No, CD Projekt Red is not planning to sell itself to Electronics Arts

Meanwhile, there have been rumors going around that CD Projekt Red is planning to sell itself to gaming industry giant Electronic Arts (EA).

The rumors were actually surprising especially at the heels of the successful launching of “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” which sold over six million copies already.

The cardinal rule in gaming is that nobody should comment or dignify rumors in order to kill the wrong story via natural death.

But CD Projekt Red felt compelled to make a comment and it vehemently denied that it was selling to EA. The speculations about the possible sale of CD Projekt Red started on the inside from an employee leak to a gaming community.

According to the employee, he was just sharing the bad news because he apparently saw several EA people wandering about their offices for meetings. Since the Polish developer does not have any new games coming out in the next two years, EA people could not be there for a publishing deal with CD Projekt Red.

That leads to the assumption that EA people were there because they are interested in acquiring CD Projekt Red and its game “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” which is quite absurd considering that EA already has in its roster “Dragon Age: Inquisition,” which is a similar role-playing game as “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.”

With the denial of CD Projekt Red, it becomes clear that the fiercely independent Polish game developer will continue its firm hold on “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.”

A few month ago, the Polish game developer explained that they wanted to continue taking risks and coming up with the most creative ideas possible while avoiding becoming a dominating force in the gaming industry.

However, there are still reports saying that CD Projekt RED could, in fact, is ready to sell and will join force with EA.

Momot explained that CD Projekt RED is not selling despite the seemingly strange events that happened as of late. He explained that when a studio is riding so high on its latest success, it has to deviate off course when the sense of its very identity is being put in question through speculations.

Click to expand...

joxer said:

We already know that.
Not a rumor though is that Vivendi bought a high number of Ubisoft shares. Not 50% or some amount that would mean hostile takeover, but Ubi is not happy.

Click to expand...

Eye said:

O, okay, haha, well, that's news to me. Thanks!
I fear it might happen again, bringing old news - not because I'm a codex trol though.

Click to expand...

Last week, Vivendi purchased 6.6 per cent of Ubisoft's stock for €140.3 million. In the email, Guillemot described the purchase as "unsolicited and unwelcome" - a sentiment that echoed a brief official response Ubisoft released in the aftermath of the deal.

"Our intention is and has always been to remain independent, a value which, for 30 years, has allowed us to innovate, take risks, create beloved franchises for players around the world, and which has helped the company grow into the leader it is today," Guillemot said.

"We're going to fight to preserve our independence. We should not let this situation - nor any future actions by Vivendi or others - distract us from our goals. Our best defence is to stay focused on what we have always done best - deliver the most original and memorable gaming experiences."

Click to expand...

However, Vivendi has now spent a further €244 million on Ubisoft stock, raising its overall stake to 10.39 per cent. This is a substantial amount for a company of Ubisoft's size. In a statement addressing the deal, Vivendi claimed that it was, "part of a strategic vision of operational convergence between Vivendi's content and platforms on one hand and the Ubisoft and Gameloft productions in video games on the other."

That certainly isn't how Ubisoft sees the matter, of course, as our report yesterday demonstrated. Vivendi continued:

"Vivendi is acting alone, is not in concert with a third party and has not concluded a temporary sale agreement regarding the Ubisoft and Gameloft shares or voting rights.

"The Group reserves the right to increase its stake in these two companies depending on market conditions and the possibility, in due time, to be represented on their board."

Click to expand...