s true… but we have good reasons to doubt it!

Let’s start at the beginning: MarketWatch reports that Sony is currently in „advanced board level discussions” with Take-Two (who owns Rockstar, too, don’t forget!), with a deal of 130 dollars per share. Joel Kulina (who was tied to this rumour by the media) from Wedbush Securities has told Gamesindustry the following: „This is purely unconfirmed market speculation that is making the rounds. I am not the source of this story in any regard. And not sure who quoted me as I didn’t speak with anyone over the phone (unless someone saw a trading note that I wrote).” It would be an expensive buyout for Sony, even if the rumours about selling their Sony Pictures division are true!

This is not the first time we hear rumours about Take-Two potentially being acquired by another company! In 2008, Electronic Arts tried to buy them. Their CEO at the time, John Riccitiello (who is currently heading Unity at the moment…) wanted to pay 26 dollars per share, or roughly two billion (!) dollars total, to acquire everything, including some no-name company called Rockstar, who happened to release some unknown game with the title Grand Theft Auto IV that year…

Take-Two did not comment about the rumour to Gamesindustry, but since then, MarketWatch displays „NO SOURCE **UNCONFIRMED**” – we could call the whole thing a hoax at this point. Still, it could be very much possible – it might be Sony‘s move against Microsoft, who did a big shopping spree last year (acquiring studios such as Obsidian, who previously made Fallout: New Vegas, and are currently developing a multiplatform title called The Outer Studios – they are now part of the Xbox Game Studios, as Microsoft Game Studios got renamed earlier this year…).

So let’s not take it seriously just yet – if there are indeed discussions between Sony and Take-Two, it might still end up with no deal, like how it happened in 2008. Take-Two is still independent, and the rumours have increased their stocks’ value by 7.11% before it started to dive below the average…

Source: VG247, Gamesindustry